Watching my kayak cartwheeling off across the grass at the river bank, I was reminded of the strength of the wind today and wondered if kayaking was the sensible option for today. As of about 6am, the wind has been howling and the rain lashing down. Just driving out from The Cottage seemed like an ordeal. We'd planned on a descent of a local river called the Afon Seiont. Given the weather conditions, and the fact that the river was already 'full', we decided to play things safe and just paddle half of the normal run, as it was clearly going to burst its banks very soon. A quick shuttle of vans was organised, then it was off and away...
The river was at a good level for kayaking, but there were reminders everywhere that it had been much much higher. Where we stopped to inspect, then portage a rapid, there was a huge 'dam' of debris from the Christmas floods, showing that the river had been meters higher! Scary!
It's been ages since I've paddled this section of water, so it really felt like a holiday - somewhere new! The rapids provided plenty of interest without being too technical, and the wildlife was brilliant too, We saw four herons take off in formation and struggle into the wind as well as two huge buzzards at close quarters. Thankfully, there were only a few sections that were exposed to the wind and rain, where we were forced to paddle almost with our eyes closed to protect from the driving rain!
By the time we returned to the start, the river was across the fields and later when we looked in the Ogwen, it was also raging! What better use of a spectacularly grim morning. Worth being early - and cautious!
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