KI in the Colca Canyon By James McBeath July 4th, 2001 Tucked away in an isolated fold in the Andes of Southern Peru, the Colca thunders through the Everest of river canyons. Well over twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, cliffs rise over two vertical miles framing a gorge so impossibly deep that on occasion the sky gives way to wind swept walls. Condors soaring through the mist of thousand foot waterfalls and wispy plums of smoke from live volcanoes form a backdrop for one of the earth's grandest cathedrals. Ken Whiting and Kevin Varette started off today with a select few guests and video fella Chris Emerick (Full Circle fame), arriving in Lima, they then transfer to the short flight to Arequipa, Peru's second largest city (750,000 people). This is a city complete with its vast history and intreging architecture... an has been recently hit by a force 8.1 richter earthquake... just to make things interesting. From there they will be hiking into the Colca Canyon. 15 miles and then solid class IV and V rapids through the worlds deepest canyon! These rapids are known for its damp coolness as they swirl through the high and darkened canyon walls... the sun only a crack in the canyon sealing. At the return of Ken, Kevin and gang, we will be doing a summary of the trip and posting it here on this site. Stay tuned for a post trip report and video for all. We are always looking to cover your adventure... please feel free to submit text, photo and compressed video in electronic format only to Kayak International.

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