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Waterlevels: Low volume.
Accessibility: Paddle the "Tin Town down" section of the Sary-Jaz, and keep your eyes peeled for a small trib coming in from the right hand side. Your walk-in starts here!
Lower Terekty (the Kyrgyz Chateau Queyras)
A tight but fun grade 3/3+ gorge running for approx 1km, followed by some fun boulder dodging back down to the Sary-Jaz.
Length: 2.5km (although you can walk in further!)
Grade: III/III+ (with a must make eddy)
Put in/Get out: Put in as far upstream as you can be bothered to walk. We put in 500m above the start of the gorge section, but above does look like fun. The track to follow is on the upstream bank of the river (as it enters the Sary-Jaz). We climbed the hill and crossed the plateau before descending back down to the river, but skirting below the hill would, in hindsight, have been a more sensible option. Take-out as for the lower Sary-Jaz.
Description: The gorge is very tight, less than a metre in places and it would be wise to inspect it in its entirety for new log lams and boulder chokes before paddling. The first small gorge is 2/3 metres wide and quite straight forward, followed by a narrower gorge squeezing between high cliff faces, very similar to Chateau Queyras in the French Alps. It is necessary to stop about 75m from the bottom of the gorge as there are two henious siphons that look like they are there to stay guarding the exit. You are guaranteed to see these if you're walking up the river! Seal-launch in below these and continue down the rest of the section, dodging between some large boulders, before flattening out and rejoining the Sary-Jaz.
Last Paddled: 01-Sept-2005