Ogwen White Water

Felt like a Spitefire pilot scrambling to the run way on an incoming attack this morning. I'd loosely made an agreement with Aled to go for a morning kayak on our local river, the Afon Ogwen, but given his tight schedule, didn't think he'd be able to make it. I was just putting my feet up, with a post breakfast brew in hand; book ready to open, when his text arrived. "We're on. Leaving now".

This gave me precisely ten minutes to collect my kayaking kit, load my boat into the van, find a paddle and climb into my drysuit. I managed it in eleven, and drove to the river with my helmet already on! Leaving his car at the 'get out', a cool thirty minutes from getting his text, we were pulling on spray decks and setting off!

This time I was paddling my 'Dagger Vertigo' - a timeless classic of a kayak, although (some might say), a little small for the river. Although a few waves and eddies threatened to up end me, the advantage of a small, custom fitting boat is that it's really easy to move on the river. I was able to use the boat to navigate tight rapids, just with subtle movements like lifting a knee.

Having paddled the river last week, we were both feeling a bit more 'on it' and enjoyed stopping to surf on various waves on the way down. Last weeks spectating geese were also still there on the bank and honked us past.

After delighting our way down through the rapids, we almost had a dampener put on the trip when we got a bit of agro from a fisherman when we got out. There is a long history of dispute between different river users all over the UK, but this was the first time in ages that we'd experienced any hassle here. The guy was not up for any 'conversation' and clearly gunning for a fight, but eventually left us alone before he ruptured a blood vessel in his forehead. 

The day finished with a very social bonus! I'd arranged to meet up for a climb at Plas y Brenin, where Clare had been working. There was a conference on and we ended up bumping into some brilliant old friends (old as in not seen for a long long time!) and having some good reminisces as well as a good work out.