Whitewater Paddling in the Philippines

This is me taking the last drop on the middle stretch of the Bagsit River, Zambales Province. The put-in is about 5 hours on paved road north of Manila, then 45 minutes by 4WD, then a long walk with your boat on your shoulder. The Bagsit can only be run at high water, from May until November, depending on the monsoon. The upper reaches, which are much harder to get to, feature continuous class III and IV, the middle stretch is a mix of II and some fast IIIs, and the lower stretch is wide and shallow to the sea. The forest canopy is very dense at the foot of the mountains, and we have seen indigenous Aeta people hunting with bow and arrow along the banks. Fortunately we don't look so palatable.	The final big drop on the Bagsit river, Zambales, Philippines
This is our friend and pro bono guide Steve on the Morong river, south of Subic Bay. Steve has lived in the Philippines for 20 years, speaks several local dialects, and is a major contributor on action sports to Action Asia magazine. The river is normally a tiny creek but this shot was taken after a typhoon and a couple of weeks of rain.	Steve Rogers on the lower Morong
Vince at the put-in for the Morong river, after a typhoon. I purchased this boat at a sale of used rental gear in Vancouver, for $200. For a year this and another boat sat in my house gathering dust. Then we met Steve (see above) and got into it. Four of us also took an intensive whitewater paddling course while on a bike trip through New Zealand, and now we're fanatics. Unfortunately there is no paddling around here in the dry season.	Vince heading down the Morong
Mirjam on the last major drop, middle section of the Bagsit river. This is at medium water level. It gets a lot bigger.	Mirjam takes the drop
Boulder swimming - what happens when you miss your roll. Actually we're all beginners but we can usually nail the roll in deep water. In this creek rolling is a bit more challenging because your head is bouncing off rocks the whole time you are under.	Mirjam sneaks through a boulder field

Posted by Darius Teter.