Well, having thought that the ice and snow was behind us, a few hardy souls from Inverness Canoe Club decided to head for the water…

After walking away from the Lower Findhorn due to high levels and trees, and returning from the Top and Upper sections empty-handed due to ice, we decided to try the Middle Findhorn out for size.

As the pictures show, while there was water, the ice was still about! A good (yet somewhat chilly) day was had by all, and no swims…even Donald managed to avoid a spill from his open boat with a stylish flat spin on House Rock!

Well, after yet more time holed-up inside due to sub-zero temperatures, a small group of us managed to sneek out to the Averson near Alness.

I’d not been on this river before, so was looking forward to it! After a nice wee gentle start, the river started to pick up with a few grade 3 (ish) sections and some nice waves. However, this gentle start lulled me into a false sense of security and, just as I was thinking things were going swimmingly, I ended up swimming!!

My excuse/explanation is that I was trying to rescue Kevin’s (aka The Stig) paddle after his swim at the mouth of the gorge and then didn’t realise that there was a tricky wee number coming up…however, in reality, I just ballsed it up, plain-and-simple!!

Anyhow, a great wee river and a good paddle. Nice to be out after all this snow…you can have toooooooo much snow you know!

Oh, and thanks to Dave Stewart for yet more great pics…

Well, after two months of no water, I was getting out for a good paddle this weekend regardless!

Last week’s birthday trip to the River Ness was great, but I wanted something a wee bit more challenging this week…

Initial thoughts were the Lower Findhorn, but as much as I love that river, it was time for a change. Matt suggested The Black Water, just north of Garve; so we headed up the A835 to check it out.

With a bit of snow still on the banks of the river, and a lot on the hill, levels were low-medium. That said, this river runs almost all year round, so it didn’t put us off…

After walking back up the bank from the get-out, checking the drops out on the way, we set off. Now, I didn’t really know what to expect from this river, but I was fair from disapointed. It’s a lovely grade 4- (at these levels) rock slide and drop river. A bit technical in some places and a bit scrapy in others, but well worth it!

Will defo return in the summer with BBQ in tow to while away a few hours running, and re-running, the bottom section by the awesome stone bridge…quite a find this river!

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