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2021 LCC Alpine Holiday with
Staycation Alternative |
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News items or reports on club activities
should be sent to website@liverpoolcanoeclub.co.uk |
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This year we were all set to go to France again. All the planning had been done, restrictions checked and most of us fully jabbed. With the third wave and a month to go we started to look for an insurance option, just in case. We provisionally booked campsites in St David’s, Pembrokeshire, and the Scottish Canoe Association Campsite on the River Tay at Grandtully. With two weeks to go the UK Government decided to add France to the Amber plus list, meaning compulsory isolation for all on return. Fortunately, we had our insurance option, Plan B as travel to France was now totally unrealistic.
Alps Alternative Week 2 Central and
Southeast Scotland.
Day 01 River
Tummel
After meeting up on the Scottish Canoe Association Campsite on the River Tay at Grandtully the night before we confirmed that the River Tummel was still releasing. There is plenty of information on the SCA website. We drove up to the dam but first left a car at the get out (the large stone arch that marked the HEP power station car park. There were several rafting companies operating so we knew we were in the right place. We had to follow the river guides carefully as none of us had paddled the river before.
Near the Dam at the top, we dropped off our kayaks and carefully parked our car – many of the roads had been recently converted to no stopping zones with frequent ticketing. Once changed we carried our kayaks down through the HEP dam, following some gates and flattered grass made by dragging the rafts. We put on below the dam and warmed up on the first rapid.
The first sections were great – easy grade 2`s leading into a couple of grade 3`s. It was interesting paddling, but we knew there was more to come. After a tough little grade 3 we spied the footbridge, I had clocked this from the drive up. This gave us more rapids and a tough grade 3. There were now lots of people out of kayaks ahead of us. Graham was leading and broke out above the first grade 4. He then paddled down followed by Reece. We all then shot the rapid, a Z shaped channel with breakouts on each of the corners. We took the drops one by one, and all made it safely down the first grade 4.
By the time we paddled on 150m John Ledley and his team had caught us up. We were now on the final drop (small waterfall) -the Linn of Tummel which falls into Lock Faskally. I paddled into the eddy above the right-hand bend and asked if the paddler in front knew the line. He said that he did but probably would not be able to follow it! “Stay on the left of the green shoulder and then let the water bring you around and over the main drop on centre left. Try to avoid going too far right as it is shallow and rocky here.” The message was passed back along our group but some chose to get out and take a look anyway.
One by one we paddled over the falls – Stuart taking the best line on the river left. Unfortunately, I busy still helping with the portaging when most of our group paddled over, so missed many of the photos.
Day 02 River Tay - Grandtully
The plan was to paddle the section from Aberfeldy down to the Grandtully grade 3 rapids and do laps here until we had had enough. Google Earth found a good parking spot by "General Wades bridge" in Aberfeldy. We split up into three groups and set off on our journey. We played and ferry glided on several rapids before Aleksander spotted some “baby chickens” on the rocks. They turned out to be a mother duck with a brood of 5 mallard chicks. Needless to say, Aleksander was reminded of this for the rest of the day.
More grade 2 rapids appeared and were excellent for practise and confidence. These became more numerous the further we ventured on. Elle and Poppy took it in turn to lead sections of the river which was wide and ideal for group development. After about 14km we approached the hotel and houses that marked the top of Grantully Rapids. Numerous slalom poles were suspended across the river, and this marked the double rapids used by the Scottish Canoe Association. We spotted the line down the first and most vigorous drop. This was a right and then left breaking out below. We shot this one by one and Ella marked the boulder at the top that we all needed to miss. Fortunately, Stuart then got out of his boat and stood on this rock to show us the way.
Once down the top rapid we lined up for the second. This could be taken either left or right. On this run we opted for the larger left-hand channel. We then exited under the narrow road bridge and carried up for more goes. When we had had enough, we carried across the road and onto the railway campsite. After hot showers and a late lunch, we fetched the cars.
Day 03 River Tay - Stanley
This is the most paddled section of river in Scotland according to the guidebooks. We headed off in 4 vehicles as the information said that parking was an issue. We navigated to get out car park which was much smaller than I expected. We met three retired paddlers from Edinburgh dropping a car off. We got talking to them and they informed us that the top car park was now locked, and we had to contact the Scottish Canoe Association for the code for the gate. There was then some discussion of the fishing issues with paddling on the river Tay compared to open access across the rest of Scotland. Two redirected phone calls later and we had not been able to talk to anyone on the number(s) given on the SCA website. There was no one available in the offices. Stuart and I took a punt and went to take a look at the get on, it was down a long winding road with new no parking signs and even one ticketed car!
The three retired guys had left the padlock open, while I distracted them with more chat, Stuart was able to observe the code. Just after this, another car with a playboater arrived. I opened the gate for her. The paddler said, “you know they have changed the code”. Oh, I replied, I didn’t know that. She then told me the code. We now had access to a warm, sheltered beach with flat pool and a safe place to leave the cars. A quick shuttle back to let the others know the planned trip was on.
We paddled upstream to a small
rapid to play a bit and practise our ferry gliding. After about 10 minutes we set off
downstream. There was a Gillie with a
client fishing from a small rowing boat but the pool was so wide here there was
no problem. Before long we came across
Stanley Weir. The river was very low
but there was still enough water to go over either one of the three channels /
chutes. The middle one had the most
water and provided some excellent surf waves.
We played for a while and
then headed off downstream to explore the rapids below. These consisted of large grade two rapids
with easy lines and proved ideal for the groups. This was the closest we would come to the
bouncy waves of the Durance and the volume of the French Alps. The looping meanders of this Stanley section
meant that we had no idea of how long the paddle was. It was only supposed to be two km but seemed
much longer. Only I had gone down the
path to look at the get out (which was not obvious and covered in trees). I was 75% sure we had not passed the wing
dyke (diagonal weir) directing the flow across half of the river that would
mark out exit point.
Eventually we arrived at the wing dyke which gave massive standing waves and provided a lot of fun. We had all broken out into a large powerful eddy, I got out and climbed up the steep bank and wandered downstream to see if there was a better exit point. There was about 50m downstream. The group made short work of the ardious carry up the steps and steep path to the road above. What a great section of river.
Day 04a Upper Lyon and the
Bridge of Balgie
The SCA site suggested that the River Lyon had a release today, so some of the more experienced paddlers drove up the long Lyon Valley to explore. The gorge section did not look as if it had been paddled that regularly. There were reports of a rock fall / collapse which made the start very difficult and impossible to portage. The gorge itself looked ok but access was difficult so although it was useful to scout this section of the river, we decided to give it a miss this time.
This left a short section of grade 4 upstream at the Bridge of Balgie. This was described in the guidebooks but was a long drive up the Lyon valley. At the bridge we observed the falls and drops which made the crux of the rapid. There was an undercut feature on river left under the bridge and we all wanted to make the line on the left before tackling the last fall. Some of us decided to run the drops and unloaded our kayaks and carried up past the scout adventure centre and a farmhouse / holiday cottage to put in through an unlocked deer fence.
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Once on the river we shot over the first warm up drop. Reece then led the second bigger drop. This was a strong pour-over and needed to be “boofed” (See article below by KenWhiting). It caught a few of us out. Chris rolled up but was swept down the river right. I saw him pass my eddy in mid rapid vertical but looked ok. My attention then went to Nick who was back-looped in the top drop, he attempted to roll several times but decided to exit his cockpit as he was worried about being swept over the fall below on the right. He managed to rescue himself by clinging on to a rock above the final drop. I manged to paddle over to him, and he managed to claw his way around it to the middle chute. Over he went on a rather rocky descent. Aleksander paddled the whole section well but was forced to take the chute to the river right and was caught for a little while in the stopper below but skilfully paddled his way out.
Nick`s paddle was caught on a rock midstream and was finally released with a little fishing with a throw line (well done Stuart and Craig). Those watching the first run decided to leave the boats on their vehicles while some of us carried up for a second lap.
This time we all gave the rapid a little more attention. Stuart was back-looped in the top drop and it looked spectacular from the bridge, which now had a lot of tourist onlookers. Reece then played a little in the white water at the bottom but by now we had all thought we had earned our drinks and cake in the post office cafe in the village. We were all more than willing to support the local economy.
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Boofing
by Ken Whiting Boofing is the
act, or art, of keeping the bow of your kayak from diving underwater, and it
is without a doubt the most Boofing lets you
run drops while keeping your bow from diving deeply underwater. You should acknowledge from the outset that although boofing is a
crucial technique for running drops, it can also be quite dangerous if not
done properly. Landing flat from a drop of any significant height is going to
shock your spine. This shock has broken the backs of paddlers on surprisingly
small drops. Only experience can tell you when or when not to boof a drop. For now, though, we'll focus on the general boofing technique
that will take you cleanly over a small, vertical drop. This technique can be
modified slightly to boof over many different features. The success of
your boof relies on two key factors: your set-up, and your boof stroke. As a
general rule, you need forward speed directed at the steepest part of the
drop, and away from the centre of it. The forward speed helps launch far
enough to clear the hole at the bottom of the drop, and aiming for the
steepest part makes it easier to achieve this goal. By directing your boof
away from the centre of the drop, you are avoiding what is usually the
stickiest part of the hole below. In many cases, you can even boof completely
out of the main current and into an eddy. This of course requires plenty of
lateral This is also a great time to remember that rocks are your friends
on creeks. If there is a rock at the lip of the drop, it might prove very useful
as a launch ramp. The ideal boof rock is a rock that will give your bow a
kick into the air without slowing your forward momentum too much. This means
you want to hit the rock with your bow, but not with the rest of your kayak.
Do this by establishing lateral momentum on your approach. If you hit the
rock with too much force, or approach the rock too directly and catch it with
too much of your kayak, then you'll be slowed right down and you'll have
difficulty clearing the hole below. Having successfully set up your boof, let's now take a close look
at the boof stroke, which is the last stroke that you take as you drop over
the lip. The boof stroke requires a combination of timing and power. The
timing of the stroke is fairly straightforward. Plant the stroke just over
the lip of the drop, where you can get the most pull away from the falls. On
shallow drops, this sometimes means that you actually pull against the face
of the falls. In regard to the
actual stroke that you'll use, let's refer back to the "power
stroke" that we covered in an earlier article. The power stroke is a
vertical forward stroke that propels your kayak forward without turning it.
Since your goal for boofing is to launch yourself over the hole at the bottom
of a drop, it should make sense that this "power stroke" will come
in very handy. You don't need to worry quite as much about the stroke being
perfectly
As you approach the lip of the drop, you'll reach forward and
then plant your boof stroke just over the edge. At this same time, the bow of
your kayak will begin to drop over the falls. Now is the time to pull
aggressively on your boof stroke. As you pull on the stroke, you'll thrust
your hips forward and past the paddle blade. The further you pull this stroke,
the more lift you'll give your bow. This means that when you want to land the
flattest, your power stroke will pull right past your hip and your hips will
be thrust hard forward so that you end up in a leaning back position. Contrary to popular belief, you're not done yet! You now need to
prepare for your landing. You always want to land in your default body
position, otherwise known as the "moderately aggressive" position.
Landing like this helps prevent your boat from being back-endered, it helps
you cushion the blow, and it allows you to control your kayak from the moment
it touches down. For further control, you should land your boof with a paddle
blade in the water at your toes, ready as a brace or to pull you forward and completely
away from the hole at the base of the drop. Ken is a World
Champion Kayaker and the author and producer of an award winning series of
instructional kayaking books and videos. He was recognized by "Paddler
Magazine" as one of their 'Paddlers of the Century'. For more
information, visit www.helipress.com. |
Day 04b River Tay Stanley
The Lyon expedition had returned to the campsite for a spot of late lunch and we were so impressed with Stanley Weir the day before we thought we would return for round two. The pool above would be ideal for Clara to play on the beach but if we took Reece`s kayak perhaps she could even go for a paddle with her dad. We set off for the grassy car park at Stanley and we felt confident as the sun was out and now knew the code for the gate.
The group headed off for the weir and spent a while practising breaking in, ferry glides and experimented with surfing the green wave. We dropped in high with a slight angle and ready with a left stern rudder to surf across the face. We all developed our skill and confidence and soon most were surfing across the green face of the wave.
After a while, Clara and Richard appeared at the top of the weir. They had come across to watch all the action. Ella and I carried up the face of the weir to join them and have another go at shooting the weir. Ella had to jump in and swim to fetch her boat which had drifted off from the edge. A lesson learned. We then thought that Clara would be able to paddle down the first of the three chutes as it only had a little water going over it. She was up for the challenge and paddled it with ease.
We spent another 20 minutes playing in the waves at the bottom and even Clara tried a little Olympic Freestyle as we rode up the weathered remains of a tree in the eddy below the weir. When we had all had enough of the wave trains, we carried around the weir and paddled back to the cars. A two river day – just like the French Alps.
Day 05 River Garry
Although a long drive to the Inverness-shire River Garry, as it was releasing it was definitely worth it. We set off early to drive up the A9 and across to Spean Bridge and up to Invergarry. This was across the highlands of Scotland and was a beautiful drive and in total contrast to the wide, lowland valleys of Perthshire. We arrived at the car park and already there were a few other boaters there (Rafting companies, open boats and kayakers). We organised the shuttle and decided to do the lower section first. Nic, Ella and I scouted the first section along the new path that had been put in since I was there last. We spotted the line on the couple of drops on that section.
We put in at the bridge just below the large wave on the corner and paddled down as a group. Taking the main drop on the right we followed two chutes into the eddy below. Good lines by all made this look easier than it was. The river then had a few large bouncy rapids running over a steepish section. Below here the river is quite sedate with the occasional grade 2 rapid or section. We paddled under an old footbridge, chatted and relaxed.
Towards the bottom, the river gets more serious and comes to a large natural ledge with a 1m pour over. We paddled over this one at a time, Ella let out quiet a large yelp as she dropped over the edge as it was considerably larger than she thought. Immediately below this feature some of us got out to inspect the rapid and steep bend under the old road bridge. This is now half-collapsed after the floods and is cordoned off from the road. There were no trees blocking the way and I briefed the group about the line. “Swing right of middle and then back left to follow the water down and flare right as the water piles up against the gorge wall on the left. Make sure you do not break out too soon on the right as this is a very large and boily area”
We headed off giving about 10 boat lengths between each of us. I went first, followed by Ella and then Nick, Oscar and then Stuart. Ella appeared upside down and we collected all the bits in the calm water below the bridge, not before a small branch from a tree capsized me, forcing a roll. We used a throw line to drag the boats up the steep sides of the gorge below the bridge to road where we could load them onto the cars. This had been a great section of the river and well worth the drive.
We returned to the car park for a spot of lunch. Here we decided to run the upper section down to the bridge and then picking up Ella would run the lower section again. We started just below the dam looking into the tunnel for the overflow channel. The upper section consisted of about 5 waves or drops which were all good fun. The last, is a good play spot with a large wave just above the middle bridge. We went over this, one at a time with Stuart punching through the large wave train above the bottom wave.
Ella was waiting at the bridge and led us down most of the upper section again. This was an enjoyable section with us working on several skills at various parts along this section of river. We all shot the ledge before the broken and damaged road bridge. The final rapid around the S bend into the gorge proved a lot of fun. Both Nick and Oscar had to roll here but would not come out of their boat. Good effort.
Day 06a River Tay to
Grandtully
No releases today so we thought we would pop up and do the 2km section from the Scottish Canoe Association field. This gives some good grade 2`s down to Grandtully which we could run a couple of times. Many had gone home already expecting rain, which didn’t really materialise. We met several open boaters in the field access point, but we headed off quickly to make the most of a late breakfast on our return. Richard was sneaking in a last-minute paddle while Amy, Ella and Poppy packed the car ready for the journey home.
We made the most of the rapids on the way down, trying different routes from the previous day. Eventually we came across the slalom site at Grandtully. We shot the two stage rapids and made the most of our time trying different lines and manoeuvres. When we had finished, we carried back up to the campsite for a shower and late breakfast. It had started to rain slightly, and we watched as many of the campers pack up in the rain. Fortunately, we still had the club gazebo that Craig had kindly left for us. This would make the final two days much easier given the forecast.
Day 06b River Tay Stanley
After lunch we thought we would drive down to Stanley Pools for a final surf on the wave at the weir. The A9 was delayed with roadworks so “google” took us along the backroads, saving 25 minutes. As we arrived at the car park next to the river the sun came out. Nick had talked about the largest waterfall (by volume) in Europe at Campsie Linn, a short way up steam from the get in. We paddled up and then portaged around the rocky outcrop which forms the Linn. This was difficult but surely worth it to paddle the biggest waterfall. Well – what a disappointment. There was a small green wave where the waterfall was supposed to be. It was hard to get on and only Stuart managed it. After 30 seconds or so we decided to drift down to the weir.
At the weir we played and surfed for an hour or so. All four of us perfected the technique of dropping onto the face of the wave and surfing back and forth. We then carried around the weir and paddled back across the flat water above (the Linn Pools) to the cars. That evening we were unable to book a restaurant again as it was very busy, and Scotland still had COVID restrictions in place. We had a BBQ and take-a-way, a traditional way to end any Alpine Paddling Trip.
Day 07 River Tummel
We had packed up early, loading all the tents etc into our cars for the journey back South. The river Tummel was still releasing so we had one last chance to paddle on the final day. Oscar was keen to paddle the sections that he walked around on the first day, so the three of us headed up to do the Tummel. We dropped off Oscar’s car at the hydro station car park on the way up the valley. We unloaded the 3 boats and carried them to the foot of the dam. Here we got on the river, clearly the first paddlers of the day and well before the commercial rafts. The rapids gradually increased as we descended the river. Towards the end the Z-shaped rapid proved a little tricky and then we took on the Linn Falls at the bottom. Oscar still needs to return to do a clean run of this section but at least we were a little closer to his goal.
This was good alternative to the annual Alps trip but let’s hope that we all meet up in L'Argentière-la-Bessée next summer.
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GENERAL DESCRIPTION of the Tummel from Rivers Guide UK: From the dam the river is easy grade 2, the
difficulty slowly increasing. The first grade 3 is Sawmill falls, a long
bouncy rapid with an awkward slot at the end. A few more easy rapids follow
before the big flat bit at Coronation Bridge - a white suspension bridge.
After this flat bit is the run in to the top of the grade 3+ section.
Constriction is first up, a tight turn into a narrow slot. After this there
is a large eddy on the right to grab any pieces if you’re quick. Straight up
next is S bend, a technical rapid with an enormous pool at the bottom to
catch any carnage. Inspection/portage is easy on the right. A few more grade
2/3 drops bring you to the Linn of Tummel (grade 4). A double stage fall,
it’s easier than it looks. There is a ledge below the second drop on the
left, visible when Loch Faskally is low, that should be avoided.
Inspection/portage is easy on the right, though beware the very slippery
rocks! Rescue at the bottom is from the Loch, so no stress there. The rocks
on the left below the Linn give some great cliff jumping opportunities. |