In December 2002, Willie Kern, Jed Weingarten and Polk Deters kayaked Moon Gorge at 8,000 to 10,000 cfs. The biggest rapid was Class 4, so they decided that it was feasible for rafting.

Rob Elliott of AZRA (Arizona Raft Adventures) provided three 18' self bailing rafts for the first raft descent. Rafting participants included Rob, Jim Norton, Ben Fadely and Matt Yost. The put-in is about 28 32 40N, 98 47 50E.

For an excellent video by the Nature Conservancy about this expedition (no longer commercially available), contact petewinn at shangri-la-river-expeditions.org. It also covers the Salween and Yangtze in northwest Yunnan.