India Nepal Mission

This year I was joined by a stellar team for a mission across Northern India and Nepal. Our goal was to traverse a section of the Himalaya range paddling as many rivers as possible. Many hours were spent researching various sections of river via google earth, topographical maps and speaking to various folks who had paddled in the region. For most of us we had 2 months to fully explore the sub continent.

India and Nepal boasting the highest mountain range in the world

Kevin England hailing from New Zealand bringing a ton of experience to the team plus some shiny new Life Vest from his newly launched company Hydroscapes. http://www.whitewater-safety.com/

Will Stubblefield from Memphis TN. Fresh from another season on the Payette River in Idaho, Will arrived ready for the challenge of the big volume and steep nature of the rivers in the region.

Jason "JJ" Shepherd hailing from North Carolina somehow roped everyone into joining him on his 4th trip to the tallest mountains in the world.

Cooper Lambla from Charlotte NC served as the head of PR and negotiations on our mission. Cooper the eternal optimist was vital in keeping dreams alive and the ball rolling.

Toby McDermott certainly the most accomplished boater on the trip. As cooper put it you could buy a new kayak before a trip like this or you could just invite Toby. If you want to travel with your very own MacGyver in list Toby. Incase you didn't know it MacGyver aint real but Toby is.

Isaac Thomson from Christchurch New Zealand has travelled the globe and is well experienced in dealing with challenging logistics in various rough corners of the globe. Isaac served as the trip banker and resident sheep expert.

If you want to go Kayaking in India you need to contact this guy. Shallab Gahlaut. Look him up at www.kayakindia.com Shalab was crucial in the success of our mission through India lining up drivers a vehicle helping deal with the local authorities often looking for a quick buck.

Having done some time in Delhi on my previous trip Toby and I arrived at 10pm. We quickly battled our way to the arranged meeting point and met the rest of the team. Our Rig was to meet us at 5am. We slept for a few hours and quickly loaded up the rig and headed towards the Yamuna River.

Arriving at the Yamuna it was obvious that flows were high. In fact we were dealing with the biggest monsoon season Uttarakand India had experienced in 70 years. It didn't stop raining until 10 days before we arrived. Seeing the upper Yamuna my gut dropped it was 3 times higher then the previous time I had paddled it.

Regardless of flows we put on the pushy water of the upper Yamuna. With water high we were able to push higher up the valley then had previously been paddled finding steep pushy water all the way to the confluence with the Hamuna Chatthi. Will running the meat as Cooper holds rope.

Cooper staying high and dry in the typical Cooper smooth Style

Isaac show boating for the crowd. Our presence was detected by the locals and they lined the bank of the river to see what the strange bright colored foreigners were up to.

Kev England going for the glory boof.

After finishing off the upper section of the river, following some beta from Shalab the boys opted to hike up the Hamuna River named for the Monkey God and housing a temple at the Confluence. This was another first descent with only a few short portages all the way down to the confluence with the Yamuna.

Cooper hiking up the trail to the put in.

Cooper boofing one of the many drops of the Monkey Gods's river

Will right at home amongst the steep drops of the Hamuna

rio alsesseca

The Rio Alesseca is about as much bang for your buck as you can find in Mexico. There are numerous sections of varying difficulty. The road side run is the classic class IV+ run and further downstream is the Big Banana section. Eiker on the first big drop.
Mandatory rapid number 2. Toby drops into the tiny box canyon. It feels more like dropping into a cave then a canyon.
Toby running the meat locker.
This is the last big drop before dropping into Pessma Ranch. You want to stay away from the right wall.
Here you can see an example of what happens when you don't stay away from the right wall. OUCH!
Just a few stitches required here. Martin was a trooper and some how rolled up after this one.
The Crew waits at the hospital while Martin gets stitched up. VIP parking Mexico style!

Rio Verde

We managed to wrestle up a shuttle from Aaron koch at Kayak Huesteca. Aaron dropped us off at the put in late night and drove off assuring us our truck would be waiting for us at the take out. Cascade de Tamul. We packed for four days on the river plus the epic climb out of the sketchy ladders at the waterfall. (camp 1 at the put in)
The last time I ran the Verde A few brave souls hucked the first drop roughly in the forty foot. It was lower this year and looked sketchy. We opted for the repel and jump portage option. Ben stone works his way down the Basalt formed waterfall.
Poised for the golden stroke Toby boofing the 2nd drop of the river.
John Shannon watches as Toby runs the 3rd drop of the Verde.
We opted to walk this one. I reckon its pretty darn close to hundred feet. There she is young guns still there for the taking. Do before your parents insurance runs out!
Ben below the mega waterfall
The third canyon has rarley been run due to sketchy beta from the old guide book. Its good to go but rest ashurd there is very little good kayaking in there but at least you get to paddle down to the Santa Tereasa Confluence.

Jon Shannon below the 1st portage of the third canyon.
Camp here at the confluence of the Santa Teresa for a great night on the grass getting sucked dry while conscious by the man eating mosquitos.

Mexico 2009 San Luis Potosi Region

Toby on a super sweet drop on the San Nicholas.
Ben Stone and Aaron Run the smal rapid below the first portage of the San Nicholas.
Toby on the final drop of the Minos Viajos
Ben Stone at the put in rapid of the Minos Vijaos
Ben Stone on the Upper stretch of the Micos
Toby Macdermott same drop

Nepal 2007

Driving across the border from India view from the back of the truck.
Hiking up the Modi Khola in the Anapurna Region of Nepal
One of the many large peaks feeding the Modi Khola
The Largest Stupa in the World in the Tibetan Quarter of Kathmandu.
Monks circle the stuba at sun rise

A great thing about India is you always have support on the river bank to cheer you on. It's like being David Hasslehoff for the day. (Zak Shaw on the Dhauli Ganga East)
Zak and Ben scout out the last rapid before a small village on the Dhauli Ganga a Tributary of the Kali River
Steve Bates aka Scuba steve takes a break on Kaia the dog after climbing out of the large box canyon you see behind the truck. We joked that Kaia was our tiger bait as there a lot of man eating tigers in northern india. One year later she was eaten by a large cat. RIP Kaia you will be missed.
Locals watch as Ben Jackson works his way down the river.

Zak Shaw finds a waterfall at the put in.

I'm going to be the first to say that most blogs are self promoting attempts to make oneself seem cooler than they really are so let me be the first to say, "I am not cool". In fact I am in fact a selfish individual. I haven't spent Christmas with my family but once in 13 years. I work as little as possible and spend as little money as i can in order to support the addiction to traveling and kayaking. There are no sponsors no trust funds just hard work. I'm cash up and getting ready to set off on the next adventure but it seemedstrange to post an upcoming trip with out throwing up some images from the past few years. So below are some pictures from the previous few winters.

India 2007

After the success of Tibet in Fall of 2006 many from the crew were keen to further explore the largest mountains in the world. Pacman aka Sam Hughes had made a friend and had organized a crew to head to Utturanchal the state bordering tibet to the North and Nepal to the east due north of Delhi. We spent a day or two in Delhi and then head

ed north to the Yamuna river for a sweet two day first descent.

Typical friendly people of India

Snake charmer in Delhi