kayakstan.net :: Day 23 - Kichi Naryn
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Even with the help of horses, our 8km portage of the last canyon on our Naryn multiday trip took its toll, and we slept at a convenient gurt camp just before reaching the main road. 'Gurt camp' is probably a little misleading - we slept in a rusty old caravan in the middle of nowhere, but were fed well by the locals and subjected to Russian national tunes from a mandolin.
Ahhh, the joy of a mandolin.
After frosty multiday camps, we thought this was the height of luxury
While preparing for the final stage of our portage to the agreed meeting place the next morning, a small miracle occurred as both the trucks came steaming down the hill out of nowhere to pick us up. Phil H had done the business, and the trucks were now back to their usual fine form, and Andrea our driver had figured where we might have gone if we'd not been able to make it through the final canyon. However the telepathy had occurred, it was with tired jubilation that we loaded the trucks and headed away from the Naryn. Tim celebrated by dramatically breaking a strap in two while tightening the boats, and performed a rather impressive spiderman fall from the roof of the truck...
The TGR crew who had been out the year before had recommended the Kichi Naryn ('small' Naryn), a significant tributary to the main Naryn, that is almost equal in volume at the confluence. So off we went to scout the river. The interesting bit runs through a commiting gorge, guarded by a difficult entry rapid. With most of the team feeling the effects of the day before, we postponed the paddle till the next day, and made a scenic camp mid-afternoon at the get-on.
The more energetic took a single truck to scout some of the Kichi Naryn tribs further up the valley, but they didn't get very far before they literally got stuck in the mud. It was a slightly apologetic Tim who paddled down to ask the other truck to come tow them out. Hoho.
The next morning we set off down the river. There is little to say really apart from that the TGR lot were unsurprisingly bang on. Medium volume grade 4 (4+), leading into a committing and rather impressive gorge. We all got off the river absolutely buzzing, and it was certainly one of the highlights of the trip so far.
Synchronised carnage..
It was quite a day!