Gorge #1 (just after Viagra Falls):
Looking Upstream
Then (via Redbull Flowhunters)
Now as of Jan, 2016 |
What it used to look like
Now there's a new rapid and boulder's damming the river
Gorge #2
The crew last year
This year... note the giant monolith now in the river (dams it a bit)
Gorge #3
I don't have an old shot I could find of this one for comparison, but I will say this. You used to be able to walk down the left side because it was dry. Now you're stuck with something with much more risky
In Summary:
While I could go into great detail as to how we made it into and through each of these gorges, it really would defeat the purpose of this post. By the time someone else drops into the Upper Hokitika river again... these gorges will likely have already changed. Some for better, other's for worse. The beauty and challenge of kayaking the West Coast of New Zealand is that you must treat every one as if it is a first descent... and in some ways you do get to have your own personal first descent. The river will continue to change from year to year. And we'll again get to admire the living river and the changing earth.