When Scotland forgot how to rain

So August in Scotland was really wet at first. In fact, I paddled the Orchy on high which pretty awesome. Then it stopped raining. In fact it didn't start raining again until October. So the end of August and all through September were pretty dismal as far as kayaking prospects went. All was not lost though, so here're some rivers that do go (ish) in drought conditions.

The Tummel
A dam release river, this runs every weekend between the start of June and the end of September. Most of the river is grade 2/3 with two harder drops, S bend (3+) and the Linn of Tummel (easy 4). It's pool drop style, so ideal for coaching. Here are some photos from the end of August with STAUCC on their preseason training.

At the dam.

Coaching skills on an eddy line.

Surf's up!

Constriction rapid not going so well for Jon...

Hand roll!

S bend, drop one.

S bend, drop two.

Linn of Tummel, drop one

Linn of Tummel, drop two.

Cliff jumping!

The Etive and Allt a' Chaorainn
It's debatable whether this is worth the drive, and you can't really consider it kayaking. It's more like mountain surfing with lubrication. Nevertheless at the start of September I drove over on the Saturday night to meet STAUCC at the Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum for Fish and Chips. We camped at the Kingshouse (well I slept in my car because I'm lazy like that) and made use of the pub!
The next morning we headed down and ran laps on a very low Triple step until we got bored. Some nice people took pictures of us!

We "paddled" the rest of the river to the 20 foot Right Angle falls. Jon and I couldn't be bothered inspecting, which was probably a good thing as I'm not convinced I would have been keen if I'd looked at it!

Photo by Kathryn Haddick

Just below the right angle gorge we heaved up the slope to the cars and shuttled down to the bridge. The Allt a' Chaorainn is a tributary of the Etive and access is a footpath up a mountain. We elected to only take a few boats as everyone lugging boats seemed silly. Also, if you're going to bounce down rock slides in a boat, better that it's not yours.
The first slide is called Speed and while terrifying at the top is over really quickly!

Photo by Kathryn Haddick

Next is the best slide - Ecstasy. Photos taken by various people on various cameras!

We portaged Pinball, a rather violent rapid that tends to slam you into a large cliff at high speed. The final drop is called Chasm, for obvious reasons. The first time I ran this I got confused about what to do with my paddle, so there's now a "Kirsten move" which involves just holding your paddles over your head and hoping - as pictured below.

After this there's a slog back to the cars along side the rocky riverbed.

The Findhorn Gorge
I was a little worried about this one. While people say you can always get down the Spean gorge, no matter how low it is, it's no fun. Runnable does not always mean funnable. However, it actually turned out to be not that bad.

Randolphs leap - photo by Sarah Duley.

I forgot my camera, so I don't have photos from down in the gorge. The grade four that I remember was more like grade 3, except the slot (normally grade 5) which still looked super sketchy even after a few people ran it. The walk out at the end was just as long as I remember, though!

The Meig Gorge
Now this is a good shout in low water. Since we'd done the Findhorn the day before we were only an hour's drive away. The gorge is tight and technical grade 3 and 4, but none of the rapids, with the exception of Teacup Falls, require a great deal of skill. Jon took a few photos in the gorge:

The first big drop is actually simpler than it looks.

Patrick on Teacup Falls. Boofing is a good idea as the final hole is super sticky.

The cool rock arch!

High water Lakes paddling

Friday, 17th October, afternoon.
Unfortunately Jon has a nasty boss that won't let him leave work early, so it's about half six by the time we leave the house in a car laden down by five boats, four people, a bag of shoes, six paddles and four people's kit for a weekend. The suspension objects to the speed bumps outside the house, but soon enough we're off!
We trundle south and make it to Keswick by half nine, which, it turns out, is actually quite early because everyone coming from the south is stuck in some horrific traffic jam on the M6. Jenga structures are constructed in the intervening time as more of the Scottish and northern English people trickle in.

Major construction.

Hugs, catching up and eventually everyone is here! Tom brings 70 litres of beer and Davey and I eventually give up on the party about 2am and crash in the bunk house annexe.
The next morning I wake at half six and go back to sleep for two hours! Fuelling up on porridge and other breakfast goodies, team kayaking check the gauges online and pour over Kirstie's guide book. We decide to head to the Kent, near Kendal, and after some faff involving getting everything into/onto three cars we set off, waving goodbye for the day to the walking teams. After being less than impressed by the road drainage in the Lake district, we get to Staveley, only to be confronted by a bridge with very dubious headroom. Apparently the Kent is higher than was originally advertised.
Not to worry, that means we can go to the Sprint! The guide describes it as easy grade 4, pool drop style. We drive up the valley, unsure as to whether we've missed the put in because the river looks a lot like a tree filled ditch. However, there's the put in car park, we're fine.
We quickly run the shuttle and traipse down to the interesting put in which involves balancing your boat on a tumble down wall under a tree. Hmm.

Get in for the Sprint.

James has less successful launch and has a quick roll, although he's quite happy to have the first one out of the way! Off we head. Supposedly this is a nice grade 2 bimble, ideal to warm up before the grade four downstream. In reality, what we saw from the car is in fact worse on the river. 2 miles of submerged forest, stressful ferrying and copious swearing later, we reach S bend, the first grade four.

So. Many. Trees.

Top of the S bend on the Sprint, viewed from the bridge.

We hop out at the bridge to have a quick look.
It looks fairly straightforward as long as you're paying attention, and after two miles of punching trees we're pretty excited. John paddles down first with no issues and I follow down. As I pass under the bridge a wave catches me unaware and splashes my eyes, soaking my contacts. Uh oh. I can see the blurry outline of the horizon line and the tongue I should be cutting across, but I'm too far right. However, I know there's a lateral coming off the wall of the S that I can probably surf out. I spin, blinking and paddling furiously and feel the wave catch beneath me. Ooooh yeeeeah. I fire towards the run out and bounce down, laughing madly. John and I high five and wait for the other two to come down. Couple of rolls, nothing major!

Bottom of the S Bend on the Sprint.

On a high, we head off down the river. The trees have pulled back out of the river and it's pretty good paddling now. The next challenge is a little weir with a large hole, so we send John first. Seems ok, so we pile on down. A big horizon comes up - Garnett bridge falls. This is nearly impossible to inspect or portage, so some of us had looked at it on the drive up. "Start right then head for the middle of the next drop," I tell John. "There's a big hole under the bridge but it looked pretty flushy." He heads off and I follow ten seconds later. It's bigger from below! The second drop is pretty massive, however I was right, it doesn't hold at all, thankfully. Wheee!
We bounce down grade 2/3 before stopping at a big horizon. We peak out and have a look, but it's easy peasy, big drop into a fluffy hole. John bets me 20p that Tom will backloop the G force in it, soon I am 20p richer and Tom is still upright!

Big hole!

John: I like this river!

Another large rapid follows, long with some interesting stoppers. We run it blind on the basis of John getting to the bottom ok and waving for the next person to come down. I get power flipped by one of the holes part way down, but I roll up in a convenient eddy and boof down the final drop.

Grade four rapid on the Sprint.

A tricksy weir with a sneaky lateral flips Tom and I'm too busy checking that he's rolled up ok and end up capsizing as well. Oops. A final big bouncy rapid under a pipe brings us to the get out and the other team, waiting impatiently because I have all the car keys.
We pack the cars and run the shuttle. The Lower Kent is close by and a short grade four run, so we head over to the put in. On the shuttle we meet a paddler who assures us that everything goes - just run it left. The put in is a fun seal launch off a small cliff and we are entertained by a swan surfing the wave on the rapid upstream!

Seal launch! Kent put in.

We head downstream en masse. Inspection seems like too much effort, and hey, it's only grade four, any line goes... The first rapid has some massive holes - I get very up close and personal with one but roll up after easily enough! Next we boof a weir by the left bank. A funky little gorge catches me off guard and I flip on a lateral. I'm not very awake today! Suddenly a big L shaped drop comes up, looking pretty scary. It's actually a super easy boof off the left hand side. Jon has a surf of the wave at the bottom, but when he falls off it shoves him in an undercut. He manages to roll and we head off downstream, deciding against having a surf.

The L shaped drop

The final rapid, Force Falls, catches us out a bit. The lead in is easy grade 3 down a sloping weir, but there's no chance to stop and we're all piling over the drop! Giles is first and pops out upside down. Not a good start. Further carnage and I'm flying over, and bloody hell it's a big hole. The impact at the bottom is painful and I belatedly think I should probably have tucked up for that. I try to roll up and smash into rock, wait, try again, more rocks, try again, I can see the sky but can't get up. Crap. Swimming is surprisingly quite pleasant as me and all my kit and James and all his kit end up on a little ledge at the back of the eddy without much effort on our part. We empty most of the water out and launch, hoping to find a better place to empty round the corner. I've just jumped out on a grassy bank when someone realises we're at the get out! Oh well. Kirstie gives us the tally out of 9 for Force Falls: 1 wobble, 3 swims and 5 rolls.

Force Falls, picture by Kirstie MacMillan

Back to Keswick and the toasty warm bunkhouse. Giles and I have a fight to get the two showers in the annexe to a reasonable temperature, apparently they adjust their temperature depending on what the other one is doing! Jeez. I microwave my pasta bake and run through for the AGM. Somehow Sarah works some magic and the meeting is done and dusted in record time.
After everyone else has a group meal of spag bol and apple crumble we get Jon's Canoepoly out and Andre and Patrick thrash everyone at it. Much beer, wine and kayaking chat ensues.

Canoepoly - photo by Sarah Duley.

Canoepoly - photo by Jonny Hawkins

The next morning dawns bright and rainy. A quick scoot across the road reveals a Greta that's going off, probably high, maybe huge on the gauge. Everyone agrees on a pub to meet for lunch and the walking teams head off. Team kayaking shuttle up to the Greta put in then spend a while in Keswick not sure if James is also shuttling with us. Eventually we head back up in Giles's car which turns out to be a good idea as his and Tom's paddles are still in there.
The gauge line on the bridge is apparently about a foot under water when we get to the river and the water is pouring past in a brown roiling mayhem. As we break out it feels like it's going to be incredible.

Put in for the Greta.

It doesn't disappoint. Big waves and fast water, occasional big holes and crashing surf spots. I have a small collision with Jon and end up in two holes, but the river is deep and I roll quickly, giggling. We start a stopwatch at the put in and it takes us half an hour to run the 8km to the park at the take out! It goes too quickly and while we all want to go again, we're also aware of meeting everyone for lunch, so we call it a day and pack up.
We drive to Pooley bridge, near Penrith, and run into the Sun Inn through the rain. There isn't much choice for me and I end up with grilled chicken, boiled potatoes and ketchup! There's lots of chat and promises to meet up. We manage to get everyone organised into a group photo and eventually the waitress works out how to make Jonny's camera take a picture! Home calls and we trundle up the motorway through some pretty interesting high winds.

Group photo! Thanks to the lovely waitress.

Thanks to everyone from Friends of STAUCC for a fantastic weekend.

Les Alpes Part 3 - Day 6 and 7

Day 6 (3rd July)

Upper Ubaye put in

Today we’re heading to the Ubaye! About an hour’s drive south from our campsite, it’s the furthest river in the Durance area. We stop in Guilestre to pick up food, then head up, up, up and over the mountain pass into the Ubaye valley. It’s a long way up and we get left behind by the other cars as they definitely win on power.

Finally we’re going down again! The put in for the Upper Ubaye is nice and obvious since all the others are already there. We park up, get changed and then all the others drive away before me and Rory are ready. Slight problem – we don’t know where we’re going. Downstream seems like a good bet though. John phones me to say he’s forgotten his helmet, thankfully I can work out how hands free works on my phone. We stop in a layby and Rory comes and has a chat, worried that we’ve driven too far. Probably not? We haven’t seen anywhere likely and the take out is definitely a town. Nobody else who’s on the shuttle has their phone on. We decide to go a bit further. Typically, the town is just round the corner!

Unfortunately when we get there the others have left and Chris’s car is locked. Sorry John, we tried. Back to the top! John looks so sad that Chris donates him his helmet, stating that he’s run the whole of the Roy without a helmet, so this grade 2/3 run isn’t very hardcore for him! Soon we’re off, bouncing down in the sunshine. It’s super relaxing and while some people practice skills, others (including me) just float most of the way. At one point, on a stretch with loads of big boulders to eddy hop around, we are overtaken by a huge group from another university with Tom Parker (of tomparkercoaching.co.uk don’t you know) shepherding them along. We catch up with them again as they’ve eddied out in a giant eddy further down, so we say hi.

Soon we’re at the take out and hungry for lunch. The large grassy bank by the car park is soon strewn with kit drying in the sun and kayakers making manwiches. There is one tree providing shade and it gets really crowded! The plan is to head to the racecourse, but Chris starts talking about an awesome, amazing section that’s so cool and fantastic and wow, it’s really good guys. So we stop at the put in for the Fresquiére section and have a good gape at the scariness below the bridge. Some other paddlers are just putting on, so we watch the entertainment, though no carnage is forthcoming.

The gnar hungry boys are uber keen, though pretty nervous. Much discussion and line picking ensues, and it takes a while for the exciting bit to start. Eventually they’re on the water and we watch, gasp, take pictures and wave from the bridge.

Discussion time!

Put in for the grade 4/5 Fresquiere section.

Through the first drop.

Heading off! Apparently it gets harder just round the corner...

Then we’re off to the cars and down the road to meet them at the put in for the racecourse. We get about half a km and get stopped by a guy who tells us that they’ve just been blasting the cliff and we’ll need to wait until the road is clear. He then proceeds to kick some small rocks around at the side of the road for about five minutes before talking into his radio then waving us all through. Huh.

The put in for the racecourse is mobbed with kayakers, rafters and white water racers. We manage to sneak parking spaces and get kitted. Some of the more nervous paddlers have decided not to go along, so we don’t need to run a shuttle. Just as we start to get worried the gnar hunters appear floating down the river looking ecstatic.

I’m in Chris’s group with Cami, James, Jon, John, Jonny and Andre. Jon and I are pretty nervous in the first eddy. This river is supposedly grade 4 with grade 2/3 rest breaks in between. The volume is much bigger than the other rivers we’ve done, although there are more large eddies around.

Racecourse put in, Andre still buzzing from the Fresquiere section.

We set off, straight into the first rapid. This is bouncy grade 3 and gives us a nice intro into the volume and power of the river. We gather in an eddy at the bottom, then immediately we’re off again, floating down the grade 2. We eddy in and out, following Chris in a line like ducklings. A bit more grade three and suddenly on an innocuous looking rapid I see James shoot skywards nose first, a little panicked. Jon drops in behind him, does some crazy mystery move that’s too fast to follow and pops out backwards, looking shocked that he’s still somehow upright. Too late now. The hole opens up and I charge it as best I can. Water gets in my contacts and I’m briefly aware of tail squirting through the first hole, only to land in the next one right behind it. Reflex takes over, thankfully, and I blindly surf for a few seconds before I’m spat out and downriver. I clear my eyes as quick as I can, but the worst is over and I break out into an eddy. The initial conversation with Jon goes something like:

“Hnnnnnnnngggggg”

“Ungeeeeeeeeeeee”

And repeat.

So that was a bit of grade four, just for funsies. But we’ve got the measure now – don’t trust the nice lead in, it’s sneaky like that. We keep going. We’re at Chris pace, no time to stop and reflect on near trashings. There’re more grade fours, big boulders planted all across the river, forcing desperate ferries, eddying with eyes on stalks, charging holes. It’s intense and terrifying and exhilarating. At one point James remarks that “It’s a bit chunkier than last time I was here”

The banks start to gorge up a bit and Jon and I are getting pretty scared. How far? No idea. Chris’s gone again! Yeah, which way? We paddle nervously after him, but it’s all good. Grade 3 at most! We have a giggle and gaze up at the cliffs with the trailing ivy that nearly reaches river level and the old roman bridge arcing across the gorge.

Into the gorge!

A few more corners of grade 2 and we see the others lounging on the bank. We hop out and take in these feelings. We survived, and it was awesome.

Happy tired paddlers

We load up and the car that’s on cooking duty whizzes off. Since we’re so much further west, downriver of where we started, the way back is round by the huge lake that the Ubaye and Durance empty into (Lac du Serre-Ponçon). We stop at a large dirt layby and wander down to take in the view of the sky blue lake. Then someone suggests a naked photo for next year’s calendar and suddenly there’s an awful lot of nakedness. A paraglider on the other side of the lake lands rather abruptly and we have a long discussion about whether the nakedness may have had anything to do with that.

At the lake.

Eventually we tear ourselves away and head back. The super market in Embrun is ginormous and Dave buys himself a chair, while I buy myself steak for dinner. We arrive back at the campsite only to discover that the car sent to buy dinner had failed to make it to a supermarket before the they all closed. In fact, they were the only car not to have gone to a supermarket. Apparently there was ice cream involved.

The dinner car strategically manoeuvre away to find themselves pizza, leaving us to pass on the message to the others. Since eating out isn’t really an option for me I get my stove out and start making steak fajitas, mmmmm. Dave takes my leftover steak and red pepper and combines it with random findings from the rest of the campsite to make a super tasty looking sauce. Meanwhile the others arrive back and are mildly less than impressed, but most head off to L’Argentierre or to the Pizzeria in La Roche de Rame. Chris and John make some incredible looking cous cous mixture, Sarah has a tin of Heinz Spaghetti and Sausages (since lactose free pizza doesn’t really appear much in France) and Raffa eats everyone’s leftovers and raids his car/tent for even more food. We chat about the day and other things, and muse on how much hell there will be descending tomorrow morning!

Day 7

Tempers are a little short today. Everyone is tired and last night’s food drama didn’t help matters. The sunshine run is the plan, but not everyone is ok with this. Jon, Raffa, Rory, John and Chris head off to a river called the Cerveyrette, described as an “overlooked, easily accessible esoteric gem” by the guide book. However it also says that “At times it feels more like cage fighting than kayaking”.

Feeling a bit icky, I elect to take the day off along with Jonny, Jon W and James. We watch the other guys play at the slalom course at St-Clément and take lots of pictures.

Once we’ve waved them off we have a nosey in the kayak shop and I buy a guide book so I can read up on the rivers we’ve done and add notes to them. My ickyness is definitely a coeliac reaction. Great…

We head down to the Rab “wave” and sit in the empty café, eating our own food since clearly business is slow and nobody could be bothered opening today. We start making sandwiches and relaxing, only to be rudely interrupted by the rest coming down the river. We sprint out to the beach, pulling out cameras and snapping/filming. The first casualty is Dave, who does an impressive backloop in the nomad. He’s soon followed by Jonty who clearly had gotten bored with just running rapids and does an impressive number of cartwheels in his Diesel before finally bailing out. Emily charges the hole and pops out the other side looking smug, only to realise in horror that she’s being sucked back in. A chaos of boats, paddles and paddlers spreads out behind the hole while we whoop and cheer with carnage hungry glee.

Emily, heading for trouble.

Carnage!

Soon enough everything is returned to a controlled state. Dave is bleeding copiously after apparently during his backlooping fun, the Nomad landed on his face. He opts to finish the river here. Andre, deciding that since he’s in a play boat he should really try out the play hole, drops into the meat of the wave and is played with for a while before being spat out.

The Rab wave playing with Andre

Tired but happy, he gets off the water with Dave and we wave the others off as they head for the take out further down. Andre and Dave get changed and Dave’s nose just about stops bleeding, so we drive down to Embrun and pick the others up.

Feeling pretty shaky, I let Dave drive for a bit as we head to the Fournell. A small river at the back of L'Argentierre that is controlled by hydro schemes, the Fournell is just lots and lots and lots of weirs. There are five that are regularly run by kayakers, although some, especially the first drop, are pretty sticky, so a good boof is an idea.

It’s apparently running a bit higher than usual, but James is keen and paddles down twice while we run the bank doing safety and camera cover. The second time down he does a sweet hammer off the big drop.

Hammer time!

Then it’s back to camp and last night’s dinner team is on tonight, though there’s some pointed reminders about supermarket closing times and “this better be good”. It has sausages in it, so I heat up a premade sauce packet and pasta that I brought with me. Probably a good idea on my delicate stomach today.

We get to hear all about the adventures on the Cerveyrette. Many, many trees and blind corners and dodgy moments! But it all turned out ok and everyone is happy. And apparently dinner is begrudgingly alright.

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