We just got off a 5-day river trip on the Mekong River in China. It was a spectacular run tucked away in foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. It is a high volume run with big water play and big rapids. With the support of four rafts, our team covered close to 50 miles of river that has only been run about 7 times as it wound through the jagged mountains of the Himalayas.
Our first day on the water was our most epic day of kayaking this year. This was also our first day of kayaking in China so it made for a memorable experience. The river was running about 12,000 cfs or more. The whole team was nervous as we dropped into the first rapid consisting of giant pourovers in the center and a giant wave train with sticky wave holes against the right hand cliff. We made it through and continued to boogie down the fast moving river. Most of this 12 mile section consisted of huge waves that were easily as big as the rapids on the Ottawa or Dries of the New.
The highlight of first day was Teen Chowder. This may be the largest rapid I have ever run. The whole river funneled together at the top, forming large diagonal holes on both sides of the river that collided together and dropped strait into a 15 foot tall crashing wave hole. Then, the rapid ended in a tight canyon with some funky, swirly, water. If you got trashed in the rapid, rolling up at the end was really tough. Walking the rapid definitely crossed our mind, but the high volume water would flush us through at some point, so most of the group decided to take it on. I got munched in the bottom hole, missed a couple of roles, and finally came up with a huge smile of relief. Everyone got trashed except for Daniel Stewart, Brian Boyle, and Kyle Dinnel who managed to smooth the rapid.
The following days consisted of some epic play. We found one wave the second day that had a giant steep green corner. Everyone was going for the biggest moves they could get. Eli attempted some big air screws and Sam was working on airing out his Pan Ams.
On the third day, we went through The Moon Gorge, which is the most amazing canyon I have ever been in. With 800-foot limestone cliffs on both sides, all 12,000 cfs were crammed into a 30-40 foot gap creating giant whirlpools and boils. We got thrown all over the place as we stern squirted and mystery moved through the Gorge.
Camping and having class on the river is also amazing. Jed Weingarten and Levin Brown set up a great trip. They got a local Tibetan chef, Tashi, to cook and row for us. He actually cooked for the Dali Lama. The camping was awesome. We were surrounded by giant rocks of all kinds below snow covered mountains 10,000 feet above us. It was like nothing I had ever seen.
We are packing up and heading to the Salween tomorrow. This is supposed to be the best play in all of China. Can’t wait. Wish us luck.
Shane Groves
Coach and math teacher
New River Academy
Original post by New River Academy and software by Elliott Back
One Comment
Great to hear about the adventures of other kayakers here in China. Sounds like all of the great fun is out West, hope I can make it there some day!
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