Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Paddling the Upper Alaknanda and Mandakini Rivers

View of Alaknanda river from bridge in Rudraprayag.





A couple of weeks ago myself and Nick Clegg had an opportunity to get away from the Ganges river and head off on a bit of a paddling mission. We had heard from other people that this was a nice area to explore. With boats in hand, we headed off for the 8hr bus ride to Chamoli up in the Garwahli Himalayas. After arriving in Chamoli we checked into Hotel Heaven for the night, deciding to head up to the next town on our map in the morning. This turned out to be a bit of a mistake as we ended up a ways above the river. Heading back down stream for 8kms we made it close to the river. Putting in we ended up paddling 22kms of grade3-3+, with one 4 at the end in Nandaprayag. After finishing up there we loaded up and made are way back down to Rudraprayag. We ended up befriending a chai shop owner who helped us get set up with a small room over looking the Alaknanda river for 100 ruppes. The next morning we headed off to Chandrapuri in a share jeep. After about an hour of driving we made it the 28kms to the put in. We had an excellent view of Kedarnath(6940m). The next 28kms of paddling was awesome. Boat scouting a few sections of 3-3+ with a couple of 4's thrown in. Took us around four hours to get down with some stops for picture taking and rest breaks. Making the carry back to our little hotel in Rudraprayag, we settled down to a few cups of chai and after a afternoon of playing handball with a group of kids, a very good dinner of butter rotis, potato curry, rice and dal. Next morning we loaded up in a bus for the 5hr drive back to base. Since being there I have learned about some other rivers in the area. If you continue up to Josimath, there are some sick rivers. There is also the Pinder river at Karanprayag, the Nandakini river at Nandaprayag and you can go further up the Manadakini river to Kune to get a bit more whitewater.
Great trip. Check out the photos below.

Nick Clegg running a drop just above Chamoli, Alaknanda River.

Nick Clegg running the left line on the falls at Nandaprayag, Alaknanda River.
Map of the Manadakini River, from our our put in at Chandrapuri to the end at Rudraprayag.
Shuttle par excellence, India Styles.

View at the put in, Chandrapuri.

Nick Clegg manouvering between some nice boulders above the canyon.

Nick Clegg flying over one of the nicer drops on the canyon section of the Manadakini river.

Nice grade 3 rapid down in the Manadakini river.

Photos by David Prothero.

2 comments:

Romesh Roy Oza said...

The whole region has been described as the starting point for divine experiences in the ancient Hindu history which is part of their scriptures. I too have traveled there, though not rafting (I wish, I could have!). If you are born in India, and never went there, I would consider you to be the most unfortunate person.
-Romesh Roy Oza

Lal Bahadur Bam, Rajawar said...

Dear, Related Person
Namaskar,
I would like to inform you , The mandakini River is a most important river for Hindu pilgrimage but I search in this website I wouldn't be success to find out it the main and most importan aspect of this river , 1600 year ago the Kedarnath (Kedarbaba) had drop in this river his elder son Mohanyal (Kartikya) by some reason so the kartikya has flowing along the river from Kedarnath to Rudraparyag then Tha godiya of Godiya ghat (Gobind Ghat) fall Fishernet on Kartikey at Rudraparyag 's in Mandakini River then katyuri King catch (Take or Catch from fishernet) it and carry it in Katyuripura then Put it in Katyuri area at Baghagewar. by The name of Kartikey the katyuri dynasty ruled in Katyurking dom , Now the Katyuri Real or Original dynasty is in Nepal's Doti District Bogatan area they every time Said historical folk event related with Kaedarnath and Mandakini River of Kartikya ( Mohanyal Lacal Name ) PLz submit this real Event related with Kedarnath and Mandakini River Ok, Thanks, If you have any question about it and you want to know more about it , Plz Call me:9848427575 , Nepal and Do Email:- lalbdrbam@gmail.com
Note: — Tha Raika Shahi and mall is not Katyuri Dynasty they are Khas malla Dynasty of Jumala but Doti Bogatan area's Bogati Rajawar (Thakuri or Rajpoot) are Real or Orginal Dynasty of Katyurikingdom. Tha Kartikeya is Their Kuldewata. They are gone from Katyur to Doti Bogatan.
Now all are reading wrong history of Katyuri by Reading Raika Shahi and malla is Katyuri dynasty, it is wrong. In website I also saw it that is 100% wrong written.