River Guide Course

I left Kathmandu on the morning of October 11 after a day of rest and rode out to Sukute Beach. This mission was to work as an assistant staff on the International River Guide Course that is put on each year by Equator Expeditions. The trainees on the course consisted of 8 guys from the UK, 2 Bhutanese, and 2 Nepalis who have been working with Equator for some time. The course instructors were Gerry Moffatt, Willie Kern, and Ant Davis. Working with these guys was not only an honor and a privilege, it was a total blast! The first week of the course took place at Sukute Beach on the Bhote Kosi river, followed by 9 days on the Sun Kosi, a couple days in Chitwan National Park, and then the final evaluation took place on the Trisuli River.

My main job during the first part of the course was filming with a GoPro HD camera that was mounted on my helmet most of the time. Gerry and Willie were filming the course as part of a documentary on Nepal/Bhutan whitewater. The little camera I was using is great for catching short action clips in the water like rafts flipping or hitting waves. After a few days of rafting on the section of river above and below the camp, it was decided that we would go up near the Tibetan border to a place called Last Resort for some cheap thrills...bungee!!! At one point, the bridge at the Last Resort was the second highest bungee jump in the world. It is 170 meters above the upper Bhote Kosi and absolutely gorgeous. I tend to enjoy jumping off of high things into water and loved skydiving the one time I did it. This is totally different. I think part of the reason for this is that when I jumped out of the airplane I didn't really have to make the decision. It was tandem and I was basically pushed. Diving from a small foot bridge hundreds of feet above a raging river is a different ballgame. Everything about it is completely unnatural but what a thrill it is! I figured one time was a must, especially since it is right up the road from camp. I was able to catch all the excitement by pointing my Olympus camera at my face before and during the jump. It literally felt like my eyes were about to pop out of my head with all the blood rushing down while hanging there above the class V water rushing below...

After a couple more days at camp, we packed up for the big trip down the Sun Kosi. In addition to the course staff, we also had rafting and kayaking guests on the trip for a total of 36 people. The food showed up the day before our departure and I was one of the people in charge of getting it sorted and packed into barrels for the trip. It was a full day project, but we got er done and were finally off on October 18. You can probably imagine what happens to bread and vegetables when they sit in these hot and humid barrels all day on the river. In addition to safety kayaking, my main responsibility on the trip was to unpack all the fruit and vegetables each evening to dry out so they would last until the end of the trip. I also had another very important job...brewing a big pot of coffee each morning. Gerry took care of the bread and we had great food for the duration of the trip.

We paddled a 270 km section of the Sun Kosi from Sukute Beach to Chatara near the Indian border in Southeastern Nepal. The river flows south from Sukute and makes a sharp left toward the East of Nepal. The first couple days were pretty mellow but we were into some great whitewater by the third day. As the whitewater was getting bigger and better, we were getting deeper and deeper into the wilderness of Eastern Nepal. On the fourth night we camped on a beach at this huge bend in the river that had an amazing panoramic view of the river valley...there was also a full moon to top it off. This is the beach where we decided to take a rest day. The rest day was spent doing laundry, bathing, and comparing boats with the locals. A group of us went on an adventure that afternoon and were guided by a local man whom Gerry has apparently known for years. When we arrived, he came out yelling, "Geddy boss! Geddy Boss! Big Boss!" They were both quite happy to see one another and he took us on an excellent hike. We hiked from the beach to his homestead and on up about 3,000 vertical feet above the river. The view from the top was amazing and we were treated to some hospitality by some of our guide's relatives. We re-hydrated and had a snack of homegrown lemon with salt and fresh chilies...simple and delicious! It is wild to think that these people spend their entire lives so high in the mountains and are able to sustain themselves with the produce and animals on their steep mountainside farm. Anything else they have is hiked in from far away and isn't much. We hiked down just before sunset on one of the most treacherous trails I can recall traveling on. It was more like a controlled slide for me thanks to my worn out Chaco's...

The last few days of the Sun Kosi were filled with great rapids, one of which we decided to portage since the water level was still high from the late monsoon. The Harkipur portage was no easy task and took all the manpower we had...the lady power was used to prepare lunch while we lugged boats and gear over boulders to a safe put in. Although this portage was a pain in the ass and took most of 2 hours, I was happy to walk around the rapid that has caused a number of fatalities, including one last season when a guide fell out of his raft. The last full day of paddling included a section of river called the Jungle Corridor, a long stretch of continuous big water rapids that were tons of fun. Gerry took off with a group on the last morning shortly after sunrise in order to catch a flight back to Kathmandu and eventually to Bhutan. The rest of us started later and arrived at the take out mid-morning to find out that our bus was not there due to a transportation strike. So, we spent the entire day in Chatara eating dal bhat and hoping that the strike would end and our bus would arrive. It finally arrived that evening and a group of us went down to the river to load the gear on the bus in the dark. This turned out to be a long night! It was only supposed to be 4-5 hours to Chitwan National Park, where we were planning to spend two nights and take a break from the water. The bus left Chatara around 10:00pm and we didn't get to Chitwan until the following morning. It was a loud and bumpy evening on the bus and everyone was relieved to arrive in Chitwan, which had a nice little town just outside the park. After breakfast at the Hotel Jungle Resort, we had a few hours to relax and catch up on rest. It was nice to get to a computer and make contact with family after being out of touch for a few weeks. We went on a guided safari that afternoon that was planned by the hotel. It started with a 4km dugout canoe ride down a river. As I mentioned in a previous post, these canoes are extremely wobbly...instability coupled with the sight of crocodiles on the banks made for some exciting river travel. A couple people from our team decided to cut the canoe ride short and we let them off on the side of the river. The next part of our safari was a walk in the jungle. We were all hoping to see some rhinos but had to settle for spotted deer and birds, which were still pretty cool to see. We walked out of the jungle and to the elephant breeding center. It was kind of hard to see these giants chained up by the ankles but they all looked healthy and well taken care of. There was an amazing sunset view of the Manaslu range on the way home. I still can't get used to seeing these giant snow covered peaks from so far away in a hot jungle...they call from afar and I can't wait to get back to the high Himalaya!

The following morning, we went for an elephant ride through the jungle. Four of us were piled on the square platform harnessed to the giant. After an hour and a half of bouncing around on the the back of the elephant, we were dropped off on a little dock with stairs leading back down to solid ground. It was time for another bus ride. We loaded up mid morning and started heading toward the Trisuli River where the trainees would have their final evaluation from the 20 day guide course. I know this will come as a surprise, but our bus lost a ball joint on the way to the river and couldn't go on. Fortunately, another bus stopped and rescued us. Willie and I scouted the section of river the following morning. Although this was the first river I paddled when I arrived in Nepal in September, it was totally different as the water has dropped about 9 feet since then. The rapids were awesome! The water had been so high the first time I paddled it that many of the river features were washed out. It is so much fun to come over the top of these giant waves and actually get airborne in a kayak! That afternoon was the evaluation for the trainees and they all did great, especially since they had never seen this river and have only been guiding for a couple weeks. At this point, I was basically tagging along in my boat in case anything went wrong and fortunately nothing did. After packing up and some more bus trouble on the morning of the 30th, we finally departed for Kathmandu.

Every time I come back to the city, there are more and more travelers here. Thamel is packed and for the first time I couldn't get into the Holy Lodge. The whole guide course team, except for Gerry and the Bhutanese boys, went out to a big dinner at a place called Rum Doodles to close the course. It is a favorite spot for post-expedition dinners. The walls and ceiling are covered with customized wooden boards shaped like feet and describe various expeditions from decades past. There was one that was behind glass from Sir Edmund Hillary(first ascent of Everest in 1953) near our table. The history in places like this and in some of the old hotels here is so fascinating. People from all over the world have been seeking adventure up here at the top of the world for a long time now...and there is plenty to be found!

Well, the guide course is finished now and I'm back in crazy Kathmandu. Although it is fun coming back here after a trip, I usually try not to spend more than a couple days in the city before taking off again. However, I have developed a pretty angry ingrown toenail that needs some TLC. Pretty sure I didn't make it better by getting in there with a safety pin and my Leatherman...oops. I took a rickshaw to the CIWEC(travel clinic) yesterday to have it checked out and get some antibiotics. Hopefully, some drugs and warm soaks will do the trick and I can get back out there. My hope is to go up to the Solukhumbu (Everest region) in a couple weeks for some trekking and possibly a climb on one of the surrounding peaks. However, I want to make sure the feet are in good shape before I plan the trip. The next couple weeks will be devoted to healing and most likely some kayaking. Although it would be nice to have a set plan in place, it is easy to have faith with so much evidence from the past that things will work out exactly the way they are supposed to.
I hope this post finds all readers happy and healthy...thanks for reading!
Namaste ya'll!
Preston

Check out more photos @

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=218224&id=1533910566&l=b04f01bf9b

Bungee video: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1651579579386

Karnali River

The Karnali River is located in Western Nepal and is one of the more difficult rivers to reach in the country. In the past, getting to the put in involved two days of trekking with porters and tons of gear. Fortunately, there is now a road that will take you there...well if you can get through some obstacles it will get you there. This was the first Karnali expedition of the season for any company so water levels were somewhat in question...it was high!
I left Pokhara on September 30 with a nice couple from England to meet up with the rest of the group coming from Kathmandu. We had lunch and got on the road for what we thought would only be a day and a half. 3 of the girls on the trip, whom I had met in KTM a week before, showed up and were not feeling too hot. They had eaten some bad curry and were having trouble keeping anything down. After 5 or 6 hours on a hot bus with their heads out the window decorating the side of the vehicle, we decided it was time to seek some medical attention before going too far into more remote areas of Western Nepal. The doctor recommended that we stay in the town overnight so the girls could take medicine and rest. We were wondering if it was a good idea for them to stay on the trip at all. Being the tough Aussies that they are, the girls decided to stay on the trip and off we went for another full day of busing across Southern Nepal near India. We covered a lot of ground that day but had to stay another night in a village because the last stretch of road has not yet been paved and is challenging enough with daylight. Unfortunately, they are paving the road in order to build a damn on the beautiful Karnali. It is sad to think this amazing stretch of river will not exist in ten years. As is the case in all villages, we were greeted by a mob of kids who wanted to know what was up with these funny looking people with big colorful pieces of plastic(kayaks) on the roof. After a hearty dinner of Dal Bhat, we hit the sack in hopes of an early start to the river.
The next morning, day 3 of expedition, we started driving early and met the end of the pavement on one of the most incredible roads I've ever seen. At this point, it was a team effort to get off the bus and fill in the mud trenches with rocks when needed, and even do some pushing. I did some praying that the bus didn't go over the side and down through the clouds into the abyss. At one point, one of the Nepali guides called "high side!" when the bus did a big lean...luckily it didn't go over. "High side" is a command used in whitewater rafting to prevent the raft from flipping. It was a beautiful morning above the clouds and they eventually lifted revealing the Karnali River to us as we made the descent to the put-in.
After unloading a paddle raft, a gear raft, 6 kayaks, and tons of food and gear, we ate lunch and were off sometime mid afternoon. The first day on the water was great! Tons of huge wave trains but nothing very technical and we didn't have to scout any of the rapids. I was blown away at how big some of the waves were and was gaining confidence in my big water paddling skills...not for long! We camped on a gorgeous beach the first night and everyone on the trip was in agreement that this river was absolutely worth the 2.5 days of travel. When I say we camped on a beach, I mean we camped on a beautiful white sand beach with tons of room for everyone to spread out. There were no human footprints since we were the first to set foot on the beach after monsoon waters went down. We had fires every night and the sky was crystal clear...I personally saw dozens of shooting stars throughout the week. This was the Nepal wilderness that I had been hearing about and it made sense that people go through so much trouble to get there.
The second day on the river was more challenging than the first. It was a blast, but there were a few rapids that needed to be scouted. One of the rapids we scouted was the first one to flip my boat end over end instead of to the side like it usually happens. It was actually pretty fun but a good eye opener to how powerful this water can be. Day 2 was an action packed, challenging day of paddling and we made camp early. I had the pleasure of making a bowdrill set from driftwood at camp that evening and sharing the joy of creating friction fire with my new friends from down under. In addition to the 3 girls, there were 3 others from Australia on the trip. 2 of them were a couple who were great boaters and had been paddling all over Nepal for the past month. I heard so much about Australia and everything there is to do and see there that I might just have to go check it out for myself sometime soon...
Day 3 was a big day for our group on the Karnali. We scouted a couple rapids early in the day and they were getting bigger and more challenging as we continued downstream. We eventually entered into a gorge and one of the Nepali guys paddled over next to me and said, "this section very challenging!" I was already feeling a little tired from a couple days of paddling and the adrenaline from rapids that morning. We got out at the entrance of the gorge to scout and I couldn't see anything bigger than we had paddled so far. It looked pretty straightforward...I couldn't see around the bend! The first section of this gorge wore me out, my arms were super lactic and my form was getting sloppy. The river turned 90 degrees to the left. Without scouting, we took off. I was after a couple kayaks and saw the paddle go up indicating a safe line to run and we were in it. When I could finally see over the horizon, I knew I was screwed. It was bigger than most of the stuff we had been scouting and I knew that if I flipped it would be ugly. I dropped into a massive curling wave trying to get into a safe eddy and had no strength left to get there. The wave swallowed me and my 8 ft creek boat and I was under. The water was moving fast. With each roll attempt I could hear Ali (one of the Aussie boaters) yelling for me to get my roll. Each roll attempt was getting worse and worse and I was out of air. Eventually I pulled a knee out and the next thing I knew I was out of my boat...not good!!! I knew swimming in the big water would be a ride but had no idea it would be like it was. Not going to go into too much detail, but it was by far the longest, most terrifying swim I've taken on any river...brutal! After surfacing from being sucked into one of the whirlpools, I saw that our 16 ft paddle raft had also flipped and we had full on carnage! I was totally out of steam at this point but managed to get to the raft with a little help from Hannah sticking her paddle out for me to grab hold of. I hung with the swimmers on the raft for some time. This was a long and continuous rapid that showed now mercy to any of us. The currents were incredibly strong and would hold me down for uncomfortable amounts of time. Eventually, we got to a hydraulic and I was ripped from the raft and on my own again. My kayak surfaced about ten feet from me and I managed to get on top of it. One of the other safety kayakers helped me get it to shore. When I finally got to the river bank I was completely wiped out and concerned about where all the people and gear had ended up. I had no idea that swim would be as long and exhausting as it was or I would have hung in for some more time before exiting my boat. Don't recommend swimming in big whitewater...it sucks! Fortunately, nobody was hurt and no gear was lost. The rest of the afternoon was challenging for me personally. I got pretty rattled from the swim and think most of the folks in the raft did too. We were all feeling really grateful for the rest of the day. This happened to be the last major rapid on the river and the last 4 days were a relaxing Class I-II stretch of river. That night around the fire, I asked one of the Nepali guides what the name of that rapid was. He replied, "no name." I said, "That f$%king rapid needs a name!" And it was done...I named my first rapid...That Fu$%ing Rapid.
As the Karnali headed south toward India, the mountains got smaller and we saw more villages throughout the day. It was great to be out there and camping on the beaches was quite enjoyable. Lots of eating, sleeping, beach soccer, and hanging out with the locals. One of the highlights of the last few days was getting a ride in a dugout canoe. I went to take a picture of this canoe ferrying across the river and the man guiding it signaled for me to jump in. Talk about skills! This was the most unstable watercraft imaginable, but so cool to be in one of these things that has been used and remained unchanged for hundreds or thousands of years.
We got off the river on the morning of October 8 and started making our "16 hour" journey home. Some of the guests on the trip had differrent destinations and the group got smaller and smaller as we headed East. The plan was to drive all night and get to Kathmandu the next morning. However, the bus blew a fan belt in the middle of the night and we spent the whole night in the bus right in the middle of a road in Southern Nepal. It was a long night and the rain was coming down so the bus was hot and miserable. The drivers went and found a mechanic the next morning. Not surprisingly, they had a great deal of trouble finding the right belt. Arun and I left with the remaining guests mid day in the back of a truck so they could get on with their travels. We assumed the bus would be fixed and they could just get us on the way to KTM. After 7 hours of hanging around a junction town called Mugling, we decided the bus probably wasn't coming so we jumped in a car and got to Kathmandu around midnight last night.
So, back in the city for two nights and leaving in the morning to start working on the 20 day guide course. It begins at Sukute Beach and finishes with 10 days on the Sun Kosi River. Its always nice to be able to use the internet, sleep in a bed, and eat at good restaurants in the city. However, I'm ready to get back out there!
Thank you for reading my blog...please check out http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?aid=215545&id=1533910566 for more pictures from the trip.
Namaste!