French Alps 2018 paddling trip
Day 4 The Ubaye Race Course by Stuart Conway
Today’s river was one of the best white water race courses in Europe, a variety of large rapids separated by calm pools, well that what the guide book says.
We reached the get in at Le Martinet after a 1.5 hrs journey from the campsite. We all set off in one group lead initially by Keith. The first section was full of boulders, quite a challenging introduction to the river. We all made it, and then Helen took the lead and we sped through the next couple of section till she was sent back to bring up the rear. 4 more major rapids were paddled before the first of many rafts caught us up.
Having been down the river in previous years the “Shark Tooth” rapid was the one that bothered me the most, but we all managed to get through with no mishaps. The lead in to final rapid before the Roman Bridge and fabulous gorge proved no problem with all making the best line through. Only one more surprize lower down was when we came out of a right-hand bend there was a under cut that we all managed to avoid (except Nick but he did roll up).
Brilliant day on the river, then on to Lac Luazet for a swim and a well-deserved beer. The only casualty today was a crayfish, stunned when Hannah threw it back into the lake after it was dropped by a family of fishers. She will now research how to reintroduce crayfish to their natural environment, or how to cook them!
