Pakistan, Indus River - Day Sixteen

By Darin McQuoid

In my short career of paddling, Pakistan wins the prize for the lowest
cost of living once in country. Being a notoriously cheap kayaker, this
motel on our fifteenth night was right up my alley at thirty cents per
person. We never spent a night in a heated building while in Pakistan, so as
an added bonus, it was nice and one warm.

Over cups of chai in the morning Chris decided his stomach still wasn’t up
to par, so he would go media from the road with my old camera. Down at water
level we got into the mix of things right away, after a quick hike through
some goat herding…

While on the trip I really thought so many days of similar big water would
blend together, and I would write about them in one big summary. Each day
had its own challenges and stand out rapids, and on day sixteen one of the
most memorable came early in the day.

The river split around a bedrock island, and rejoined into a maelstrom of
waves, holes and folds, all leading into a fifty foot wide hole that could
potentially surf a kayaker into a pile of boulders. After that it was simply
a hundred yard long run out of monster breaking waves.

We would come down the alley way, wait to pass a lateral ledge, then drive
far to river left, completely avoiding the monster hole. At least that was
the plan.

Bhe Indus set the example for the complexity of scouting big water, and
Ben quickly realized he wouldn’t be going left of the hole. He squared up
and dropped in, disappearing for a tense moment but resurfacing clear of
backwash.

Phil Boyer went left earlier than Ben, squared up and emerged from the hole
unscathed, so I told myself it was really just a big class IV…as long as
you don’t screw up. I gave a thumbs up and hiked back to my boat, knowing
that it would be big and a lot of it would have to be figured out at river
level. On a river of this proportions, features constantly change and luck
can play a large role in lines.

I came into the boof hot and got enough of one to be stable and in control
through the alley way. I knew the rapid was too long to paddle at full speed
the whole time, and this seemed like a good time for a break, when Phil made
the move through the lateral folding hole it looked pretty mellow.

As my bow dropped into the fold I realized it wasn’t going to be mellow at
all, and I should have a lot more momentum but it was too late. I went deep
and resurfaced upright but facing upstream. As I turned around a wave broke
over my head and knocked me over, forcing a quick roll. I told myself it
would be ok as I rolled up. While scouting I had liked a right of center
line where the big hole looked more like a wave, so I lined up for the wave
train. To my displeasure the first big wave broke as I came into it, and
with no speed I was surfed to the left and once again, not facing the right
direction and the hole was approaching too fast, and one last wave spun me
around backwards. Thanks to the quick turning ability of the Hero, I was
able to straighten out at the last second and drop in.

It felt like dropping into the base of a big waterfall, but I remembered
what I had heard from big water veterans; tuck in tight and protect your
skirt and paddle.

I surfed about fifty feet to the right in almost no time, and to my relief,
came right out

Our next cascade had looked very questionable from the Karakoram Highway,
but from river level it looked friendlier than expected. Or perhaps the last
rapid had just put things in perspective, but it was a beautiful boulder
garden with quality moves.

Once past the gorgeous rapid we were happy to have two huge puzzles behind
us, and the river split off from the road. Chris and Roland drove downstream
to speak at the school while we finished up the section.

The corner revealed one more long scout, and my eyes widened but mouth
stayed shut as Ben routed Phil through a big rapid, and Phil styled it with
no problems.

The walls opened again, and gradient eased off, letting us get away lots
of read n run with the occasional quick scout from shore.

Special thanks to Roland Stevenson for dealing with logistics, and Chris Korbulic for taking some epic shots.

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

Darin McQuoid