Soca (Graveyard / Friedhof)
| Stretch: | Srpenica to Trnovo 1 |
| Difficulty: | Class II |
| Distance: | 3.1 miles |
| Flows: | ~15 cumecs to ~300 cumecs. Check "The River App" |
| Gradient: | 31 fpm average |
| Put-in: | Susec Confluence |
| Take-out: | Access in the town of Trnovo ob Soci |
| Shuttle: | 5.4 km |
| Season: | Spring to Fall (Consistently low in Summer, but can go high off rains) |
| Written: | © 2016 |
Austria & More 2016: Day 4 Morning
The Soca is a classic, world renowned river for its quality whitewater, fantastic scenery, and last but certainly not least, its other worldly water quality. The Soca's water shimmers a blue and during summer months is crystal clear. Due to the recent rain we had, the water was not its summer clear, but the blue was still very present... and the water was still clearer than most rivers!
The main reason we came to the Soca was for the cataracts downstream. More on that later. But what I was surprised by was the numerous sections of class II and III that were there. I know understand why this region has some world famous kayakers and slalom boaters. With beginner runs like this it enables people to learn in a fantastic environment, and stay engaged with multiple runs to hone their skill on. Just fantastic.
Our first day we planned on doing a long section starting here with this class II run and heading down through the short but sweet slalom section, before going through the cataracts and the downstream class IV section "Otona." On subsequent laps we just started the slalom section and again each time went down to our camp at the bottom of Otona.
As far as whitewater is concerned, this section is just class II. But there were numerous fun eddies to work, rocks to splat, and a hole or two to surf. Worthwhile to see once. But for us on our agenda, we didn't repeat the section as it was maybe 30-45 minutes of paddle class II.
For reference, we had 28.3 cumecs or so up here on our lap. This is the lower side of medium.
I should call out specifically, though this run is pretty easy overall and a great beginner run, it is the Soca... meaning there are sieve on the river. Just a month after we were there a video (here) hit facebook showing someone going through a well known sieve. I spoke to a friend about it and he said typically beginners go far left as it is more straight forward. So, if you are a real beginner, it might be worth finding someone to show you down your first time.
Thanks to Harald and Reiner Glanz for sharing photos and for making the trip possible!
Last: Austria & More 2016: Day 3 Morning - Saalach (Lofer Gorge)
Next: Austria & More 2016: Day 4 & 5 Morning - Soca (Slalom)
Mi 0.0:
- Boogie (I). The first mile and a half has current the whole way, but is flat essentially down to the alternate put-in.
- Alternate Put-in is on the right and marks the beginning of the class II section.
Play wave (II). Just downstream of put-in was a nice play wave.
Right Bend (II). On the right bend not far downstream I remember some nice little rapids that we ran down the right
From there my memory fades... there was nothing of note, just a lot of small boogie and great eddy catching to playwith.
Take-out: In the town of Trnovo ob Soci, take the turn towards the river on the western most side of town. Follow this, turning sharply left with the main road and dropping down to the parking area.
Put-in: Head back out to the main road and head upriver (right). Continue 1.7 km to a right turn just before the large factory. This is the lower put-in. Or continue an additional 3.5 km to the right turn just before crossing the Susec creek. Follow this road a few hundred yards to put-in. Note, you have to park up near the main road, parking at the river is not allowed.
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