Paddling into the Pamirs

Trip report 2

  Having recovered Simon from his extended scouting mission, during which he shepherded 35 sheep 35 miles over 4 mountain passes, we stocked up on provisions and left Dushanbe for the mountains again. We got a ride east to the town of Romit, then hitched a cheap ride in an old army convoy truck, passing by the creeks that Simon's reconnaissance had deemed too inaccessible, too unrunnable, or worst of all, too easy.  At 8,000 feet, we reached the end of the road, and the town of Refugar.  When we arrived, the shadows had fallen, but we weren't interested in sticking around, as we had a pass before us, on the other side of which was our river.  We loaded our boats, and shook hands with the skeptical Refugarans.  That evening we climbed a few hundred feet, lost the path, and went to sleep early.

   The next morning, starting early at 5:00 am, we enjoyed an 8 hour jaunt over a grassy saddle at 10,500 feet, then down to the Yagnob river below.  All the while, we were envisioning the Muksu River portage, albeit with an additional mile of elevation, which awaits us two months hence.  The scenery was lovely though, and the Yagnob was not to disappoint.  Around 3 pm, we started paddling and camped at the start of the first gorge.  The first two stretches of whitewater looked fun, but presented the very real, heartbreaking threat of drowning us.  They each consisted of a hundred yards of intense, runnable whitewater followed by a vicious-looking opportunity to pin, with no suitable egress between.  But better was to come; the next few miles were awesome.  They were continuous, steep, and a little pushy, with 600 cfs being slightly higher than ideal.  We ate lunch in a little glen at the bottom of the canyon where a tributary came crashing down the side of the gorge, opening it up enough for some trees and wildflowers to grow.

   Just downstream of our lunch spot, the river was pushed between a giant rock wall on the right and big boulders on the left.  We ran an 8 foot drop into a mini-gorge that led the water under a river left undercut.  Andrew went last, and didn't adequately anticipate the current going left.  He was slammed into the wall; luckily the current wasn't pushing too hard, and he managed to back up into a left eddy.  After that, the river all folds under two huge boulders, but it's possible to paddle underneath, as there's room for kayaks, torsos, and heads. The rest of the day, we paddled whitewater and meandering flatwater intermittently.  The close call of the day occured when Simon probed an undercut river-left slot backwards, after boofing the entry drop with too much left angle.  From the eddy downstream, Middy saw a flash of paddle, followed senconds later by Simon, shooting out of the water in a giant, stress-relieving ender.  The final rapid of the day was a big flushy drop, with a pushy lead in.  We scouted and debated for while, but in the end, there was no reason to  portage.  Andrew and Middy snuck the lead-in, Simon ran the main line, and we all dropped through the chaos without trouble.

   Monday started out with miles and miles of class III, mostly an excellent chance to sunburn.  But it was undeniable that our little Yagnob was growing up;  the waves and holes were meatier than before and eventually the river got serious.  It went through a cool canyon with big whitewater, rocks balanced on packed dirt pedestals, and big walls in the distance.  We were forced to carry the lean-in to a cool, angsty, adolescent drop, because of a shallow landing, but we seal-launched directly below it, and ran through a big curve overhung by the left bank.

   Another rapid saw both Middy and Andrew flip in an enormous top hole, and roll up just before the lip of a scary looking, but not-unfriendly second drop. It was clear that the change in volume was affecting our ability to judge the disposition of the river's features.  Nonetheless, we made it through the canyon, and another shorter one below it, before stopping for the night.

   The next day's story is sadly not one of whitewater but rather one of sweating under the sun and breathing dust.  We had to make it back to Dushanbe for further visa negotiations, so the plan was to stash the boats and return later to finish the Yagnob, now Fandarya, and other northern Tajikistan rivers.  Almost immediately, we found a suitable spot where most of a mountain side had slid into the gorge, covering the river with massive boulders, 1800 cfs of water siphoned through
the rocks as it cascaded down 600 feet.  Below, we found an overhang, hidden from the road above, where we left boats and gear.

   Exhausted and sunburned, we walked up to the dirt and gravel track (read 'national thoroughfare').  We had hoped to flag a ride to Dushanbe, but cars were almost as scarce as shade out there, so we relented and hopped a crawling Kamaz truck to Anzob.  From there, we eventually got a ride over the pass, and down the dusty road to the capital city.
  This morning, the next phase of the visa solution was begun, requiring our passports until Monday.  We can't wait that long to get back to the rivers, however, so we're leaving tomorrow.  In other news, the expedition is happy to welcome a new addition to the fly hovel: a sheep is now located on the concrete front lawn.  Sadly, he is not long for this world.

Trip Report 1

The bureaucratic maneuvering is at last complete. We are duly registered with Tajik KGB and clear to go paddling, no thanks to our own abilities.   In fact, all our own work over our first few days here was worth exactly nothing.  In the end we paid Ichboll at a tourism company to do it for us. 

While this was going on, however, we met with a real-estate agent, Akbar, who found us a home in return for drinking his vodka and eating his food.   We moved into a charming two room hovel a block and a half away from the presidential palace.  There are some minor issues- flooding, flies, forward chickens, but it is also cheap and conveniently situated downtown.

Thursday we final began paddling, on the Karatag River west of Dushanbe.   Simon, convalescent of elbow, headed east to hike a few other possible runs.  "Simon: alone in the mountains of Tajikistan."  More on that when/if he returns.   We took a cab from Dushanbe, west and then north along the river until the road crapped out.   From there we hired a donkey from a small Tajik man who was intent in ripping us off.   The run was roadside so we had a nice view of some scary whitewater- continuous, steep, and pushy- maybe 600 cfs.

We almost made it to the town of Hakime but were waylaid by two military "men," who might have been 17 but made up for it with guns.   They searched us and made us sleep in a pasture a half mile below town to await the commander the following morning.  We slept with sheep, and that was fine.   But in the morning the commander did not come, so we packed the boats for hiking and took off upriver.  The whitewater upstream was more mellow than what we had seen downstream.   We made it two thirds of the way to the town of Pairon when the river began to braid, and the returns on our schlepping became inadequate.  We put in.   The first hour of paddling was great fun- extremely fast and wavy class IV-.  There was no need to scout and not much to avoid.   This was lucky as we were both paddling lamely.  Out of shape, out of coordination, loaded boat, and whatnot.

Below Hakime the river enters a gorge and begins to get down to business.  It was so continuous that modestly difficult drops were left undone for fear of being pushed into subsequent drops out of sorts.  Class V- rapids were stacked one on top of another and connected by honking wavy current which is to say we carried most everything that was big.  Maybe if there were less water.  Maybe if all the rocks were not placed so inconveniently.  But as it was we ran a lot of super continous class IV and the occasional class V.  That night we camped beside a monstrous drop we unselfishly left for the second descenders.

 

Today we finished the gorge through some beautiful stretches that contained drop after drop of pushy rocky whitewater without stop.  We were tempted by several runnable drops that were sadly only lead-ins to unrunnable drops.  Towards the end of the gorge, there were several miles of Blackwater-ish fun. When the canyon opened up, the river became easier, and we paddled a few hours of class III down to a town, whence we caught a ride to Dushanbe and on which ride the scariest part of the trip occurred.  Our smiley, crazy driver decided to run a roadblock, weave around ongoing road work, then, when the road was no longer passable, take the sidewalk and the crest of the roadside hill to access another road.  What fun. Of course we thanked him for saving us these precious 5 minutes.

Soon we plan to head east for a few nearby creeks and then over the mountains to the north. 

We hope you're having a great summer.  Thanks for your support.

Andrew and Middy and Simon

Paddling into the Pamirs- the prospectus

A team of three elite expedition kayakers proposes to descend over 100 river-miles of unpaddled tributaries in Tajikistan’s Pamir mountains, using two major rivers, the Muksu and Obikhingou, as access routes to the otherwise completely isolated whitewater of these tributaries.

The trip
Our team proposes to kayak two large rivers, the Muksu and Obikhingou, deep in Tajikistan’s Pamir mountains, in order to access and descend over 100 unpaddled-miles of their tributaries, rivers which were previously outside the limits of whitewater exploration. 
In the 1980's, Russian paddlers explored many of the rivers in what was then the Soviet Union's frontier state of Tajikistan.  Although the difficulty of the whitewater they managed to negotiate in their inflatable catamarans is impressive, the craft were not suitable for the more technical and intense whitewater, particularly steep, low- volume rivers.  As a result, only Tajikistan’s largest rivers were navigated, leaving much of its most spectacular whitewater unexplored.  Furthermore, in the decade following its independence Tajikistan was embroiled in a civil war that took a devastating toll on its population and made tourism impossible. Only recently has the opportunity to explore the steep whitewater of the Pamirs, the world's tallest mountain range outside of the Himalayas, become possible again. 
The same vast glacial systems and high mountains that produce Tajikistan’s whitewater also restrict access beyond its largest rivers.  It is our team’s plan to use these major rivers, marginally accessible themselves, as arteries of access to smaller, more remote rivers.  Our experience with extended, self-supported expeditions will allow us to paddle two of these large rivers, the Muksu and Obikhingou, down to the mouths of un-run, low-volume tributaries with the supplies necessary to explore and descend these inflowing creeks and rivers.  In this way our team will kayak and explore almost 300 river-miles, over a third of which has never been run. 

Itinerary
8/2: Arrive in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

8/2-8/21: Purchase provisions, and to acclimate to the altitude and whitewater, attempt several rivers and creeks of western Tajikistan’s Fann Mountains.  Return to Dushanbe.

8/21-9/4: Purchase provisions, obtain oblast permit from the Ministry of the Interior, and attempt several first descents of Surkhab River tributaries- the Ptovkul, Kafmarchona, and Garub Rivers.

9/5-9/9: Drive to Khorog and re-supply.

9/10-9/25: Paddle and Explore the Muksu Watershed (totalling143 river-miles; 48 miles of first descents): Drive along Pamir Highway to the Takhtakorum Pass.  From the road, hike approximately 15 km over this 4,555 meter pass to the glacier that supplies the Belandkyk River (headwaters of the Muksu).  Descend the Belandkyk, and deposit cache at the confluence of the Belandkyk, Kayndi, and Sauksu rivers.  Hike up and descend the Kayndi and Sauksu Rivers, both first descents.  Continue down the class V canyons of the lower Muksu.

9/25-10/1: Return to Khorog and re-supply.

10/2-10/18: Paddle and Explore the Obikhingou Watershed (totaling 145 river-miles; 55 miles of first descents): Drive up the Vanch River valley to Poimazor, hike over a 4,200 meter ridge to the Garmo River.  Descend the Garmo to a confluence of two unnamed tributaries and Obimazar River, deposit cache, hike up, and attempt first descents of each.  Continue down the class V Garmo and Obikhingou Rivers.

10/18-10/22: Return to Dushanbe.

10/26: Depart Dushanbe.

The team
Andrew McEwan, Simon Beardmore, and Middy Tilghman have taught, paddled, and traveled together extensively in North American, Europe, Oceania, and Central Asia.  With over 25 combined years of endurance training and racing as members of the U.S. National Wildwater Team and having successfully completed ocean and river expeditions throughout the world, our team has the unique combination of fitness and skills necessary to accomplish our ambitious goals in Tajikistan. 
    Most recently, we descended the Sary Jaz River from Kyrgyzstan into China.  This experience in Central Asia will be critical for managing the logistics in Tajikistan, one of the region's more rugged, infrequently visited countries.  The endurance acquired from our experience racing and training has proven critical for long, demanding trips in severe settings like the team’s 2002 Barrenlands Wildwater Expedition, which successfully explored 1,200 river-miles in 50 days in the Canadian Arctic. This fitness and expedition experience combined with our extensive preparation and style of deliberate expedition paddling provides us with the skills necessary for remote, self-contained river exploration among the giant peaks of the Pamirs. 
    Together we have tested our limits in the grueling training and intensity of international competition, on remote New Zealand mountaintops, and in some of Central Asia’s most difficult whitewater.  We feel that our mutual trust and confidence under stress is our team’s most hard-won and valuable asset.

Expedition members

Middy Tilghman, age 27, led a 1,200 mile, 50-day self-contained river expedition in the Barrenlands of Arctic Canada in 2002.  In 2005, he was the leader of a descent of the class V canyons of the Sary Jaz River in the Tien Shen Mountains of Kyrgyzstan and China.  Middy was a member of the U.S. National Wildwater Team from 1996 to 2004.

   

Simon Beardmore, age 25, a member of the Sary Jaz expedition, has paddled in ocean and river expeditions throughout the US, Canada, and Europe.  Simon was a member of the U.S. National Wildwater Team from 2000-2002.  He is currently a masters candidate in chemistry in Scotland.

Andrew McEwan, age 27, is a former National Wildwater Champion (2000,2001,2003).  He recently placed 21st, the highest placing of an American, at the 2006 Wildwater World Championships in the Czech Republic.  He was also a member of the 2002 Barrenlands and 2005 Sary Jaz expeditions.  His Russian language skills were an important asset in Kyrgyzstan and are expected to be equally valuable in Tajikistan.

Bibliography
In addition to ongoing dialogues with several Russian rafters and kayakers who have paddled in Tajikistan, the following were useful to our research:

Gavrilov, Vladimir. Rivers of an Unknown Land. Laingsburg, MI: Boreal Press, 2004
Hopkirk, Peter. The Great Game. New York: Kodansha International, 1990.
Edwardes, Michael. Playing the Great Game: A Victorian Cold War.  London: Hamish Hamilton, 1975.
Tactical Pilotage Chart, G-6B 1:500,000. St.Louis, MO, Defense Mapping Agency, 1981.
-Tactical Pilotage Chart, G-7A 1:500,000. St.Louis, MO, Defense Mapping Agency, 1984.
Soviet Military Topographic Maps, Tajik SSR 1:50,000(maps too numerous to mention). Moscow, 1963-1981.