Days four and five were campout nights in the Jukka Valley , where we did the lower Jukka , which is already recorded . Again , big water grade 4 with one portage at 5 + above the sluice . After running this , we carried on up the valley , taking a peek at a tributary called the Jukka Hake ( Little Jukka ), which looked like fun alpine grade 3 / 3 + but had a few too many trees and low bridges for our liking . So we carried on for around 25km up the valley , then camped at about 3,000m , ready to run the upper section in the morning .
sick the night before , and Dave still didn ’ t have his boat , which left me , Rob and Chris who ran this one .
There is also a middle section of the Jukka that looks grade 4 / 5 from the bits we could see from the track . It has logjams and drops steeply out of sight , so we left that one alone at the high levels we had and will leave it for some other brave souls .
SPECTACULAR This upper section of the Jukka was a spectacular big open valley . The scenery was fantastic , with glaciated side valleys dropping into the river and the odd nomadic yurt here and there . At 15km long , it had easier , flatter grade 2 / 3 sections with around six or seven steeper sections all around 200 to 800m long . So you had a rest between the big stuff , which ranged from grades 4 to 5 .
So you had a respite between the big stuff , ranging from grade 4 to 5 . We had a couple of portages with too much mank ( rock in the river ) along with logjams and low bridges . A fantastic first descent and the only downside was Liam missed out as he was
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