Question: Can you turn a Park and Huck River in to an Expedition?

Updated: Apr 14, 2020

Answer: If you have the right team and resources, YES!

Answer: If you have the right team and resources, YES! After the struggle of deciding

what to do, after Evgeny told us we were on our own, we had to decide what to do with our last few weeks in Siberia. We’d heard of many different rivers that all had potential, but knew they’d also cost us an arm and a leg to get there. The weather also had a key part to play, it was raining… EVERYWHERE! This created other issues, such as getting to the rivers and then of course our safety whilst on the river. As you all know, we had quite the adventure on the Kitoy due to the severe rain fall and ever changing river levels. In the end, we decided that our best option was a river called the Zhombolok (Jhom-bo-lok). We had been told that this river was super fun, easy to access and most Siberian paddlers go there for a few days and make camp, and just lap the 4km section of beautiful Class 4 white water.

With that said, we were still here for expedition paddling and some suffering! We got to a small village called Orlik (shown on the map), at Orlik we said goodbye to our driver from the city and started to load up an old Soviet truck that would drive us the next leg further into the Siberian wilderness. Little did we know how adventurous this drive was going to turn out to be…

We had only expected to be driven up to the usual paddling section towards the bottom of the river, however once in the truck it felt like we drove up that valley forever, twisting through tight trees and charging through deep mud. At one point we were actually driving through the lake! After a few hours of truck surfing, we made it to an opening in the forest; we unloaded the truck and waved goodbye. We spent the remainder of the evening divvying up food and deciding how we can make this even more adventurous. Adam had been scouting the Upper part of the Zhombolok on Fat Maps, he had seen potential rapids and we hadn’t heard of people paddling that section. So the next day we hiked further upstream, passing two lakes and in to some beautiful lava fields.

After some lunch we found our way to the river only to find a small channel flowing through the trees. The river looked beautiful but with beauty comes a beast, trees creating sieves left right and centre. We found a slow spot in the river and get on. Taking things cautiously we gently paddle down a few beautiful sections of water, dodging trees and trying to choose the right channel. After a few mini portages to get to the main flow of river we found the first sights of white water. The river is small and technical so the rapids had the same feeling, awesome clean boofs and fun surf waves to play on. With more and more of the same, we come to what Adam had described as the biggest looking rapid from the map. We scouted and decided to run the rapid, a committing boof to a funnel running straight in to a big strainer, a ‘non-swim’ rapid with a clean exit to the left of the strainer (if you made it). Once through these last few rapids we found ourselves in the first lake, paddling as a team we made good progress across the stunning lake and got to the mini rapid connecting the two lakes. Once again, smashing the next lake we found ourselves at the next river section. A low footbridge meant a quick duck and roll, instead of portaging because the river was too high to just float on under. Soon enough we were back at the camp and settled down for some more lovely lentil, buckwheat and a sachet of spice mix…our favourite. Luckily, Jamie had seen some more wild rhubarb along the river bank while paddling down so we had some sweet dessert before getting a peaceful nights sleep in a beautiful valley.

Waking up to beautiful views we packed up and got ready to paddle down to the section we knew as the ‘Park and Huck’ part of the river, a section that the Russians tend to paddle on the weekends. We had fun trying to pack our boats, having unknowingly packed far too much food for this trip. After Elliot and Duncan had headed home they left us a few goodies, protein powder (heaps of the stuff), some extra energy bars and first aid kits. Duncan being our trip doctor and now not being with us, we wanted to take extra precaution. With the boats fully packed and super heavy we floated down to the start of the 4km section of white water we had been told about. We decided to leave our boats at the top, scout the whole section while taking some of our gear down to the bottom so we could set up camp and then have some joy laps! After yesterday’s paddle with trees and energy sapping lake paddles, this section was an absolute god send. It was a Class 4 water Park! It had big boofs, endless surf waves, technical ferry glides and eddy manoeuvres. We were in a dream. After a few laps and lots of laughs and smiles, we were caput. While Harry, Adam and Cara settled after eating loads more food, Joe and Jamie decided they had to have a quick night lap before it went completely dark. All Harry, Cara and Adam could hear was laughs and hollers all the way down. A perfect way to end a mini expedition up the Zhombolok river.

On the final day we woke early and set off down the last little flat section to the bridge where we had planned to meet our driver again to take us back to Orlik.

The drive was horrendous, it was cold, and rained/hailed most the way back. Originally, the plan was to drive straight on to the Urik but once back in the village we decided to stay the night in a guest house that our driver offered us. We enjoyed an evening exploring the local village, playing football with their family, eating Yak Dumplings and getting very, very drunk on some fine Russian Vodka with a Russian man who was also staying in one of the other guest houses! A great way to experience the true Siberian culture.