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Aoos River Data
Section 1 - (Vovousa - Palioseli ):
Length: 25 kms.
Put in: 100m after the arced bridge of Vovousa, below a weir. Optional put in a couple of kms later, following a dirt road river right. Suggested in a low flow situation.
Take out: at the bridge below Palioseli - Put in for section 2.
Alternative take out (or put in ): below the village of Armata. A difficult dirt road access the river 6kms before Palioseli, but it isn't visible from the river (see GPS mark below )
Character: A wild river, running through high and inaccessible gorges. Medium difficulty boulder gardens and pool drop rapids. In a low water situation, involves a lot of bubping and scrapping.
General Difficulty: Grade III,IV. More difficult in high flow.
Time: 7-10 hours, depending the flow and the group number and ability
Km by km description:
0 - 5km Bonny, easy stretches I -II
5 - 14km: Entering the first gorge, easy stretches class I - III and three significant rapids:
1st class IV rapid (km 7.0 - see GPS mark ), a tight 2.5m chutte, followed by a sequence of small ledges (III+)
2nd rapid (III+ ), a multilevel step followed by a 2m drop into a powerful hole. The river slow down, entering a 15m length very tight but low wall canyon. A picturesque waterslide, right after it, is a photo must.
3rd rapid. A tight 2m drop, needs a technical boof over a protruding rock (class IV )
14km: Gorge opens and a tributary (Koukoumaneris or Distratiotis ) flows in from the right.
14 - 18km: River gains speed and we paddle fast the next 4kms (II-III ) until our alternative take out - put in point, below Armata village.
18 - 21km: Fast, class II-III stretches until gray, sharp limestone boulders, spreaded into the riverbed by a deep ravine on the right, forms a 100m tricky boulder garden. Inspection is needed (class III-IV )
23km: 1.5km later, a steep and powerful tributary, Mikro Potami, coming from the village of Pades, multiplies the flow. The rapid that forms below this confluence, is a 200m technical slalom, through small and medium sized boulders, drops and squeezes. Inspection is needed to figure out the best route. Be careful Log jam danger! (Class IV )
23 - 25km: Two more kms of fast class II-III stretches and we reach the take out bridge of Palioseli.
Caution: Inspection for log jams, especially at the tributaries confluence.
Shuttle:
Gauge info: There is a gaugemeter at Vovousa bridge. 32cm marks low flow but good to go for this first section. The flow is increased by many tributaries. Class III-IV expected as described in the report above. (Section's 2 gaugemeter, situated at the left bank, 60m before the arced bridge of Konitsa, measured cm ) The optimum gauge reading is 40cm at Vovousa bridge, that depending the tributaries addition reach 1.10 - 1.40m at Konitsa gaugemeter.
Maps: Anavasi publications, Zagori, 1:50.000
GPS marks:
Vovousa bridge: 39o 56.217N, 21o 02.939E, 971m
1st rapid (9th km): 39o 59.205N, 21o 02.154E, 867m
Armata alternative access: 40o 01.455N, 20o 57.872E, 746m
Palioseli bridge: 40o 01.395N, 20o 53.322E, 633m
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