Tip Top Tummel

The Tummel is one of our clubs most paddled rivers, so I was enthused when I heard that instead of heading to the normal section (the Lower Tummel), we were headed to the Upper Tummel, a section which neither myself, nor most of those on the trip, had ever done.

A surprisingly quick boat loading session (where Ben decided he was leading the river in a play-boat), a slightly mutinous food and music stop, and a pause for a cry of utter dismay when we saw that Loch Tummel was frozen over were our only delays before arriving at a PWL Upper Tummel.

Here we had a first, as Marissa managed to successfully swim before the start of the trip...ominous, considering the recent spate of high carnage trips.

Yet things held together well, with many little drops and chutes leading us down towards one of two notable rapids on the river: Z-bends. This nasty rapid seemed to be in a good mood however, with only two swims, both noteworthy. Anthony’s for his refusal to be beaten by it, returning to style the rapid, and Fraser for the unfortunate way in which he was caught out: despite landing upright, he failed to paddle away quickly enough from the hole at the bottom and was summarily capsized.

This lovely, scenic and bitterly cold river carried on with its shallow rapids for some time before we saw the horizon line to flat water marking the end of our trip.

The last rapids were...interesting. The gradient increased greatly, causing difficulty for Bex, Marissa and Dan as this was either their first river trip, or their first in many years. Bex unfortunately caught a rock, capsizing and hitting her head (though avoiding a swim). As those who had already run the rapid checked to make sure she was OK, Fraser paddled down...and also capsized, though his led to a swim. Now it was my turn to jump on the ‘safety’ bandwagon as I went and rescued Fraser, boat and paddles before they all ran the last (and best and biggest) chute on the river.

Finally, order was restored, and it was time to tackle the final rapid. This is possibly the most fun water slide I have done in a long time!! Unfortunately, here, after all the rapids had been paddled, and the trip was pretty much over, Marissa decided to round off her day as it had begun: with a swim. Bex and Dan joined her as they successfully ran and in succession swam at the chute, joining the ranks of the days swimmers after all the rapids had ended.

A short climb revealed the minibus, and a headcount proved we hadn’t lost anyone. Only eight swims, and we were off the river before five!!!

Whoever said PWL rivers are a bad thing?

Paul