Yarkitch:
When paddled: late Sept. 2007
Volume: 1,300 cfs at confluence with Surkhob
The road from Khoit up the Yarkitch is frequented by trucks going to the coal mine, and there is a military check point part-way up this road which will check your documents but not stop you. Starting about 8 km above the coal mine the river is small, shallow gravel rapids. Around the coal mine the river is very low volume and bounces between boulders and drops steadily. This continues for a few kilometers and then becomes flat to the point where rivers come into both sides of the Yarkitch. Here the river gains significant
volume. Below these two confluences, the river is flat for some kilometers before it drops into two big gorges with some runnable and some unrunnable whitewater. After these second gorge opens, the whitewater is mostly small and easily scoutable. There is another small section of whitewater shortly before the Yarkitch’s confluence with the Surkhob.
Recs: Paddle from where rivers come into both sides of the Yarkitch down for a great day plus paddle. Toward the bottom of the river there is a tributary on river left that has a tiny micro-canyon one kilometer away from the Yarkitch. It´s an easy walk and a fun little paddle. Upstream of the micro-canyon, there is some whitewater and a lot of flatwater.
Pleasure: Pain 7:2
