{"id":36379,"date":"2025-07-09T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/?p=36379"},"modified":"2025-07-07T16:43:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T23:43:53","slug":"humbled-in-the-jungle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2025\/07\/09\/humbled-in-the-jungle\/","title":{"rendered":"Humbled in the Jungle"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a fine line between adventure and <\/span>too much<\/span><\/i> adventure that becomes less distinct with experience and time. And, as it turns out, I\u2019m a slow learner… So, it\u2019s no surprise that I was once again eager to feel the sting of the sharper edge of adventure. I knew just the place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We traced our fine line down a remote, jungle river in Mexico\u2014descended only once before, in the early 1990s at low water. The first descent team was only able to traverse the second of two caves the river plummets through, and only after extensive reconnaissance. They never found a way through the first cave.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our goal was to connect the missing piece: complete as much of the seven miles of Class V above the caves, descend through <\/span>both<\/span><\/i> caves, and paddle another few miles to civilization. Although the trip was only 15 total river miles, we budgeted eight days\u2014a conservative estimate given both the difficulty of the whitewater and the unexplored cave.<\/span><\/p>\n

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At the put-in, our two kayaks and ducky were comically heavy. In addition to a week\u2019s worth of food and self-support gear, we had 550\u2019 of static climbing rope, harnesses, a full trad rack, ascending gear, and a dry bag stuffed to the gills with a bolt gun, pitons and bolts in case things got too spicy in the caves. We also had camera gear and a drone to help scout, plus a single machete from Walmart that my mom spent hours meticulously sharpening back in Denver.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we pushed off, we soon learned the paddle-to-portage-to-progress ratio would be rather skewed on this trip. To be fair, it was Chris\u2019s first time paddling a ducky, and I was pretty sure I had broken my ribs courtesy of a silly slip in a nearby cave three days prior. <\/span>Those three days and the allure of a pristine jungle river provided just enough time to convince myself my ribs were merely bruised (see: slow learner). But after shouldering a 100+ pound kayak over rocks so slippery even ice skates wouldn\u2019t provide traction, then seal launching and running a mandatory 15-foot waterfall early on day one… Yeah. They were definitely broken.<\/span><\/p>\n

That afternoon, we danced on the right side of the fine line of adventure. Our team fell into rhythm, bouncing through beautiful jungle gorges. My younger brother, Sam, led the waltz downstream, with jungle-filtered sunlight reflecting our smiles and paddle strokes.<\/span><\/p>\n