I Joined the club in September as a Fresher, yey!
I’m an art student so this post will probably involve more pictures than words. But I have been told only to post up ‘fluffy’ pictures. Here goes.
Admittedly I had done a little bit of boating before I came up here including a bit in Scotland.
My course has been pretty busy this year but I’ve managed to get out paddling a little bit, although not as much as I’d like. We’ve had lots of trips out and about in Scotland, we went to the French Alps for two weeks, there’s been some canoe polo and even a couple of slightly tipsy nights out in Glasgow.
One of the things I love about paddling white water is going out and exploring new rivers. Revisiting classics like the Etive is fun too but there’s something special about going somewhere new and as great as the rivers in the South West of England are it’s nice to get out and explore new ones.
I’ve managed to tick of a fair few rivers that are new to me with GUCC including that I can remember:
Allan (watch out for seals and water nymphs)
Middle Orchy (eventually)
Upper Orchy
The lower Etive
The upper upper Etive
Dalness section of the Etive
Braan (watch out for seals and Ben http://vimeo.com/26364705)
Tilt
Caddick lane
Fyne
Moriston
Garry
Tay
Spean gorge (will only paddle this from now on when there isn’t snow about)
Leven
Minnoch
Connonish
Gyr (on the alps trip, watch out for French seals)
Durance gorge (also on the alps trip)
Once this year I even saw the legendary Chris Bell look scared. (Albeit whilst climbing)
There has been a fair amount of carnage this year. I lost some kit on a river for the first time. A boat and paddle on the Allan which accidentally fell into the river whilst we were inspecting round the corner and is certainly not funny. The boat was a red dagger CFS called Raspberry, if you see her in the North Sea on her way to Norway let me know. Personally I think she has found her way to a secret cupboard of lost kayaks. She will be missed. My new boat is a ginger Dagger Nomad who’s still awaiting a name. She is not nearly as well behaved as Raspberry was.
Towards the end of the year I seem to have also remembered the nasty habit of swimming. Twice! That will have to stop, although both times were on account of me spotting some seal pups lost amongst the maelstrom of swirling dangerous white water and getting out of my boat to rescue them. Ahem. It definitely didn’t have anything to do with having a misbehaving boat or being a wuss and pulling the gay bar. Contrary to what other people in the club think, swimming is BAD.
Generally GUCC seem to try and break or loose at least 3 boats a month, any less than that and its considered uneventful. I’m impressed that I’ve managed to write so much without offending anyone. Art students aren’t very good at that.
The canoe club is a great way of meeting people and generally they‘re a great bunch of people. Maybe one or two could do with drinking a bottle of port more often. One of the best things about the club is the large amount of ginger people. That’s very good as ginger people are better than normal people.
Things to do next year:
- Paddle with Paddy, the only ginger in the club I haven’t paddled with.
- Don’t loose any more kit.
- Don’t swim as much.
- Man up and paddle some classics, ideally the Kinglas, Nevis, Falloch and Coe before I potentially move back down south.
- Find a river that’s as good as the Dart.
- Generally behave myself about as much as I have this year. Impeccably.
Written by Ezra
Monday 25 July 2011
Monday 18 July 2011
Alps 2011 - the Tom perspective
This is a quick run trough of what I can remember happening during this year’s Alps trip, there may be a few mistakes in terms of which rivers got done when and in what order the days happened. Hopefully a few other people will join in on the old blogging lark and a combination of posts should give a vaguely coherent record of the trip.
We had a total of two weeks set aside for the trip, taking away the two days either side for driving and a rest day that left nine days of paddling – good shit.
The trip did not start well with the trailer lights not really working. Despite the advice of the GUSA travel convener to ‘just stick your hand out of the window’ we decided it was probably worth getting it fixed, so we went for a trip to Cat’s house. By a process of cutting wires and sticking them back together in different orders Cat’s dad managed to get the lights working while Cat’s mum gave us tea and scones, it was awesome, which is why I propose we don’t go to the Alps next year and just stay at Cat’s house for a fortnight instead. By this point we were running at the limits of our schedule and had to haul ass to Dover.
Many, many hours later we arrived at the campsite and following the erection of Cat and Emma’s scaled up version of Blenhim Palace masquerading as a tent we went for a play on the slalom course, this lead to the first swim and a shoe beer for Arran.
Day one proper saw the compulsory first river being the Sunshine run on the Durance, which was low (the Rab wave was more of a Rab hole) followed by the upper Guisane which was also low and full of rocks. After these two fairly uneventful runs we decided to squeeze in the lower Guisane before six. This didn’t happen and as we thought we’d better wait at least a couple of days before engaging in criminal activity we got off before getting into the guts of the run.
Day two began with the Briancon gorge which was low and had building works blocking the slide on the barrage – the highlight of any Alps trip which was a shame. Next we actually managed to get the lower Guisane done. It was on the lower end of the scale but still really fun and quite technical with a lot of rock dodging. Noteworthy incidents included Fraser being upside down and lacking paddles before recovering and Dan having a bit of a swim (another shoe beer). For the final action of the day we had a wee jaunt down the Gyronde, it was low but a three river day’s a three river day.
The following day we headed up to the Guil as there was more water up there than in the Briancon area. We started with the upper gorge section which was fairly high and had a few fairly meaty holes on it, a fun river which was only slightly ruined by Sean pissing in my mouth off a bridge. Emma had a swim as well which lead to a shoe litchi and passion fruit gay juice.
Day three of Alps trips traditionally ends in carnage, which raises the question why I decided to run triple step, a drop with a large cave half way down. However despite assembling literally everyone in kit with throw lines for me to spend ten seconds running one drop no carnage occurred and I managed to wash the brown colour out of my shorts before anyone noticed. After watching a few rafts run down, also with no carnage, we left disappointed.
The next day saw us heading to the Ubaye. The gorge looked a bit easy so we didn’t bother and went and ran the upper instead, a really long fun bouncy stretch of river in the sun. In the afternoon we ran the racecourse section with a little help from an utter lad of a French raft guide who was soling it at the same time as us. This was a very cool bit of paddling with a bit more volume that the runs we’d done up until that point and a truly awesome bit of scenery at the end as we paddled into the entrance of a huge gorge under a Roman bridge.
By the time we got back to the campsite Emma’s car was making some concerning noises so the next morning a recovery van came and took it to a Toyota garage in Embrum who in testament to the work ethic that France is famous for, took only a week to fix it! So with only one vehicle we were forced to stay close to L’Argantier. Fortunately a bit of rain had picked the levels up so we hit the Onde followed by the Gyr. The Onde saw Kieran looking slightly concered for the first time despite having been paddling less than a year (not that concerned though) and the Gyr had swims for Ezra and Harry. Ezra’s boat had to be retrieved from a barrage and Harry’s came back full of stones but otherwise all was well. For a quick last run we did the Gyronde back to the campsite. Nothing happened that evening.
Saturday was a rest day which gave us a chance to recover from the events which did not happen the night before and sort out a hire car to replace Emma’s for a couple of days.
Sunday saw a return to boating but I can’t remember exactly what rivers we did. I think we did the Lower Guisane in the morning (Cat manned up) and quite a high Gyronde in the afternoon. The lower Guisane was made interesting by the nose of Sean’s boat almost completely falling off and the Gyronde caused Kieran ever so slightly more concern. The evening’s entertainment involved boat welding.
A return to the Guil the next day saw good water levels yet again. We ran the upper gorge again, this time with everyone getting on. Kieran at one point had an expression which looked border line scared, but this was probably just my imagination. After this we ran the lower section of the middle Guil from ‘le tunnel down’. This was pretty cool and we felt quite proud of ourselves until some crazy Germans turned up having paddle the whole of the Guil from Guardian Angel down and made us realize how futile and pathetic our paddling achievements really are.
Tuesday was Sean’s last day, so in celebration Sean, Ezra and I along with some strange people from Bath Uni, one of whom kept calling himself Dragon, went and did the Durance gorge. This sounds impressive but it was not. It was really low and not very hard at all but none the less a pretty cool place to be and a good day out. While we did this the rest of the group ran the Onde and some tree related incidents occurred. Cat also caused some poor unsuspecting boy from Newcastle to fall in love with her before cruelly breaking his heart. That evening we waved a teary goodbye to Sean and Dan sobbed pathetically all night.
On the last day the weather was crap but we soldiered on and went and ran the Briancon Gorge. Yet again it was low and smelled of poo but this time we made friends with a crane driver half way down which made it all worth wile. Callum and Arran had a swim each and were given a good shoe beering. By the time we’d had lunch everyone was too cold and wet to be arsed with another river so we went back to the campsite and stood in the shower until the rain stopped. That night we dismantled Cat and Emma’s mansion and they were sent to stay in Dan’s tent to make them realize what its like to sleep in a tent which does not cover a medium sized French parish.
The next morning saw most of our lives take a turn for the worse as we had to leave the Alps. Our journey home involved driving, some ferrying and fun games involving listing rivers which start with every letter of the alphabet. Emma, Gregor, Fraser and Dan stayed out for an extra couple of days before driving back in the car which had been speedily repaired by hard working, sober French mechanics. From what I’ve heard their journey involved, trespassing, nearly getting kidnapped and eaten by dogs, public drunkenness and Dan freaking people out in Paris by waving at them a lot.
It was a good trip.
Sunday 17 July 2011
Terrific Tummel
This trip was one with Ross Barnie and Kieran McAllister, both of whom have suffered a few trips with terrible weather recently, so it’s about time that we got a beauty of a day. With the sun quite literally beating down on us, the car was packed, and our course set for the Upper Tummel. On the drive up the side of Loch Tummel, we had a rather entertaining encounter with a herd of cows...though at one point I was worried about the safety of my wing mirrors.
Arriving at the Upper Tummel, Kieran and Ross both agreed that my proposed shorter run of the upper section as it cut out two kilometres of flat water for a single grade 3 river at the village of Tummel Bridge.
The Upper Tummel consists mostly of small and medium sized drops without anything too technical about them. The exception to this is a grade 4 rapid about half way down. Z-Bends is a two piece spectacle and has a tricky entry, a sharp right turn before encountering the main drop ending in a plunge pool that shoves you river left into a slightly undercut cliff face. Unfortunately, with only three people to work with, we decided to give it a miss and take the river right portage – the worst part about that decision is that I still haven’t paddled this section, and Ross has....urgh!
The last rapid that we took is a grade 3 sitting river left. This rapid, both gentle and fun, is a wonderful way to end the river, but bungling the walk back to a good filming point meant that I managed to fall into the rapid with my camera running. Bit of a fail to be honest.
Seeing workers at Clunie Dam, we decided to skip the easier sections of the Lower Tummel, instead getting on shortly above the first grade 4, S-Bends. Ross and Kieran jumped out to double-check the line on the rapid while I was running it. Nothing eventful happened here, though Ross’ line wasn’t as good as his previous one had been - considering how much better a paddler he is now, that's pretty bad. Kieran, despite a good initial line and an attempt at a bow rudder was shoved onto the rockface and spent some time trying to get out.
Next was the Linn of Tummel. This grade 4, two tier rapid is all about the entry - provided you make the right entry, you'll be fine; screw it up and you're on the rocks. Once again, I demonstrated the correct route, and much as last time annoyed Ross by making it look easy. When Kieran and I were set-up for some safety, Ross took to the river and, despite being utterly terrified, mostly styled it. The reason for this 'mostly' is a bit of a Burning Man pose that I missed at the time, and could have been problematic had his line not been almost perfect. Kieran, having had a great day and knowing we were likely to return two days later opted for the better part of valour, only tackling the drop without the worry of the run-in.
With our day complete, we paddled back in the blistering heat to the picnic site, where drinks and snacks awaited our successful return.
Arriving at the Upper Tummel, Kieran and Ross both agreed that my proposed shorter run of the upper section as it cut out two kilometres of flat water for a single grade 3 river at the village of Tummel Bridge.
The Upper Tummel consists mostly of small and medium sized drops without anything too technical about them. The exception to this is a grade 4 rapid about half way down. Z-Bends is a two piece spectacle and has a tricky entry, a sharp right turn before encountering the main drop ending in a plunge pool that shoves you river left into a slightly undercut cliff face. Unfortunately, with only three people to work with, we decided to give it a miss and take the river right portage – the worst part about that decision is that I still haven’t paddled this section, and Ross has....urgh!
The last rapid that we took is a grade 3 sitting river left. This rapid, both gentle and fun, is a wonderful way to end the river, but bungling the walk back to a good filming point meant that I managed to fall into the rapid with my camera running. Bit of a fail to be honest.
Seeing workers at Clunie Dam, we decided to skip the easier sections of the Lower Tummel, instead getting on shortly above the first grade 4, S-Bends. Ross and Kieran jumped out to double-check the line on the rapid while I was running it. Nothing eventful happened here, though Ross’ line wasn’t as good as his previous one had been - considering how much better a paddler he is now, that's pretty bad. Kieran, despite a good initial line and an attempt at a bow rudder was shoved onto the rockface and spent some time trying to get out.
Next was the Linn of Tummel. This grade 4, two tier rapid is all about the entry - provided you make the right entry, you'll be fine; screw it up and you're on the rocks. Once again, I demonstrated the correct route, and much as last time annoyed Ross by making it look easy. When Kieran and I were set-up for some safety, Ross took to the river and, despite being utterly terrified, mostly styled it. The reason for this 'mostly' is a bit of a Burning Man pose that I missed at the time, and could have been problematic had his line not been almost perfect. Kieran, having had a great day and knowing we were likely to return two days later opted for the better part of valour, only tackling the drop without the worry of the run-in.
With our day complete, we paddled back in the blistering heat to the picnic site, where drinks and snacks awaited our successful return.
Monday 21 March 2011
Low Low Lugar
A few weeks ago, I decided that I'd quite like to explore some new rivers, in the hopes of finding one that the canoe club doesn't do normally, but is in fact, a classic.
To that end, I compiled a list, and some of those rivers were looked at as possibilities for this trip: the Lugar; the Ayr, and the Middle Doon.
The guidebook says that if the get-on for the Lugar looks paddleable, the rest of the run will be too: this is a lie. If the get on looks runnable, the rest will be a scrape. I imagine that if there was more water around (if "Where's the Water" shows the Ayr as on high) then this might make a good trip. As it was, we often had more fun on the flat bits than on the rapids, as we had freedom to move.
The entry to the river was quite fun, with a sliding wier that everyone ran and enjoyed (and I think Stephan went back for seconds), unfortunately, this was the best we were going to get for quite a while.
Whilst I found the other rapids combersome, I had nowhere near the same issues as Peter, Stephan or Ross (though as their kayaks are either heavier, or more prone to pinning than my Mamba, even that doesn't say much). The river did provide two positives: Elspeth is now less afraid of river (I'm not going to call this white-water) paddling, and Peter has now had a swim-free river trip!
The last rapid on the river, even at this level, I'd say is worthy of a grade 3- rating, and would probably be 3+ if more water went through it.
At roughtly 8km long, that this river needs more water was a lesson learned the hard way, but in the end we had an enjoyable day, paddled a new river, and learned the merits of having a little more water in the area.
To that end, I compiled a list, and some of those rivers were looked at as possibilities for this trip: the Lugar; the Ayr, and the Middle Doon.
The guidebook says that if the get-on for the Lugar looks paddleable, the rest of the run will be too: this is a lie. If the get on looks runnable, the rest will be a scrape. I imagine that if there was more water around (if "Where's the Water" shows the Ayr as on high) then this might make a good trip. As it was, we often had more fun on the flat bits than on the rapids, as we had freedom to move.
The entry to the river was quite fun, with a sliding wier that everyone ran and enjoyed (and I think Stephan went back for seconds), unfortunately, this was the best we were going to get for quite a while.
Whilst I found the other rapids combersome, I had nowhere near the same issues as Peter, Stephan or Ross (though as their kayaks are either heavier, or more prone to pinning than my Mamba, even that doesn't say much). The river did provide two positives: Elspeth is now less afraid of river (I'm not going to call this white-water) paddling, and Peter has now had a swim-free river trip!
The last rapid on the river, even at this level, I'd say is worthy of a grade 3- rating, and would probably be 3+ if more water went through it.
At roughtly 8km long, that this river needs more water was a lesson learned the hard way, but in the end we had an enjoyable day, paddled a new river, and learned the merits of having a little more water in the area.
Thursday 17 March 2011
Intermediate Weekend
When the Intermediate Weekend was announced, I was sceptical of its ability to separate those who are beginners going on intermediate, and those who are intermediate and looking to up their game. And it turns out I was both right and wrong on the same count, for while not all of those invited to take part in the trip were of intermediate standard, those who weren’t at least had the mentality to get down to business and paddle.
Without bothering to list all the times that faff bothered various people, or the intricacies of the drive to Fort William, the debates on where to go, or the facilities in the hall, I shall jump right to the get-on for the Spean Gorge: a good intermediate river, with two advanced rapids.
Our newly elected commodore, Harry Brickell, was feeling the worse for wear (we still don’t really know why), and decided to get off within the first 100m of the river. This particularly cold March morning then decided to press the matter home with some snow after we’d tackled a couple of warm-up grade 2 rapids.
In this section, the only people who were being watched over closely were Kieran (who’d only ever paddled one river before), Ameila (who hadn’t paddled rivers in a long time), and Peter (who tried valiantly to win the award for most swims two years in a row). However, all of them were having a good time of it, and though Amelia in particular was nervous, Amy was keeping a close eye on her, and providing ‘encouragement’ when necessary.
Eventually, we did have a swimmer, and it was Peter. With a loud shout and some cursing he used up the breath he had for a roll and began our swim count...however it was soon joined by many, many more.
We reached the first named rapid of the Gorge, “Fairy Steps”, and here Kieran at last succumbed to a swim, joined by Callum and others. I feel part responsible for this as I was leading him down, but I don’t think I could have picked a nicer line. That Ross rolled following Kieran’s line may mean that they were, in fact, slightly off the one that I’d picked out.
Anyway, this introduced a number of our 18 paddlers to how cold the river was, and many more were to discover this first hand as we moved into sections of the gorge with weird, twisting eddy lines in the middle of the flow. Kieran, Emma, Stephan and Callum all succumbed to these at various stages, and the day was still getting colder, with snow piling on.
Ezra and Tom both ran the grade 5 rapid “Headbanger” (I’m sure Chris would have if he hadn’t escorted Amelia and Louise off the river earlier as it was too cold for them) and both styled it. The later grade 5 “Constriction” everyone walked. As Tom described it, “Constriction is in fact highly unrewarding, highly dangerous, flat water.”
By now most of the interesting stuff on the Spean Gorge had been paddled, and it was a long paddle to the egress point. Normally this is a nice, relaxing stretch – but with the extreme cold and continuing snow, we were trying to race through this – so it was far less enjoyable than normal.
The get-out was ridiculously cold, and it was a race to pack the boats and get back to the hall (with all thoughts of a second river swiftly forgotten).
Saturday night’s snow swept away all chances of another river in Fort William, so it was a race back down to Glasgow in the hopes of paddling the Middle Orchy.
Passing by foot high snow drifts, it was evident that ‘cold’ would not adequately describe any river we were to paddle. Upon arriving at the Orchy, only Tom, Harry and Amy were in a mood to paddle, jumping on at Sore-Tooth, planning on heading down to Witches Step. The minibus headed down to Witches Step, and once there, Stephan, Dan and Arran decided that they’d be up for running it a couple of times. This led to Arran’s one swim of the weekend. On their second run, they came down with the main group, and with six successful drops by the side of the central rock, it was time to pack up and go home.
This marks a GUCC first for 2010/2011, with Amy’s discovery of a set of paddles at the side of the river, we returned with more kit than we set out with.
So, with 17 genuine river swims, and 1 gimpy swim from Gregor, this weekend almost rivalled the North East Weekend for its carnage.
Roll on next year :)
Paul
Without bothering to list all the times that faff bothered various people, or the intricacies of the drive to Fort William, the debates on where to go, or the facilities in the hall, I shall jump right to the get-on for the Spean Gorge: a good intermediate river, with two advanced rapids.
Our newly elected commodore, Harry Brickell, was feeling the worse for wear (we still don’t really know why), and decided to get off within the first 100m of the river. This particularly cold March morning then decided to press the matter home with some snow after we’d tackled a couple of warm-up grade 2 rapids.
In this section, the only people who were being watched over closely were Kieran (who’d only ever paddled one river before), Ameila (who hadn’t paddled rivers in a long time), and Peter (who tried valiantly to win the award for most swims two years in a row). However, all of them were having a good time of it, and though Amelia in particular was nervous, Amy was keeping a close eye on her, and providing ‘encouragement’ when necessary.
Eventually, we did have a swimmer, and it was Peter. With a loud shout and some cursing he used up the breath he had for a roll and began our swim count...however it was soon joined by many, many more.
We reached the first named rapid of the Gorge, “Fairy Steps”, and here Kieran at last succumbed to a swim, joined by Callum and others. I feel part responsible for this as I was leading him down, but I don’t think I could have picked a nicer line. That Ross rolled following Kieran’s line may mean that they were, in fact, slightly off the one that I’d picked out.
Anyway, this introduced a number of our 18 paddlers to how cold the river was, and many more were to discover this first hand as we moved into sections of the gorge with weird, twisting eddy lines in the middle of the flow. Kieran, Emma, Stephan and Callum all succumbed to these at various stages, and the day was still getting colder, with snow piling on.
Ezra and Tom both ran the grade 5 rapid “Headbanger” (I’m sure Chris would have if he hadn’t escorted Amelia and Louise off the river earlier as it was too cold for them) and both styled it. The later grade 5 “Constriction” everyone walked. As Tom described it, “Constriction is in fact highly unrewarding, highly dangerous, flat water.”
By now most of the interesting stuff on the Spean Gorge had been paddled, and it was a long paddle to the egress point. Normally this is a nice, relaxing stretch – but with the extreme cold and continuing snow, we were trying to race through this – so it was far less enjoyable than normal.
The get-out was ridiculously cold, and it was a race to pack the boats and get back to the hall (with all thoughts of a second river swiftly forgotten).
Saturday night’s snow swept away all chances of another river in Fort William, so it was a race back down to Glasgow in the hopes of paddling the Middle Orchy.
Passing by foot high snow drifts, it was evident that ‘cold’ would not adequately describe any river we were to paddle. Upon arriving at the Orchy, only Tom, Harry and Amy were in a mood to paddle, jumping on at Sore-Tooth, planning on heading down to Witches Step. The minibus headed down to Witches Step, and once there, Stephan, Dan and Arran decided that they’d be up for running it a couple of times. This led to Arran’s one swim of the weekend. On their second run, they came down with the main group, and with six successful drops by the side of the central rock, it was time to pack up and go home.
This marks a GUCC first for 2010/2011, with Amy’s discovery of a set of paddles at the side of the river, we returned with more kit than we set out with.
So, with 17 genuine river swims, and 1 gimpy swim from Gregor, this weekend almost rivalled the North East Weekend for its carnage.
Roll on next year :)
Paul
Friday 11 March 2011
The Awesome Awe (yes, I know it's an overused joke)
It's been a while since I've been asked to lead a club trip, so it made for a nice change of pace, what I wasn't expecting was for my back-up to be someone I'd never paddled with before (in fact who had never paddled with the club) and Ross!
So first thing in the morning, we three (well, more Stephan and I), discussed where we should go: the Upper & Lower Orchy; the Nith; the Middle Etive (which I veto'd); the Lower Tummel... The list was a lot longer than I'd expected, but in the end, the Awe was the decision, and based on our day, it was the right one.
After loading up the boats, we set for the Awe, with the sun shining and the skies blue as far as the eye could see...until we arrived at the river when it began to rain and hail. Running the shuttle, Breffni and I got help from Alex and Haydn of Strathclyde Uni Canoe Club fame, which dramatically improved our return time.
Once we were on the river, the weather settled, and we headed down. With Ross doing safety for the first time, and with neither Stephan or I having paddled the Awe in nearly three years, we took it slow. There were times where we got out and inspected a rapid to make sure it did what we were expecting: sometimes we stayed there to indicate a line; sometimes we noted the line and went back; and at least once it was a false alarm entirely!
The first real rapid (I think it's called Magnetic Rock) was where most of the interesting stuff happened. Breffni and George both got tangled in some rocks, but wrestled their way out (George doing probably the strangest roll in history!), Peter found himself upsidedown on top of a rock, and flipped himself back up, only to capsize and start the swim count for the trip. Shona got a very good line through the rapid, much to our delight, and from this point onwards it was mostly plain sailing.
Everyone on the trip did well, and even tolerated the two races that I set up (which were actually disguised ferry glide training). George deserves a mention for his....interesting?....roll on one of the first rapids of the river. Breffni deserves one for trying to pick her own lines, Shona for going from two swims on her last trip to zero, and Peter gets one for putting a cone on SUCC's minibus. Oh, and thank you to Stephan and Ross for helping with safety.
All in all, a good trip.
So first thing in the morning, we three (well, more Stephan and I), discussed where we should go: the Upper & Lower Orchy; the Nith; the Middle Etive (which I veto'd); the Lower Tummel... The list was a lot longer than I'd expected, but in the end, the Awe was the decision, and based on our day, it was the right one.
After loading up the boats, we set for the Awe, with the sun shining and the skies blue as far as the eye could see...until we arrived at the river when it began to rain and hail. Running the shuttle, Breffni and I got help from Alex and Haydn of Strathclyde Uni Canoe Club fame, which dramatically improved our return time.
Once we were on the river, the weather settled, and we headed down. With Ross doing safety for the first time, and with neither Stephan or I having paddled the Awe in nearly three years, we took it slow. There were times where we got out and inspected a rapid to make sure it did what we were expecting: sometimes we stayed there to indicate a line; sometimes we noted the line and went back; and at least once it was a false alarm entirely!
The first real rapid (I think it's called Magnetic Rock) was where most of the interesting stuff happened. Breffni and George both got tangled in some rocks, but wrestled their way out (George doing probably the strangest roll in history!), Peter found himself upsidedown on top of a rock, and flipped himself back up, only to capsize and start the swim count for the trip. Shona got a very good line through the rapid, much to our delight, and from this point onwards it was mostly plain sailing.
Everyone on the trip did well, and even tolerated the two races that I set up (which were actually disguised ferry glide training). George deserves a mention for his....interesting?....roll on one of the first rapids of the river. Breffni deserves one for trying to pick her own lines, Shona for going from two swims on her last trip to zero, and Peter gets one for putting a cone on SUCC's minibus. Oh, and thank you to Stephan and Ross for helping with safety.
All in all, a good trip.
Friday 4 February 2011
yon trip
Sunday the 30th marked the first club trip of the year where we weren’t affected by ridiculously high water levels, instead, we had the exact opposite problem. Low levels meant a trip to the Upper Tummel, in a hope that the compensation release would provide with a bit of h2o induced fun.
[STANDARD CHAT ABOUT FAFF, PACKING THE BUS AND DRIVING]
Due to lower levels it gave some new paddlers the chance to lead the trip down the river. An improvised safety talk lacked the usual fear inducing quality that has become a staple aspect of previous ones; mainly due to the fact this one was done via interpretative dance. Harry was our leader for the day with Gregor assuming his usual role and driving from behind. The first few slides eased us into the day without any problems and we started the long scrape down the river, our only respite from this were the HUGE stretches of flat water now and again. The first test came at Z-falls, a gnarly, double drop rapid (rumour has it’s called Z-falls because Anton Immler’s left leg was in the shape of a Z last time he tried to run the rapid and swam).
Ben set up camera after the first drop and we all cautiously negotiated the first drop, safety standing idly by as we styled it one after the other. The second drop (more of a chute) was survived by most, apart from the cruel beating it imparted upon Euan R. Some say that it’s been so long since Euan swam he’s forgotten how to, and that last time he did actually swim he was plucked out the river by a Diplodocus. Other members of the group (Anthony) were so shocked this had happened they ploughed down the rapid to get a close look, almost landing on top of Euan – classic crazy, French guy! Everyone was back in there boats and we continued down the river until something of an equally amazing quality happened. Sean, only on his second river trip, went off a ledge, caught an edge and tipped in. His paddles popped out from under his boat and we all feared the worst. Yet with a hip flick Shakira would be proud of he rolled himself back up, so quick I question whether he actually got his hair wet.
The last slide provided no victims and everyone had a play around in the hole at the bottom of it. This resulted in two further swimming incidents, one from myself and Anthony chipping in with another. Both as equally gimpy as each other.
An enjoyable day was had by all, we made the best of the levels we had and Euan got to remember what it felt like to have to dry himself after a days kayaking, something he hasn’t had to do since they used the hides of a woolly mammoth to dry off.
fradizzle
[STANDARD CHAT ABOUT FAFF, PACKING THE BUS AND DRIVING]
Due to lower levels it gave some new paddlers the chance to lead the trip down the river. An improvised safety talk lacked the usual fear inducing quality that has become a staple aspect of previous ones; mainly due to the fact this one was done via interpretative dance. Harry was our leader for the day with Gregor assuming his usual role and driving from behind. The first few slides eased us into the day without any problems and we started the long scrape down the river, our only respite from this were the HUGE stretches of flat water now and again. The first test came at Z-falls, a gnarly, double drop rapid (rumour has it’s called Z-falls because Anton Immler’s left leg was in the shape of a Z last time he tried to run the rapid and swam).
Ben set up camera after the first drop and we all cautiously negotiated the first drop, safety standing idly by as we styled it one after the other. The second drop (more of a chute) was survived by most, apart from the cruel beating it imparted upon Euan R. Some say that it’s been so long since Euan swam he’s forgotten how to, and that last time he did actually swim he was plucked out the river by a Diplodocus. Other members of the group (Anthony) were so shocked this had happened they ploughed down the rapid to get a close look, almost landing on top of Euan – classic crazy, French guy! Everyone was back in there boats and we continued down the river until something of an equally amazing quality happened. Sean, only on his second river trip, went off a ledge, caught an edge and tipped in. His paddles popped out from under his boat and we all feared the worst. Yet with a hip flick Shakira would be proud of he rolled himself back up, so quick I question whether he actually got his hair wet.
The last slide provided no victims and everyone had a play around in the hole at the bottom of it. This resulted in two further swimming incidents, one from myself and Anthony chipping in with another. Both as equally gimpy as each other.
An enjoyable day was had by all, we made the best of the levels we had and Euan got to remember what it felt like to have to dry himself after a days kayaking, something he hasn’t had to do since they used the hides of a woolly mammoth to dry off.
fradizzle
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Quite the day out
A few of us decided to go out for a paddle on Saturday which turned into a pretty eventful day which I feel should be recorded for posterity. It was such an eventful day that I’ll probably forget some of the events but I will try to remember the best ones.
We set off from Glasgow in the pissing rain with the intention of paddling the Ducharay water but as we got nearer and it kept raining and the roads were flooding we decided it’d be too high so changed our plans to go and paddle the Monachyle burn. Upon arrival we discovered that it was humping and flowing largely through a veritable arboretum so we ran away. The plan now changed to an intention to paddle the water of Ruchil. We got there to find it looked huge but probably paddleable so began heading up the Glen. The road was however covered with patches of thick ice with deep grooves cut into them where water had been flowing. This proved unfortunate as Ben got the wheels of his car stuck in the channels leading to him needing to be pushed and towed out. At this point we gave up ad decided to go and do the Knaik instead. (Oh, in between the Monochyle burn and the Ruchil the boats all fell off Ben’s roof).
The Knaik was also at a level which would have made Noah head off to B&Q in search off Gofer wood to construct an ark but we felt it was worth a shot. We were forced to abandon this plan by a large puddle which made shuttling impossible. Having more or less exhausted any other rivers in the Central Scotland section of the guidebook we went to the Allan Water which I am reliably informed never gets too big. We got on, paddled down to the first weir and got out to inspect. It looked munching but runnable. Chris, Mark and I ran it first and got on fine. Around the corner was apparently ‘nothing’, which is entirely accurate if ‘nothing’ is the new word for ‘big hole’. To my horror I spotted a group of baby seals getting worked in the hole so without a second thought for my own safety I threw myself into the midst of this churning maelstrom and began hurling the poor creatures from the hole to freedom. Chris joined me in this effort and together we saved them all. We were both forced to swim and I remained in the hole for a while longer while out of my boat and checked the river bed in detail for any Seal pups we had missed. Chris and I lost a boat each and I lost my paddles but it was worth it to save those adorable little creatures. Some would say we were heroes that day but I’d like to think that any other decent, seal loving person would have done the same thing.
Happy in the knowledge that the seal pups were safe Chris walked back up to his car and drove down to the bottom of the river in the hope of catching our kit while I walked the rest of the river to see if any had been caught up. The rest of the group paddled on. Further on down the run the river split into two channels where the flood water ran across a wooded field. The main channel was nice and clear with no trees, while the new channel was full of trees, Sean chose to paddle through the trees. This resulted in him swimming, his boat getting pinned and him being forced against a branch clinging on with his head just above water. Ben ran to his aid and the two of them shared an embrace so tender and poignant that it made the Lassie films look callous and unemotional, before Sean and his boat were pulled to safety.
Meanwhile at the get out, the police had taken an interest in goings on and had come over to have a chat with Chris, Harry and Gregor. Mid way through his description of the lost kit Chris spotted my boat floating past, dived into the river on live bait and began swimming after it but ran out of rope and the boat ran away, he was then pulled back into the bank where he continued his interview.
Due to the fact that the river was flowing so fast and eddies were few and far between those left on the river were having to get out and scout quite a long way ahead to find the next eddy. It was during one of these scouting trips that Ezra’s boat and paddles slid into the river and floated away never to be seen again (except by the sizeable crowd next to the weir in Bridge of Allan who seemed quite entertained by events). It is important to note that no one at all finds this funny.
That night I spent the evening trying to impress girls with tales of my heroic seal rescuing. It did not work.
We set off from Glasgow in the pissing rain with the intention of paddling the Ducharay water but as we got nearer and it kept raining and the roads were flooding we decided it’d be too high so changed our plans to go and paddle the Monachyle burn. Upon arrival we discovered that it was humping and flowing largely through a veritable arboretum so we ran away. The plan now changed to an intention to paddle the water of Ruchil. We got there to find it looked huge but probably paddleable so began heading up the Glen. The road was however covered with patches of thick ice with deep grooves cut into them where water had been flowing. This proved unfortunate as Ben got the wheels of his car stuck in the channels leading to him needing to be pushed and towed out. At this point we gave up ad decided to go and do the Knaik instead. (Oh, in between the Monochyle burn and the Ruchil the boats all fell off Ben’s roof).
The Knaik was also at a level which would have made Noah head off to B&Q in search off Gofer wood to construct an ark but we felt it was worth a shot. We were forced to abandon this plan by a large puddle which made shuttling impossible. Having more or less exhausted any other rivers in the Central Scotland section of the guidebook we went to the Allan Water which I am reliably informed never gets too big. We got on, paddled down to the first weir and got out to inspect. It looked munching but runnable. Chris, Mark and I ran it first and got on fine. Around the corner was apparently ‘nothing’, which is entirely accurate if ‘nothing’ is the new word for ‘big hole’. To my horror I spotted a group of baby seals getting worked in the hole so without a second thought for my own safety I threw myself into the midst of this churning maelstrom and began hurling the poor creatures from the hole to freedom. Chris joined me in this effort and together we saved them all. We were both forced to swim and I remained in the hole for a while longer while out of my boat and checked the river bed in detail for any Seal pups we had missed. Chris and I lost a boat each and I lost my paddles but it was worth it to save those adorable little creatures. Some would say we were heroes that day but I’d like to think that any other decent, seal loving person would have done the same thing.
Happy in the knowledge that the seal pups were safe Chris walked back up to his car and drove down to the bottom of the river in the hope of catching our kit while I walked the rest of the river to see if any had been caught up. The rest of the group paddled on. Further on down the run the river split into two channels where the flood water ran across a wooded field. The main channel was nice and clear with no trees, while the new channel was full of trees, Sean chose to paddle through the trees. This resulted in him swimming, his boat getting pinned and him being forced against a branch clinging on with his head just above water. Ben ran to his aid and the two of them shared an embrace so tender and poignant that it made the Lassie films look callous and unemotional, before Sean and his boat were pulled to safety.
Meanwhile at the get out, the police had taken an interest in goings on and had come over to have a chat with Chris, Harry and Gregor. Mid way through his description of the lost kit Chris spotted my boat floating past, dived into the river on live bait and began swimming after it but ran out of rope and the boat ran away, he was then pulled back into the bank where he continued his interview.
Due to the fact that the river was flowing so fast and eddies were few and far between those left on the river were having to get out and scout quite a long way ahead to find the next eddy. It was during one of these scouting trips that Ezra’s boat and paddles slid into the river and floated away never to be seen again (except by the sizeable crowd next to the weir in Bridge of Allan who seemed quite entertained by events). It is important to note that no one at all finds this funny.
That night I spent the evening trying to impress girls with tales of my heroic seal rescuing. It did not work.
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