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On Saturday 22 October, four intrepid CSCC paddlers set out
on Fi's magical whitewater mystery tour. So mysterious was this that
Fi
herself
was not there. The paddlers drove blindfold to the river so they would
not know where they were. They set up the shuttle and were on the water
- before midday! Clearly mysterious things were afoot in CSCC.
The
Saturday's paddle was a pleasant enough grade 2 and 3 paddle, with
some great scenery, wherever it was. The only swim was Dave M (in a boat
belonging to someone called Anne Ring) throwing an intriguing play move
at the bottom of a drop, which none of the rest of us could replicate.
Towards the end of the paddle, we realised that arriving blindfold had
not been a good idea in terms of gauging the river level, and a few
times it got very scrappy, sorry, technical. Martin decided paddling
with legs outside the boat was easier, so he could paddle in both
senses
of the word.
The evening saw a very pleasant meal and several nice pints in the
Talbert. Amazed by how much sooner our group had got on the river, we
discussed the need for a "faff survey" to detect what was stopping
us
doing this usually - expect this to follow soon!
The Sunday involved a much longer (blindfold, of course) drive to the
second river. The previous day's speed had got to our heads, and faff
once again abounded, though we just slipped onto the river before
midday. This river had plenty of water, and a great Grade 3/3+ paddle
followed, with a fair number of waves to play on. After Pete's swim on
a
drop, Dave M astounded us with a quick boat empty in the middle of the
river while floating downstream, delivering the boat ready-to-paddle
for
Pete. There was part of the river supposed to be Grade 4, but Hils
reckoned it wasn't, and she should know having stayed in the knarly bit
jumping between every micro-eddy looking for a challenge. A few more
drops and we were done, and wondering how long it would take to drive
home blindfold.
Thanks to Hils for organising and showing me two rivers I've never
paddled before.
All images ©2005 CSCC
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