Following my summer trip to Canada I was advised to take a bit of time off paddling to allow my hand to heal (I slipped on a rock inspecting a rapid on the Magpie and caused soft tissue damage to one of my fingers – no heroic story!).
At the end of November I had the opportunity to join my old uni kayak club on a trip to North Wales and decided that this would be the ideal way to ease myself back into paddling. On the Saturday we paddled the Glaslyn, followed by a trip down the Glaslyn Gorge – which was a first time for the majority of the group.
Miles on the Breaker, Glaslyn Gorge
Following a successful run down the Gorge, we headed over to the Arddu for a bit of fun. It was low but a few of the group fancied having a go at the final fall. All went well except for Nick’s boat, which ended the day with a bit of a dent in the nose! (It popped out overnight, however).
Having spent most of the week wondering whether there would be sufficient water in the rivers, the rain on Saturday night took our concern to the other end of the scale – we had too much water! As such, the original plans were thrown out of the window and we headed off to the Llugwy from Pont Cyfyng to Forestry Falls followed by the Dee. The Llugwy was at a great sporty level which I thoroughly enjoyed. The Dee wasn’t as high as we expected it might be though. Despite this, a fun day was had by all and we all ended the weekend with big smiles on our faces.
More photos available at: photos.andywicks.com/WalesWeekendNov2011
The following weekend saw the annual Gene17 Adventure Paddler Weekend (APWE), held at the River Dart Country Park. The weekend started (albeit a little later than planned) with a pleasant run down the Erme. The top section was a little scrapy but the gorge section was a thrilling roller-coaster ride. By the time we got off, located all of the drivers and done the shuttle, it was getting a bit late in the day. Despite this, two groups of four decided to head over to Dartmeet for a quick run down the Upper Dart. The group I was in arrived at Dartmeet just as our other group were setting off downstream. After a quick change, we set off downstream at 1535 – a little bit later than originally intended! It didn’t take long before we were passing other groups on the water and, 50 mins after leaving Dartmeet, we were sat in the eddy at Newbridge wondering how we had managed to do it quite so quickly (I would normally allow ~ 2 hours for this run) and feeling concerned for the 60 or so paddlers we had passed on the river. It was highly likely that most of these groups would be getting off in the dark.
Looking on at the Slot, river Erme
Saturday night saw the usual offering of talks and movies accompanied by a few drinks. On Sunday we enjoyed a slightly leisurely start then a relaxed run down the Upper to round off a great weekend.
More photos available at: photos.andywicks.com/Gene17APWE2011.