Royal Dee Descent October 2024 by Graham Rowe

Day 1

There’s a time to go to the river when it is right to do the river, not fix a date then complain it was either flooded or way too low.

The season was right, a significant volume of rain had drenched the watershed, and the weather looked generally favourable for an opportunity to descend the Aberdeenshire Dee, the Royal Dee.

From Braemar to the sea is a little over 100km and a drop of 320m. This is a river that descends like few others. It is not small, but it behaves like a spate river. As a Canadian-style river, you need a reasonable level, not as much for simple success, but more to allow it to carry you over the numerous boulders, rapids and riffles. The river has few, if any ‘still’ glides. It flows relentlessly, and it ‘runs’ all the way into town.

Suffice to say, all the rapids cannot be detailed here, but you need to be on your game with complex grade 2s and thinking about dealing with potentially grade 3 water. Nowhere, can the river not be lined, but there are places where lining would be a wrestle… all dependant on the level of course. There is plenty of action, so much so as to make the Spey and Tweed appear a little ‘stretched-out’. By mid-October, all salmon fishing is over on the river and the autumn colours are building to their best. A good share of fish were jumping, all dark-coloured having been in the river for some time.

Our starting level was approximately 2/5 higher than the ‘Normal’ (green) band on the SEPA online gauge information. On finishing it was below 1/4. This was enough, we could have coped with more, but with less, days 2 and 3 might have been a little tedious, but who’s to say? No complaints about the level we had.

We drove up in the afternoon, ate, sneak out of sight and camped. We were up at 6.30 am to get to the start and offload the boats and kit. There’s a good opportunity just on the western edge of Braemar village, to go into an island channel.

With dawn coming on, I left Keith and drove down to Aberdeen to the egress, the rowing clubs and the public park (Torry) on the south bank, just before the port itself. Followed then by a quick walk into the city centre to the bus station. (Allow a good 2-1/2 hours from Braemar). Buses back up the valley are every hour, and the journey takes 2-1/4 hours.

We’re away around 1 pm and after a few kilometres of easygoing, it gets moving and just keeps going. From one you’re onto the next, then the next. In four hours 27km was covered and 110m of height loss …and yes, you’ve worked it out correctly, that’s an average gradient of 4m/km. The Royal Dee is no canal!

Great camp south bank next to a fine fishing lodge a few km upstream of Ballater. Good shingle egress, well-groomed ground, and plenty of shelter. We didn’t need the benefit of the lodge’s canopy, but in poorer weather it would have been welcome.

Day 2

The river had clearly dropped a little overnight. Away a little before 8.30 am, a long steady day of riffles and rapids with their own complications, but in great scenery. Most notable rapids (grade 2+/3) at the Dinnet and Potarch bridges, then at Cairnton Hall (where I swamped out completely and swam the mess to the shore to regroup) and the two rapids that follow a short way beyond.