Song A Vuong - "Grand Canyon"
Section Length: ~ 12 km
Put In: HCMR Bridge [see text] Take Out: P'Rao [see text] |
Difficulty: Class III
Est. Flow: too low < 500 < 5000 < too high? Paddlers: Craig Ryan, Kit Davidson |
The Grand Canyon of the A Vuong is a classic section of river. With fun rapids, easy logistics, and the fact it is runnable almost 365 days a year, the only reason this stretch of river hasn't been exposed before is simply because of it's remoteness. Being 3 hours away from the main tourist routes has put it in the "obscure destination" category, which is a shame because this is a high quality section. With a length stretching anywhere from 6 to 15 kilometers, and a number of decent sized rapids separated by moving flats and small rapids, it should provide a fun day for all but the most adrenaline charged boaters.
Although the main put in is right off the Highway 14-B bridge, there are actually a couple different possibilities for putting on this river, depending on the length of river trip you are after. The first option is the aforementioned, which is simply putting on as close to the Ho Chi Minh Road bridge as possible. The second is to put on at around the halfway mark. The upper half generally has a higher ration of flat to rapids, whereas the second half has a higher ratio of rapids vs flats. So if you just after a short, exciting trip, the halfway access makes a great place to do so. This put in is right at "Midway Rapid", which is a bigger looking rapid clearly visible from the road. This drop is just around the corner above "The Narrows", and has a short road that descends from the highway down to the rapid. You can scout the rapid, or put in below.
Upper Grand Canyon [Ta Che to Xa Oi]
info coming soon!
Lower Grand Canyon [Xa Oi to P'Rao]
Beginning just downstream of the village of Xa Oi, at the end of a small road that drops from the highway down to the bottom of Midway Rapid, the Lower section of the Grand Canyon is the best option for most day-boaters. It has the best ratio of flat-to-rapids, including three exciting drops, and the scenery is still amazing. But it conveniently ends basically in P'Rao itself, and is the better of the two halves. The first drop, Midway Rapid, is a two part drop. Starting with a first stage of a short staircase of small waves and holes into a set of bigger pourovers at the bottom, it's an abrupt drop and the bottom holes can toss you around a bit. The second stage is a fun high-speed run past a couple of pieces of bedrock. There are some small pocket holes on the right that could trip up an unsuspecting boater so stick to either the middle channel or the far left channel.
The Upper Narrows is the first of the bedrock mini gorges that make up the larger Grand Canyon Narrows. Not a technically hard rapid, the biggest issues to watch out for here are some shallow boulders in the lead in, and some funky boils and currents bouncing off the walls of the mini gorge. Other than that it's a fairly straightforward three part drop; a lead in minefield of rocks gives way to a series of chutes, which then feeds into a nice series of waves and laterals to exit the mini gorge. To avoid hitting one of the shallow entry rocks it is best to swing way right, and then back to the center channel for the chutes.
Go Left & Die comes up not far after The Narrows. This fun drop has two parts; the first is a straightforward entrance over a line of bedrock, or over one of several small chutes. Below a flat pool, the river breaks into three channels. From the initial scout it looked like the easiest line was through the left channel. This involved skirting or riding a small lateral coming from the right, and then splashing down a bedrock channel. However, after we had ran it, our friends filming from the shore told us that from up above it looked like we chose the most exciting line. Funny how it all works out like that.
All shots of Go Left & Die.
Not too far downstream you get into the "boogie water" of the run. That is to say, a fair number of smaller rapids that are not massive in their own right, but are still fun. The first of these is the A Zinh Rapids, which is a series of low river-wide ledges of stone and rock. They are all easily passed just about everywhere. When in doubt, go right in the top, and then trend center for the rest of the drops, although if the water is high you can go through just about any channel. Another rapid just downstream has a double personality; the left side is full of rocks and holes and is very exciting, while the right is mostly calm and easy. This ends in a pool above Boneyard, the last of the bigger rapids.
The Boneyard is the last of the bigger drops in the Grand Canyon. The river twists and turns through a chunk of bedrock here, and splits around an island. The left side is a slalom through several small holes, which gives way to a choice between two channels, while the right is a double drop of two decent sized drops. The right side is more direct but is arguably easier, requiring only to be on line and paddling forward; the left side is more complex, with the holes at the bottom of the left and center channels being somewhat more powerful than the right channel. Just below this is another rapid, called "Cloud Rapid", that is either simple and easy at high water, or manky and frustrating at lower levels.
The takeout for the Grand Canyon is super easy to find and super convenient. Just north of P'Rao, the highway crosses the A Vuong River. About 50 m past this bridge is a road on the right, directly next to a coffee shop, that drops down to the river. You could continue down closer to town but the takeout options aren't as great as this.
The Video
The Map
All photos and videos copyright Kit Davidson.
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