Phoenix Canoe Club Expedition Part 3 Back to our Blog»
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Posted: Thursday 01st January 1970
Categories: Trip Report, All Categories
We set off at about 11.30am for the longest day on the river with a warm up on some grade 2 rapids. These didn’t last for long and we were soon running into the grade 3 confluence of the Kali and Kali Ganga rivers. This was our first big hit and after discussing the line to take through the rapids, we very quickly seemed to be doing something completely different. Our group were not prepared for the change of water volume and were too bunched together to escape a swim as we washed into a large cushion wave against a huge rock. Lessons were learnt (don’t necessarily follow the guide and keep a distance between paddlers) and we continued onto the next grade 3 rapid. No one seemed to be able to adjust to following the rafts which went a lot slower than we were used to paddling through big water.
Kayakers and Swimmers on the Kali River.
We scouted the next rapid and agreed the line to take and learning from previous mistakes halved the amount of swimmers. After 20kms and a stop for a packed lunch, we arrived at our beach for the night and quickly set up tents and dug latrine holes just before it got dark. The cooks erected their tent and were providing us with hot drinks, afternoon tea and then dinner. This was the smallest beach we stayed on, but very welcoming after such a long day on the road and river. We set up the camp fire after searching for wood for quite some time and sat around listening to the guitar talents of our group. Early to bed for a 6.30am wake up call. The cooks were up at 4am every day preparing breakfast and lunch. After breakfast, tents and dry bags were packed and the four groups of kayakers set off interspersed by 6 rafts. Capsizes were rescued on the move by paddling the victim over to a raft and being returned to the water mid-stream.
Caleb and his crew.
The second day on the river was much shorter and slightly easier, but provided some entertaining rapids and breathtaking scenery. We soon got into the routine of the river - early breakfast and pack up kit and tents, paddle sections of the river, some flat, some fast furious rapids and get off and set up camp again. The later beaches were massive with plenty of firewood for a singsong around a blazing fire at night. The guides taught us how to play “cubbedy”, a team game with speed and tactics the order of the day, otherwise a rugby tackle would put you out of the game. We also devised other games for racing up and jumping down sand dunes. We stopped one day on the Nepal side of the river to visit a temple where the locals leave a bell to celebrate a wish coming true. Unfortunately a tree had fallen on the roof – no bell for that!
Chilling around the campfire.
On the third day, Jam announced that the rapids were going to get much bigger for the rest of the trip and felt we needed to swap a few kayakers into rafts to keep the groups safer. We chose a list of ten and when we announced it to the group briefing another five decided to change to a raft. Jam called up the support lorry to meet us at the only road access on the journey later that day and we took off 15 kayaks and the playboats were swapped for larger volume boats. The river did indeed get bigger and faster and was littered with big boils, whirlpools, pour-overs, holes (stoppers) the size of a bus. Some of the new rafters tried out the “duckie”, a 2-person inflatable kayak/raft which was a lot more stable, even in the biggest waves. Some of the waves were so tall that you could lose sight of the rest of the group which lead to a few wrong lines being taken (I tried out a few of the holes and spent a bit more time in the “greenroom” than I cared for) The water pressure in these stoppers was immense and luckily the flow was strong enough to push you through.
Kayakers on the Kali River.
The fifth day took us to the grade 4 Chooka Rapids. It was agreed to take an easier grade 3 line down the rocky rapids. I was feeling particularly loose bowelled that day and decided to paddle down the adjacent “chicken run” with a few others. More time was spent pushing the kayak with hands than paddles. I think it would have been a lot less effort to run the main rapids. Most kayakers made it down the Chooka with only a couple of capsizes. The last day provided long fast rapids with the biggest two of the trip saved for last. The 16 foot long rafts were shorter than the face of the waves which dwarfed the kayaks. Again, the line was difficult to follow because you kept losing sight of the paddlers in front. I managed to paddle over a massive pour over into a hole (the bus size one) followed by Ali. After emerging the other side out of my boat, the waves ripped the paddles and boat out of my grip and I flowed over another rock into another stopper, thankfully a bit smaller, but still with plenty of “downtime”. Jam appeared in his boat and towed me to shore. Sam and Christien had also been rescued by raft and were emptying out their boats at the side of the river, when a boulder fell from above and smashed Sam’s paddles into three. Well done to Johann who paddle the last day with three broken ribs from a slip on a rock the day before – I think had he known they were broken he would have swapped into a raft. We made it to the get-out at Boom and met the lorry with our luggage and started packing up the boats and getting changed out of wet kit. We were in 42˚C sunshine with no shade and it seemed to take an age to get packed up.
All the team.
The river was definitely the highlight of the trip and a journey I would readily take on again. We all bid a fond farewell to our friends from IntoIndia and loaded up into 7 4x4’s with Jam, to take us on the next leg of our journey to The Jim Corbett National Park whilst the boats were taken back to Delhi.