Our thanks to our trip leads at Two Blade Adventures.
Republic of Georgia 2017 Day 5 Afternoon:
After my failed attempt on the Chvanistskali, we continued down past the confluence for this fun little gorge. Egor had said that it was class II to III and the float was more just so I could get a section of river that day. But, with the high water, we found the run to be quite fun with a lot of class III to III+ rapids. All were big water, so I was more tempted to give it a IV- feel just because there were always waves, boils, and seams that were wanting to flip you, something that I think a class III boater would struggle with. But, the moves were straight forward enough and Diane and Jo objected to the class IV- rating so I gave in to their protests.
The run starts in an open valley, you cross under a nice old roman bridge, and then round a corner or two and enter into a wonderful little gorge. The gorge has a huge wall rising off of the right bank, and a highway high above on the left. I didn't feel the road was noticeable in the main gorge, but certainly downriver you feel roadside. Not long after you pass under the highway, the river begins to ease up and you quickly find yourself at the take-out. I imagine at lower flows the rapids are significantly easier, but as it was, I feel this little section is totally worth fitting in if you have a spare 45 minutes in the area.
That evening we drove to the small village of Kveda Chkhutuneti. Egor and Alona have made friends with a local family there, who opened their house to us and cooked us an amazing feast. We walked in around 9 pm, ate until around 10, and then quickly fell asleep.
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Mi 0.0:
- From the confluence with the Chvanistskali, the river is mellow for a bit. There was a nice arch bridge in here though. The rapids are pretty much just class II in here.
- Normal Put-in. The normal put-in is at an obvious spot just after where the road crosses the river.
- Gorge Starts (III to III+). The first rapid leads to a wonderful tall wall on the river right. The rapid isn't hard but at our high flow, the water was very boily and full of seams.
Boogie continues and is class III in nature…
- Biggest Rapid (III to IV). The river bent right and the biggest rapid was here. We ran down it generally right of center before moving back left to avoid the hole at the bottom.
Boogie (III- to III+). At our flow the section was continuous class III to III+ without many breaks. It ended up being a real treat.
- The highway bridge crosses overhead…
Boogie (III- to III). Below the bridge, boogie continues but as I recall it did get easier. Honestly, this section didn't look like much from the road but really ended up being quite fun! Eventually in the last mile, things ease up to class II- down to take-out.
Put-in / Take-out: Use the GPS coordinates in the map and a mapping program on your phone. The street names will not be legible anyways…
Put-in: As you approach the Chvanistskali (from the Tbilisi side), put-in is just before the bridge over the tributary.
Take-out: On the side of the road at a bus stop.
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