French Alps 2019 paddling trip
Day 4 Slalom Course and Upper Guisane by Nikki Aldridge
The morning started with some people playing on the slalom course and others playing on SUPs on the lake… success stories all around.
After a fairly relaxed morning and lunch at the campsite, we headed off to find a river… the Upper “Insane” Guisane. It started from a precarious launch spot and we were soon on our way, dodging rocks and following the water.
In no time at all, we reached ‘S-Bend’. After some jungle bashing we 
eventually found our way to the top of the rapid and went to inspect. A few sensible people portaged while the less sensible people tackled the (quite long) rapid in small groups. It was big and fast with lots of rocks to dodge and smiles all around at the bottom.
We regrouped in slightly calmer water and carried on, only to find out shortly after that Neil had disappeared… he’d apparently stopped to take photos and missed the brief on where to get back on the river with the rest of us! He was eventually rescued by Kirk and Aaron, who found him sat on the river bank staring blankly at his phone and contemplating his lack of friends and how long his water would keep him alive!
Meanwhile, on the river, one of the leaders who shall remain unnamed decided to go for a swim at the first of two weirs! Just to make sure the group were paying attention, obviously!
The rest of the river was a relaxed and pretty paddle, with a few bits to keep us entertained and tourists squirting us with water pistols, before reaching the get out.
It was then back to camp to celebrate Ian’s **th birthday with chocolate cake and “a Fruity French one”.