Song A Vuong - "A Sanh Gorge"
Section Length: ~ 5 km
Put In: South End of P'Rao Take Out: A Rooih Road |
Difficulty: Class III-IV (V)
Est. Flow: too low < 300 < 5000 < too high Paddlers: Kit Davidson & Alfonso Perez |
Immediately downstream of P'Rao, the A Vuong River drops into a short gorge that the river has cut through some hills. This section is quite nice, and although it misses being a classic run for a couple of reasons, it is a nice section of whitewater. The bulk of the whitewater is spread out over half a dozen big rapids, most of which are found in the 2 kilometers of the gorge itself. Although there is quite a bit of flat, there are enough smaller rapids as well to break it up. One great thing about this stretch is it always has water; however it also happens to be 2.5 hours drive from Da Nang. The gorge is also short; if the good rapids lasted perhaps another kilometer or two, this run would be a classic for sure. As it is, its just a good run that is unfortunately a long ways away.
There isn't a super great put in for this run. You can use the takeout for the Grand Canyon section upstream, but it adds a few very slow, very flat kilometers to the trip. There is an ok road access at the south end of town, but this involves driving down a dirt road that can often be muddy. Finally, there is a short trail down to the river not far above "Fishing Nets" rapid but its small, easy to miss, and would likely only work with small boats. The best access is the dirt road, which can be found immediately after the very southern end of the Army Base in the south end of town.
If you've put in using the Army Base road, the river winds around a tiny hill on the left, and you will spend around 15 minutes getting to the first rapid. The trail off the highway put in not far above this and only takes a couple minutes to get down to. Either way, the first rapids are a small set known as "Fishing Nets". This simple drop is straightforward with two parts. At lower flows the best line is the run the left drop on the left and the second drop on the right. It's very easy. Be aware for nets in the river here as the locals sometimes string them between the rocks to snag fish swimming up or down stream.
The first of the big drops, "Stone House Rapid" is at the end of the flat below Fishing Nets. This is a somewhat long rapid, set on a gentle bend of the river. The riverbed loses a surprising amount of elevation in this drop, and at lower flows it is a decent minefield of sleepers and small rocks to move around. There is a large pool at the bottom for recovery, and generally the lower half of the rapid is cleaner than the upper. There is a wave at the bottom that may offer up some decent surfing at higher levels.
There is a brief interlude of flat, but around the corner the heart of the gorge comes up, a triple set of class III's stacked on top of each other with pools between them in the bottom of a bedrock gorge. The first drop, "Razor Thin", is a short staircase of rocks and holes; the right side offers a clean but thin line through the mess. A botched line wouldn't be bad at all here, but if you nail the line you can do the drop without getting too wet at all. The next drop, "Accelerator", is a fun shoot along the wall on river right, first down a sloping ramp in then over a fun pourover. This wall becomes more attractive and sticker at higher flows. Finally, the biggest drop of this set, "Jordy's Wall", comes up next. This drop looks complex but it goes easier than it looks. There are some decent holes to punch, and a couple of zones of funny water, espeially along the wall, but it is fairly straightforward with no serious hazard. The short mini-gorge at the end of this drop is a great place to relax and enjoy a breather.
There is a short break in the rapids after this, but down at the corner lies another drop, "Ski Jump", another long affair that is similar to "Stone House". A long, twisty lead in gives way to increasing gradient and bigger holes in the lower half. A huge ski jump sits at the bottom of the drop, and can be paddled over at most flows. Not far below this the gorge opens up to a larger canyon and the river character changes back to wide sandbars. But don't be fooled yet, there are still a handful of smaller rapids, and one big rapid, before the takeout.
The first small drop is a just around the bend from the gorge exit, and is a simple point-and-shoot. The next one just around the bend is best run down the left. An awkward gravel bar is next, which at low flows has a weird move down a chute and then you must avoid a pointy rock on the bank. Around the bend is a very interesting gravel bar rapid where the river has created a crazy undercut on the bank with a huge tree and it's root systems overhanging the river Beautiful and interesting, but also spooky!
A couple of short small rapids lie in the next straightaway; the upper one of these has a decent hole that may offer decent surf at certain levels, and the lowest one travels along a small wall of bedrock. Just around the corner is the final big rapid of the run, "Chutes du A Sanh". This last drop is an interesting rapid, with a couple of channels cut through a hard chunk of bedrock. The left channel is the larger one, and has a variety of lines that can be run, while the right channel is tiny and is not likely runnable at most flows. The left channel basically has 4 "doors", or channels, spread out along a 180 degree fan at the top of the rapid. All four feed into the lower half of the channel, which is a short hallway of stone. From river left to right, the first door is a junky staircase of rock that looks shallow and has pin potential. The second has a slightly shallow entrance move, and then a short left hand corner through some waves. The third entrance is a straight shot down some stones into the main current, and the far right door is a fun, twisty drop over some holes and into the current. The 2nd and 4th doors are best channels for kayaking.
If you don't want to deal with Chutes du A Sanh, you can exit the river just upstream, where a government suspension bridge crosses the river. If you choose to run or portage the Chutes, then the best takeout is found just downstream. Almost directly underneath the road that goes to A Rooih is a small rapid. If you exit the river on the right at the end of this small (and junky) rapid, there is a nice trail all the way up to the right. There is decent parking for motorbikes and the bridge and road make a great place to pack up gear.
Flows on this one are pretty variable- the river can be quite low, or it can be gigantic huge. It is likely the bedrock section of this run could be done quite low, although it would probably require putting on directly above the bedrock gorge and taking out just below, to skip the wide flat sections. As far as the upper end, you can generally get a decent peek a couple of the larger rapids from the highway above it, so take a peak and see if you like it. It's possible higher flows may wash some things out and open up different lines, but its also going to mean more push and power, so ultimately there is a cut off for everyone somewhere.
The Video
The Map
All photos copyright Kit Davidson.
All videos copyright Kit Davidson & Alfonso Perez. All music copyright to original owner. |