Getting lucky

I've been pretty lucky this past month. So lucky that I even started thinking about luck and what people believe it is. I was always, and still am, a believer in making your own. Someone once said that "luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity". 

I hit a good run of luck in mid October. In the space of two weekends I got the chance to paddle six different rivers in Ireland and Scotland, all at great levels. I had been planning a trip to Kerry, in the south west corner of Ireland, for a few weeks but was doubtful of the rain arriving. It really needs to be raining hard to go kayaking in Kerry as most of the rivers are spate runs. The week beforehand the forecast started to look good and we decided to chance it. Checking the rainfall radar on Friday night I saw a big blob of yellow and pink moving in my direction. That night the sound of the rain bouncing off the roof kept us awake into the small hours.

We paddled two great rivers the following day at perfect levels. The Clydagh is a well known tree lined run with a big slide thrown in the middle. It is also the warm up section for the Flesk, one of the best IV+ runs in the country. The crew I was with had never been paddling in Kerry before so we wanted to make the most of the rain and get in at least two rivers. After running the gates to the Flesk we called it quits, jumped in the car and in less than twenty minutes were at the put in for river number two, the Roughty.

Eamonn on the Clydagh. Photo by Muireann Lynch.

The Roughty is a well known classic run, mostly pool drop in nature. It gets quite tight in places with a few slots and also one or two bigger drops. The level was ideal with plenty of water but not too pushy. We decided to leave the messy drop above the get in for another time. Cathal took a few shots from the first bridge as we paddled the rapid beneath. This was a really fun run with some great moves especially through the slots and the two bigger drops at the end, before the get out bridge appears. We got off just as the sun was setting only to find we had left the cars at the next bridge downstream. Ooops!

Barry on the Middle Roughty. Photo by Cathal Kelly.

A scenic drive on Sunday morning winding over the Gap of Dunloe led us into the Black Valley and to the put in for river number three, the Gearhameen. I had never paddled this before and was looking forward to the buzz of a new river. Unfortunately the level had dropped a lot overnight and it was quite low with lots of very rocky rapids. I will certainly be back here though as in high water this is supposed to be a blast. It's probably one of the most scenic rivers in Ireland, nestled deep in the hills of the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, the only other person we met was an elderly farmer who had come to see who was making all the "noise".

Following a busy week in work I was lucky enough to be able to get away to Scotland on a level 5 skills training weekend with the ICU. The ferry for this was literally booked the night before as again the forecast was a bit hard to guage. Nothing to worry about though as it ended up pouring down all weekend! While over there we ran the Roy Gorge (no. 4) on the first day as a warm up. The level was a touch low but a really super river with a deep gorge section which would be interesting in high water. Beware of the hike up the hill at the get out, its thirsty work!

As part of the course we were lucky enough to get in the Etive (no. 5) in high water, a Scottish classic, although it has also been described as a "ditch"! There was lots of boofing practice and looking at different approaches to running drops. The main drop, Right Angle Falls (20 ft), looked a bit too meaty to run at this level with a huge boily mess at the base.

Having a long look at Right Angle Falls. Photo by Simon Hall.

On the final day of training we paddled the Orchy River (thats the six), a big volume (and in big water!) river with long rapids broken up by flat stretches. There were some big and bouncy wave trains and one rapid I did not run, Easan Dubha, though Benny and Peter cruised down making it look easy. We even got to play with pinned boats and the odd unexpected scenario kept us on our toes. I think the scariest thing though was the coffee fueled night time drive back to catch the last ferry home. Let's just say there are a lot more deer wandering the roads than we expected. I actually was looking forward to work on Monday morning, if just for the chance to have a wee break!

Wet West Paddlefest 09

The Wet West Paddle Fest is the biggest annual whitewater kayaking event in Scotland. It's a celebration of whitewater with organised releases on the Rivers Garry, Moriston and Awe, not to mention an evening of ceilidh dancing and kayak films in Fort William. The festival came about as a memorial to the legendary Scottish paddler, Andy Jackson, who died in 2004. 

I had heard a few of the stories from 2008's WWPF and so made sure that I was there for this years festival. It's been an unusually dry September in Ireland and with no whitewater on the cards the lure of the Scottish highlands could not be turned down. After the short hop over to Stranraer we took a detour for a few hours to stretch our legs on the mountain bike trails of Kirroughtree Forest. The fast technical trails through the deserted forest were never ending and we stayed out late into the evening, stopping at one point to watch a golden eagle soar overhead. Magic! Plenty of coffee and cake (served by a hairy old woman) and 4 hours later we were in Fort William.

The river Garry is one of Scotland's best play runs and was the Saturday release. There are several nice play spots on a relatively (I ran it in 7 mins) short stretch and it was great fun paddling this several times with the help of the free shuttle bus. There is one nice move at the very start of the river, a seal launch at the inlet pipe into the full flow and over a short double drop. Unfortunately we had only brought creek boats and this river was meant for play, however there was still plenty to keep those in big boats entertained, as any of the rafters who clobbered a kayaker in the bottom hole will testify. Ouch!

The evenings festivities in The BA Club were nice and chilled out with a great video from the Kayak USSR Team followed by a super buffet and then plenty of good tunes and catching up into the wee hours. There was also the odd mention of the river we would be on in the morning...
(P.S. ~ For the record you can fit 6 adults in the front cab of a Hiace!)

It was an early start again on Sunday morning as we headed up past Loch Ness to the small village of Invermoriston. A quick stop at the bridge for a recce of the Lower Moriston and we were suitably impressed/nervous. The river drops dramatically as it flows under the bridge with lines left and right and it's easy to see why this is reputed to be one of the biggest rapids in the UK. The put on for the Upper Moriston at the dam was very crowded and it was a case of joining the queue to run the first big drop. This was a lovely 3m drop worth running a few times and a great spot to set up the camera.

The rest of the rapids on the Upper Moriston were short and sweet with one or two more small drops into bouldery grade IV. Unfortunately we had a ferry to catch and did not have time to get in the Lower so I'll have to come back for that and to get a taste of some more Scottish creeks again soon! A big thanks to Shane for all the driving and to the SCA and local volunteers who put on an amazing weekend.
(Photos to come soon!)

A portion of the funds raised during the weekend will go to the Andy Jackson fund for access who promote and protect access to waterways in Scotland for the sport of canoeing. More details can be found on their website here.

My last six months

I've been quite busy lately but seeing as we are about to move into another season I thought it would be a good time to give this excuse for a blog a shot in the arm and hopefully create something interesting for people to read.

 

Mickey Barry on the Upper Sesia, Val Sesia, Italy. 

I've spent the past six months working hard during the week so I can afford to boat hard come the weekend. There are many of you out there doing the same thing no doubt. I'm constantly trying to tweak my schedule so that I can get more time on the water which is not always easy. I've come to really appreciate every minute on the river and that two great days paddling beats one average day and one nothing day recovering from the night before!

 

A big day on the Clare Glens, too big for me, 1.1m. 

Moving from the west coast to the east of Ireland has been a big change and although there is not as much water about I find the guys over here are very determined to make the most of every opportunity. I was not very familiar with the rivers here but after a few weekends spent getting lost in the Wicklow hills I think the runs here are on a par with (and maybe better!) than in Connemara. We even had a week of unexpected snow melt paddling in glorious sunshine ala the Alps in June. Some of the benefits of global warming maybe?


Landwasser waterfall, Val Sesia, Italy

I planned at the start of the year to try a few different kayaking disciplines, mainly to help with instructing but also just out of curiosity. I'm now hooked on slalom paddling and have a dream to paddle round Ireland by sea kayak some day! Having spent most of my time in plastic creek and freestlye boats it was a real eye opener to get to run some gates with top Irish slalom boater Eamon Rheinisch and the following weekend to be exploring caves in a big swell off Achill Island with Ali Donald of Saoirse na Mara. There really are endless adventures to be had kayaking in Ireland, no matter what the weather is doing, just get out there.

Sea kayaking with the seals off the Mayo coast.