Friday started off with a plan to head across to the Etive and its tributaries. Unlike previous days, standing around outside the chalets waiting for everyone to get ready did not see a new plan formulated and we headed off to the Etive.
Arriving at Triple Step – the get-on for the Middle Etive – the wind was blowing cold and the river was looking low, though still runnable. This two factors, however, were enough for some of the group to decide not to get on. In the end nine of us braved the conditions and got on the river above the first drop. Everyone made it down successfully with the exception of Dave S, whose deck popped upon landing the third drop. With four of the group heading off downstream after just one run down Triple Step, four of us went back for another run whilst Dave emptied his boat. Following our second descent Ol, Dave H and myself continued downstream leaving Date S and Doug to continue re-running Triple Step. The Letterbox rapid was quickly reached. Dave and Ol both managed to negotiate successfully, whereas I managed the drop on the correct line but still ended up in the eddy on river right and the bottom. After a few attempts, and with slight worry that the only way out of this eddy was to climb up the rocks behind me, I finally managed to escape its grasp and get back into the flow. We caught up with the first group at the next rapid – Crack of Doom – where they were sorting themselves out following a little swim from Vicky. Leaving them to it, we went passed and headed towards the next rapid, Crack of Dawn, which we paddled down the left-hand line. Approaching Right Angle Falls, Ol was somewhat surprised to discover the corner of his right-hand paddle blade missing! Spotting Fred on the bank indicated that we were in the last eddy above the falls. Dave went first, followed by Ol with myself last. For once I managed to land this 6 metre fall without hurting myself! We waiting in the eddy at the bottom of the falls for the other group to arrive before heading to the get-out as one group.
A small group decided that we hadn’t had enough paddling and wanted some more. Dave H, Phil, Doug and myself loaded our boats onto cars and headed down the valley to find the Allt Mheuran tributary, while everyone else headed to the pub to warm up. The Allt Mheuran is only a short run – you could probably get from top to bottom in under a minute – but the walk-in takes considerably longer. To start with, you have to walk down from the road to the Etive river, then cross the river either by paddling or wading across, before walking up to the get-in. All whilst carrying you 20-odd kilo boat on your shoulder. As if that wasn’t tricky enough, the walk up was peat-bog in places, as Dave found out as he sank up to his knees! About 45 minutes after leaving the cars, we reached the section we had come to paddle. It consisted of a double drop totalling approximately 10 metres, followed my some litte slides and drops, ending with a lovely slide approximately 20 metres long dropping another 10 metres with a 5 metre drop to finish. We ran the section a couple of times each, taking photos and video, and called it a day before any of us caused ourselves injury. The walk back to the cars warmed us and, after changing and loading the cars, we headed to the pub for some sustenance. We were greated to one more suprise though – and that was a stag on the side of the road as we drove up the valley to the pub, who was quite happy to pose for some photos as we drove past. What an end to a fantastic week.