Towards the end of last week I started to become concerned that I was not going to be getting any paddling in that weekend – GB selection at Hurley meant that Hurley could well have been out of bounds to non-competitors all weekend. With this in mind, and some of the Kingfisher lot having accommodation booked in Llangollen for the Saturday night, a trip to North Wales was put together.
On Saturday night Doug Ammons was in Llangollen for the latest leg of his lecture tour, so we were to get to Llangollen in time for Ol and myself, who had no accommodation organised, to try and find somewhere to stay. We were successful on our second attempt and quickly had our tents erected and camp set up at Abbey Farm campsite, just outside Llangollen (within walking distance 🙂 ). The talk was inspiring and thought-provoking, focussing heavily on his descents down the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. The talk was followed by a few pints in a pub next to Town Falls on the Dee before we walked back to our campsite.
The view upstream of the pub on Saturday night
How the campsite got its name
Sunday started bright and early for Ol and I – we had managed to get up, pack up camp and drive to the hotel only to find that everyone else was still asleep! Everyone, that is, except for Andy L who we saw out running as we drove across to the hotel. After a while the others gradually joined us for breakfast at the hotel, where a plan for the day was decided upon. We were to start with a quick run down the Dee into town before heading across to the Tryweryn for the afternoon.
The run down the Dee was relatively uneventful, with the exception of Lee’s backband breaking as he paddled down Serpent’s Tail, and me having some issues with the zip on my drysuit.
Paddling up the canal to the river Dee
Lee paddling Serpent just before his backband broke
The cars were rapidly loaded and we were soon on our way to the Tryweryn. As the top site (the section between the dam and the chipper) was not in use, we decided to paddle this section prior to the main section. Somehow Dave H managed to really struggle on this section, after getting caught in a weir before swimming out. Everyone else managed to descend the weir without so much as a wobble!
Dave getting back into his boat following his swim
Dave should have paid more attention to this sign!
This was the only swim of the day, with the remainder of the afternoon spent practicing breaking-in and -out – including some eddies so small that it was a struggle to even spot them!
Andy N practicing his old-skool pop-outs!
Ol
More photos from the trip are available at http://photos.andywicks.com/NorthWales1415thMarch2009#.