The Pindar River

Upon some google earth scouting I found this gym boasting an average gradient roughly of 30 meters per kilometer. Perfect gradient awaiting our arrival. The problem with the Pindar unlike most Indian rivers is there is no road up the river. Luckily there is a well established trail the next drainage to the east. Just do a short 20 K hike over and a high mountain pass and you too can drop into the Pindar Valley for 2 solid days of class IV-V action.

Somewhere in this frame are some tired kayakers with fully loaded boats trying to find the steam to keep one foot in front of the next.

After a 3 hour hike we ran out of day light and had to make camp for the night still a long way from the Dharkuri Khal pass at 2932 meters.

Halfway to the pass and you can see our camp site at the saddle in the middle of the frame but luckily at this stage we had scored some Nepali Porters making progress way quicker.

Kev reaching the pass.

Getting to the put in at the footbridge near Khati we made camp and started cooking stoked to be putting on what looked like a healthy flow on the Pindar.

Once on the water the Pindar is a non stop action packed run with some freezing water straight from the Pindari Glacier. Isaac Thomson Charging through the continuos white water of the Pindar. (photo Will Stubblefield)

Toby working his way through the classic read and run boulder gardens. (photo Will Stubblefield)

We were blow away by the clean fun rapids that kept coming our way the entire first day. Kev dropping into the Bridge rapid. (photo Will Stubblefield)

As the sun crawled behind the horizon we reached the steepest section of the river. Isaac had fallen ill and we were all feeling beat down. We scoured the banks of the river searching for a place to set up camp. We scored this little beach with a few large cat prints in the sand. Luckily Kev had some fireworks to scare off any man eater in the Pindar Valley

mmm homemade cooking over the open fire.

Isaac still filling ill boofing the good morning drop.

Will charging through some big curles all of which were feeding into horrible sieves.

The boys posing for a team photo before Kev had to part ways (photo Will Stubblefield)

The Bhagarati and upper Mandakni

The next drainage we headed up was the Bhagarati River. This is the largest tributary of the Ganga (Ganges) river, the holiest river in the Hindu Faith. Pilgrims travel from all over world to pray, drink and bath in its holy waters. When ones life comes to an end bodies are cremated along the banks of the holy Ganga and the ashes are spread in the holy waters.

On the road up the Bhagarathi we met some Sadus who were returning from a pilgrimage up to the Gomukh Glacier the principle source of the Ganga. The sadu many barefoot will walk for months accepting donations to help them on their long and arduous walks from one holy spot to the next.

A sadu smoking on his chillum along the banks of the Bhagarati river.

We opted for a put in near the town of Raitha paddling a 20 K section of river down to Maneri. From the Road, the river appeared to be a mellow class IV big bouncy section of whitewater.

The boys negotiating the first rapid stretching a kilometer long.

Cooper dropping into the first rapid.

Once on the water we quickly realized the true power of Bhagarathi. Huge exploding holes and powerful waves were constantly knocking us off line and threatening to drop us into the numerous man eating holes lurking at every horizon line. Will digging hard to punch through the corner of a large hole.

Often you would enter a rapid and fight your way across the river to avoid the powerful forces of the main current in the center of the river. Cooper leads the charge fighting to keep the kayak straight as the boys follow suit.
Cooper dropping into one of the larger rapids on the Bhagarati.

Will Stublefield scouts the large pour overs trying to find a line admist the watery chaos.

Kev showing the boys how its done.

Cooper follows suit.

Talking on your phone while driving large transport trucks on narrow one lane crumbling roads through the mountains are all just part of the excitement of everyday life in india.

After the Bhagarathi we continued our eastern movement heading towards the Mandakni river. On my previous trip I had paddled a lower section of the river. It proved to be an awesome stretch of whitewater and after having to climb out of several gorges we opted not to explore the upper remote stretches of the river with out a bit of research. This year we had done our homework. From Sopraya the river seemed to maintain an average gradient of of 37 meters per K for some 20 kilometers or so. Getting a late start at the put in we opted to take overnight gear and spend the night in the gorge.

Paddling a few hundred meters we arrived at the sight of a new damn being constructed. Luckily the heavy monsoon had washed away much of their progress and we were able to paddle what was probably the last descent of this classic run.

Taking advantage of the construction sight we lowered our boats down where they were building the barrage opting not to paddle through the dynamite blasted diversion cave.

After a long day and it starting to get dark we began looking for a flat spot in the gorge. We searched several spots finding mostly thick boggy jungle vegetation. After several attempts Kev reported good news he found a spot for us to camp. Being the only flat spot for 20 k's some locals had made their very own cricket pitch.

Our kayaking gear rapidly became way more fun to play with then cricket. Can you blame them i'd rather play with my helmet then have to play the worlds most boring sport its even worse than baseball.
Day 2 of the Mandakni and Toby plugging into a strong lateral.

Kev boofing the super fun and soon to be dead water of the Mandakni. RIP Mandakni I'm glad we got to meet. Enjoy your plasma screen TV's India I hope its worth it.

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