Yangtze River Adventure

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Aftermath

What happened to the raft? It had folded under the other three. We rode this mutation the rest of the way over more monster water until we reached a flat section where we pulled over to check for other damage. We lost very little gear: a couple of tripods, a smashed hard case, a jacket and some food. My camera containers with exposed film were safe. We still had our base radio, or so we thought.

The most damage wasn't done to the rafts. Some of the team had had enough. The white water had been beyond expectation and belief. No one knew what lay ahead, and only a few were willing to find out. We had faced the unknown unwillingly in that last hour-long section, and survived. If we had scouted it would have been called un-runnable, and maybe we would have tried to hike out from the last camp site, where we saw a trail, and where a Tibetan hunter had stood to see us off. As it was, we had run it, the river miles that the all-Chinese team said was un-runnable. We had survived the River of Doom.

Five Day Camp

What lay ahead? This was on all our minds. The film crew decided they wanted to hike out. The Chinese team was in favor of rafting a few more miles and landing on the Chinese side of the river. We were camped in Tibet. Ken, Ron, and I were for continuing on the river, thus an impasse. We tried to call out on the base radio, stringing the wire antenna between two low trees, and then we found that it had shorted out when it got soaked during the raft flip and the ensuing whitewater. There was no way to tell the road support team, headed by Jan Warren, what our situation was. We found out later that since we were overdue they were worried also, preparing to send a search party. The Tibetan hunter who had seen us at the camp site back in the "un-runnable" section reported to Batang and the waiting support team.

For two days we discussed and cajoled. Finally, Paul decided that since he didn't want anymore days of white water like what we had experienced, he was going to paddle across to China and hike out. Ken didn't think that was a good idea, but couldn't stop him. He waved farewell, and we watched him leave his kayak on the rocky shore and he disappeared into the foliage, climbing. Days later, slogging through a snow drift, a Tibetan villager found him and took him to his village and then to Batang, arriving before the rest of us.

Yes, the rest of us. We were still discussing. Ron Mattson and I explored downstream on the third day, and returned with a report that for at least 7 K it was runnable, despite the large set of rapids just below our camp. The Chinese team perked up. With the film crew still adamant about no more river running, and while Ron and I were scouting down river a second day, Ken decided there was nothing for it but to hike up to the nearest village and get horses to carry out the equipment. He didn't want to leave anything behind. He loaded his pack with more than any of us could have carried and began the week long trek back to Batang, a story only he can tell, which I have heard a couple of times. It was a long hike, which Dan Dominy filmed the beginning of. He met barking mastiffs intent on taking off a leg or two. A kindly woman shows him a place to rest, and finally he gets a truck ride back down to the Yangtze and across the bridge to Batang.

 

 

 

First Descent
Death on the Yangtze
Yushu
To Dege
Three Boat Rapid
Cold Night
Dege
River of Doom
Bigger Better
Aftermath
5 Day Camp
Meanwhile
Adventure's End
Overland
Map

Continued