There's snow on the hills! The first of the season and having not seen the forecast yesterday, it was quite a surprise to wake up to this! It was 16 degrees when I drove home last night; the temperature had dropped right down to 6 this morning!
The rivers are still up after a week of wet weather, so this morning seemed as good a time as any to get a white water kayaking trip in down the Afon Ogwen. We toyed with the idea of travelling to to Llugwy, but with the Ogwen being so close, it seemed silly to travel anywhere. It was a good decision as we were both eager to get on the water, so started above Bethesda.
Gentle rapids got us warmed up (it was cold on the finger tips!) and we soon found ourselves at the first big rapid. Given the blind bend leading into the rapid and the recent winds, we decided to play it safe and get out to inspect it from the bank to ensure that there was nothing blocking the way.
We were delighted to find that the coast was clear! I was paddling a bigger boat than normal today (a Dagger Mamba) and the increase in volume really pushed through the waves easily. We had a waterproof camera to video this section and if I ever manage to extract the file from it, I'll add it to the blog one day!
Town rapid, behind bethesda...
The water level was 'just right'. High enough to give some good excitement, but not so high that you couldn't stop and enjoy things on the way down. In one eddy I was joined by 17 large geese! We stopped and said hi, then I carried on down, leaving them talking amongst themselves! I wonder what they were thinking!
The last rapid was good fun, with some absorbing sections that required a bit of focus, but with good eddies to stop in and assess what lies ahead!
The constant decision making is one of the things I really love about white water kayaking. Just like skiing have to assess the terrain/river and make decisions quickly. Things can be moving fast, so you have to be thinking a few paddle strokes ahead all the time. Reading the river, moving the kayak, choosing a line, using the flow, checking your buddy, moving on, repeat...
It felt great to be out on the river - it's the first time in a while. My body felt good and my brain felt sharpened.
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