After a tortuous ride from Manali to Rishikesh we met up with Shalabh and got a lift up to his place on the Alaknanda.
It was not long before we were running the big water of the Alaknanda River.
The girls were loving it, so very different to the Chandra River.
We even decided to do a multi-day trip. This camp was unbelievable and with enough driftwood from the monsoon we did not have to worry about leopards with the size of our fire!
Some big waves, Kim is actually a metre or so upstream of this rooster tail!
Some big holes too!
Everyday was a dream to kayak, warm water, sunshine and blue skies. Who could ask for more!
The one thing you do have to contend with in India are the crowds. Here at Karnaprayag we were the highlight of the day. If you actually look close enough you will see people lined up on the bridge.
A few scouts were needed on the Alaknanda, here the girls are checking out their lines while Pawan is more concerned at trying to look cool for the camera!
Annie nailing another line!
Kim was in cruise mode on this section, she just seemed to take everything in her stride.
Throughout our time above Rishikesh we based ourselves out of Shivanandi. A beautiful riverside camp on the Alaknanda where time just seems to slow right down! The light that evening turned everything very orange, it felt as though we still had our sunglasses on!
Annie really happy to be on the river!
Kim was also pretty happy too!
For 10 days we ran a bunch of sections of the Alaknanda from Chamoli down. The Pindar was ran too and not forgetting the Mandakini. This was a sweet little river, Lara Tipper told me all about their first descent on the Mandakini. We ran it in October, it must have been epic after the monsoon!
Our last day together in India. I think this picture sums up our trip.
Here is to the next one together!
Kayakers: Kim Grant, Ute Heppke and Annie Quathamer
No comments:
Post a Comment