Thailand First D no. 7

Yesterday we were on a mission to find a small class 4 creek just north west of chiang mai which we had been told is a good 10km run to do. On our way we found ourselves gaining a lot of gradient with a creek right next to us with a good amount of water in it. Earlier in the trip we got a first descent on the Mae Sa river which was a series of 10 waterfalls before the river dissappeared higher and higher into the mountain. We had now found the upper reaches of the same river in a new village. After a few hours of trying to find the river we were trying to look for we gave up the search and returned to this section of river beside the road. We found a put in at a small bridge and began the descent of the upper Mae Sa river.

-Me at the top of the big slide

Quite early on we came to a big slide that we had to portage and we put in above a tight drop with a fast lead in. Sam ran it first and got down ok, I followed and had too much speed and went deep and pitoned into the bottom but came out ok but i knew there was something bad under the water. As soon as i resurfaced I was out of my boat to try stop Will from running the drop. It was too late and he was coming down. Will tried to catch the eddy above the drop but it was too shallow and dropped in backward. He went under and did not come up, I was out of my boat and looked for the best option. I could see his hand reaching for the surface but there was no way to access him from the bank. Will was wedged between the wall on each side and under water. With sam waiting in the pool below for safety I jumped for Wills arm and my feet out to try dislodge his kayak. Success! As i jumped Wills kayak and body came unstuck and he was out SAFE!!! It was a very intense situation and we were very happy to see Will out on top of the water as he took in some much needed Fresh air!

-Will on the 20footer

We chilled out on the side for a bit and Will everyone was keen to keep going.

Not long after Sam landed hard off a drop putting a crack about 50mm long in the hull of his boat and decided to get out and take photos and do the shuttle.

-Me on the first big drop

Will and I kept going and came to a nice 20foot drop. With a good inspection on the landing we decided it was deep enough and we hit it. Both came out with good lines.
This was where the gradient increased.

-Me on the Middle boof

The first drop was followed by a small boof into a tight pinball slide about 90 foot long and then a small pool before a 60foot slide into a nice pool which was a super fast ride.

-Me on the bottom drop

From here down was some cool class 3-4 slots and a nice gorge before we took out at Mae Sa Elephant camp.
There is still the section from out take out to where we put in on the 10th waterfall on the lower Mae Sa which is yet to be explored but definatly has potential for some big drops!

-Will flying down the last drop

Take care out there
peace
josh