Great day out today, with Matt and Caz. Unseasonably warm, sunny and even a wee bit of water about…

Headed up to a boney Upper Black Water for a quick blast down. Some nice drops as normal, but really rocky on the middle section. So, having decided that we’d done more punting than paddling, we headed to the Meig Gorge.

No real compensation flow coming from the Meig Dam up Strath Conon, and Loch Meig was about 99% ice, but the gorge was running – just!

A wee bit scrapy and some of the run-ins were actually a good bit harder than normal given normal lines were blocked by rocks, but still an excellent paddle.

Wish I’d brought my elbow pads, Cazz made us work hard at the constriction (boat and person rescue) and I took a STUPID swim on the final feature of the gorge, but well worth it nonetheless…and lovely, as ever, to shoot down Tea Cup Falls!!

Chasing water today, albeit virtually, not physically, thanks to Where’s the Water; the only drop about was on the Lower Findhorn.

Despite the sun and surprising warmth for a January day, down in the gorge it was freezing – literally!

Matt, Robert and me ran Randolph’s Leap, which turned out to be a wee bit pushier than expected, while Jo and Caz joined us just below. The river was a good level today, with all features running and not too many rocks on show. Some good waves too for fun and frolicks on the way down!

Highlight of the day had to be the ‘prawn crackers’, otherwise known as bizzare frozen circles of foam in an eddy just below the get-in. Not quite sure how they were formed, but they made excellent frisbies! Thanks to Matt for the photos…

Beautiful day today, albeit freezing, but with hardly any water about, a few of us headed to the trusty Findhorn to see if we could get in some paddling.

While the lower section looked a good level at Randolph’s Leap, it also looked utterly baltic, so we decided to give the middle a spin; more open, so possibly a wee bit warmer?!

It was a pretty low level and a bit scrapy, but always nice to get out nonetheless. Couple of nice wee wave spots too; particularly in the gorge just after Dragon’s Tooth. Hoping to get out to the West Coast soon to do the Gruinard, Cuilleig etc., or perhaps Lochaber to get another run down the Roy or even the Gloy; just need some water and warmer air!