2022 LCC Alpine Holiday to Durance Region in France: Day 12 Wednesday: Lower Durance by Nikki Aldridge
Day 12 Wednesday: Lower Durance by Nikki Aldridge
After a leisurely morning we made our way to St Clement for a late elevenses. We were joined at 2pm by the hard-core paddlers who had paddled the Romanche in the morning. We set off toward Embrun. Martin and I left first as I was on my SUP and being as it was my first time doing white water on a SUP, Martin was my safety.
The first few rapids, I was wobbly but amazingly stayed upright. This spurred me on, and I was delighted to make it all the way to the breakout above the Rabioux Wave without falling in and I only had to drop to my knees once when a line of rocks blocked my path.
We had been wondering why the rest of the group hadn’t caught up to us yet, but they caught up at the break out and regaled is with stories of lost bungs and a split kayak. Apparently, the Romanche claimed casualties!
We ran down river right to the Rab wave for a change today and in one big group. The right is less rocky and has some bouncy wave trains. Unfortunately, the second of these knocked me off my perch atop my SUP! I managed to climb back aboard before the Rab but not to my feet. So on my knees, I made it, much to my surprise, through the first wave but was not ready for the second wave… having never expected to get that far! I found myself deep beneath the waves trying to find my way to the surface. Still, not bad for a first try.
The rest of the group made it through without incident.
After re-energising with some chips from the café, and watching some other SUPs do a better job than me, I went for a second run.
This time, I approached on my feet, I dropped over the top and as I hit the first wave, I landed with a plop on my bum. I had a moment of thinking I might be able to ride it out before I plunged into the water again.
The rest of the river presented more bouncy wave trains, that seemed to get bigger and bigger the further downstream we got. After some fairly miraculous balancing, the river beat me again. The rest of the trip was somewhat wetter than the start had been, but it was all great fun.
I was exhausted by the end, but I think I wasn’t the only one! 4 hours after we left St Clement, we finally emerged in Embrun.