Pakistan, Indus River, Day Twelve

By Darin McQuoid

Contact was made with Roland during breakfast, and he informed us of a
large gorge downstream that would warrant road scouting. There would be a
bridge access above the gorge, so we packed camp into the boats and hit the
water.

After just a few minutes on the water we pulled into an eddy above the
bridge that hung suspended over a colossal rapid. Blasting for a new road
directly above us took our attention away from the river, and we scurried up
to the road and safety, not knowing if the workers had seen us.

Back at roadside we enjoyed corn flakes with Haleeb "The Thickest Milk"
and while road scouting proceeded to be awed by the size of the river as it
wound through the only true gorge we had seen.

The scout made it apparent that there would be an initial walk around the
bridge rapid, followed by at least two more questionable portages in the
gorge, and several mandatory rapids as large as anything we had run.

My decision was easy. Still not fully recovered from the flu, easy
downstream progress was priority, in this case a quick walk up to the vans.
Chris was not feeling too swell either and accompanied. Ben and Phil
deliberated and decided to go big and get into the gorge while we would
provide moral and media support. The bonus was that because the Karakoram is
high desert, there are basically no trees and great roadside photography
(better than on the river).

First up after the portage and seal launch was a big set of rapids, where
Ben and Phil went big and head great lines.

I got a few shots and we drove on to the next rapid, one that had been
pondered over during the road scout. It looked bad from all angles, but Ben
walked to river level and declared it good to go down the left. Phil and Ben
pulled up and scouted from the left bank, but quickly returned to their
kayaks and ferried back to the right. The left side was too perilous, all
the flow pushed into a sieve.

From high on the right bank the duo pronounced the hole was passable, but
big. Phil led the charge while Ben filmed, and he had no problems with the
monster hole and Ben followed, styling it without a roll. The final of the
gorge was a walled in rapid that had two terminal looking holes, and they
ended up making a creative portage down the right into a massive seal
launch. This was a big day for sure! Chris and I were glad to join them for
dinner and camping, and feeling better physically already we were stoked for
the next day on the water again.

Look for this trip in Clear H2O
Film’s upcoming release: Hotel
Charley IV.

Darin