Ok, well today was one of those days where best-laid plans go to pot…discussions at Friday night’s pool session suggested that there’d be a good gorup of folk out today…but no, three called off as I was driving to the meeting point and another one failed to show up! So, myself and Tim D were left to tackle the Middle Findhorn on our own…

River Grade: 3+
My Boat: WaveSport Diesel 75
Group Size: 2

Braving the wind and snow, we headed for Ardclach. It was clear from looking at the river as we drove down the hairpins that the levels were really high; what’s normally a scrapy put-in was washed out with one or two stoppers present just up stream!

After doing the shuttles, and eventually managing to zip-up my dry suit, we headed-off down the river. The first little section, rather than containing little drops and small waves, was fast-moving with pushy uneven wave trains, pour-overs and stoppers. Given the speed of the water, it didn’t take long to shoot down, however, and soon we came to our first hazard…

We’d been told by some folk in the club that there were a few trees stuck in the Findhorn (due to a couple of weeks of heavy snow which snapped them in two); the first one we came across covered about 2/3 or the river. It was hanging somewhere around shoulder height and was positioned right above a nasty looking hole. Not too much bother so long as you got your line right, but I wouldn’t fancy getting it wrong…ouch, gulp, glug, smack…

A few wee waves and holes later, we arrived at Logie Bridge. House Rock lay just beyond and was a complete pour-over; I’ve never seen it like that before! Ran it without any incidents and headed on down to the play hole just below. This was completely washed out, but a bigger hole had formed just to river-left. Had a quick play and then onwards…

The next rapid of note was Elephant Rock. This was all-but a pour-over and the two small stoppers below was huge. Both were river-wide and the lower of the two had awesome play potential…we stooped for a while, then headed on…

The river was fast, so the normally flat sections wizzed by and it wasn’t long until we reached Dragon’s Tooth and the start of the gorge section. As we approached, we could see water half-covering the gravel bank (which normaly resides about 1m above water level), so turning the corner and seeing water covering the whole gorge floor wasn’t all that surprising.

Today, you could run Dragon’s Tooth pretty much any way you liked; the central rocks being feet under water. I decided to take river-right and Tim decided to go river-left…mine looked quite a clean run, apart from the unseen stoper which I just managed to sneak through. I didn’t see how Tim got on, but as I looked round to see him break-out in the same eddy, he was drenched…but in his defence, I think it was a face full of water rather than a roll!

Another couple of waves and a modicum of surfing and we reached Carnage Corner…wow! The normally two-stage falls were washed out and replaced with two massive stoppers (the bottom one also have a secondary stopper folding-in from river-right). As ever, river-left was the best way to run the rapid and for once you didn’t have to worry about avoiding rocks!

The journey down was quick and we broke out into the not-as-big-as-usual eddy below Carnage on river-left. We only hung around for a few mins, though, to allow Tim to attempt a wee surf in the bottow hole…not much joy though as it was just too powerful to get into from the side…

So, that was it…a fairly quick run down the Middle, but great to experience it in high water…and once the snow had stopped, a nice day it was too!

Well, today there were various options on the cards; however a few of the 2* paddlers in the club hadn’t been out for a few months, so Pete Ralph and I decided to take them on a wee trip down the River Spey.

River Grade: 2
Author’s Boat: WaveSport Diesel 75
Group Size: 10

It was a lovely day as we all gathered at the get-in and spirits were high. There were 10 of us in total and we had a nice gentle paddle down through ‘washing machine’ towards Blacksboat rapid.

The river was at medium/high level, so much of the white water sections were washed out. Only one casualty at Blacksboat, but we cleaned-up quickly and had lunch to allow time for recovery and warming-up!

A few play waves later, we were over-taken by a group from Glenmore Lodge, only to catch them up again at the nice we wave about a mile south of Blacksboat. Pete showed us all how to surf – the surfing expert that he is! – and most of us had a wee shot…no capsizes!

Again, we carried on at a leisurely pace, taking in the fab. scenery, until we reached the wave train before Knockando. Given the levels, this was a great up-and-down ride, with big waves and troughs all-but hiding any paddler brave enough to tackle them!

Again, more opportunity to play; with myself, Pete, Cerian and one or two others catch a few surfs…Eddie decided one shower wasn’t enough for him and took a swim, but no major incidents…

Knockando, normally a good place to stop and play, was pretty much washed out and most of the group shot-on down to the get-out by the old station. A few of us hung about to play on the Knockando wave, which was a good ride if you could stay on, but on false edge and you were spat-out with little chance of getting back on…

Still, despite being only a grade 2 river, a fun day was had by all…what the river lacks in adrenaline-fuelled excitement, it makes up in scenic beauty!

Roll on the next river…

Well, today was something new. Perhaps not the most pumping river in the world, but it was nice to paddle an unknown bit of water and get out and about with a few new faces.

River Grade: 2/3 (with one 3+/4)
Author’s Boat: WaveSport Diesel 75
Group Size: 14

The day started with a long drive to Bridge of Avon (pronounced ‘Ah-n’) and then a picturesque meet at the lovely old bridge. Levels looked good, so we got our kit together and drove up to ‘Distillery Falls’ near Glenlivet.

A few of us brave souls ran the falls; they’re probably grade 3+/4. This was probably the only real bit of excitement all day…after that we headed down the river…mostly flat, yet fast moving, but there were other little bits of fun and play potential. A few ledges here and there…some little drops and lots of wave trains. A couple of sweet surf holes too…

Still, while it might have been mainly Spey-ish in character, Dave Young still managed to require eskimo-resucing…this time it was Dave 4 out of 4 who did the ‘hand of God’ and lifted him upright…this was the same awsome kayaker who later hand rolled twice in a stopper!

So, it was great to be out on the water as ever…next time, thought, I’ll probably take up the offer of the Upper Findhorn…

[Thanks to Emma G for the pics]