Our meeting point was at the cafe looking out onto the bottom rapids of the upper Tryweryn, as we arrived I was impressed to see Jonny appearing from out of these rapids. Shuttles we’re arranged by Hayley and then introductions where made by Dale. We we’re a small group Maxine, Ernie, Jonny, Dale, myself and Fraser who was to be our leader for this trip. Fraser stared with a group briefing of how we would receive instructions with various hand signals & explained a bit of what to expect for the day as this being my first visit to lower Tryweryn I listened with full attention & a little apprehension of what was to come.
Fraser ensured we were all set up and ready to go, as we set off it became clear very early that this was going to be well led, we reached our first stop & play area where we could practice some ferry gliding & play in a small hole, any nerves were soon gone and then the real fun started. We were guided down the river with Fraser giving us clear instructions, we would stop & play, take in lots of eddies which some of us where better at making then others. I seemed to be repeating myself with comments like ‘Did you mean that Eddie??…Ooops missed that one!…Nope not going to make that one either! But with lots of practice through the day was starting to say – Yeah got that one!
Fraser would sometimes allow us to decide our route with a group discussion, we soon realised that the route we’d chosen may not have been the easiest route especially when a boulder route managed to claim its first swimmer of the day. With Ernie kindly capsizing he had shown me the line not to take! But for some bizarre reason I always like to copy the person in front of me, Ernie was quickly rescued and I was soon being bounced from boulder to boulder, I’m still not sure how I stayed in my boat, I was nearly vertical & then going backwards at times but I think more down to luck then skill I managed to appear at the bottom with Fraser pointing at the Eddie and asking if I was secure/ok. He then walked the bank ensuring everyone was safe before Maxine was last to follow down finding a great line and paddled down just like a pro.
My swim did come but not on the more challenging sections, it was when we stopped to play on a calmer section with some good eddies, practicing around scattered large boulders. With guidance from Fraser & Dale we hopped from one boulder to another and then I didn’t quite make my eddy and found myself capsized I came up to see Dale asking if I was ok and safe, I remember Fraser saying if you swim let you’re boat go but keep hold of you’re paddle whoops both gone! Maxine also appeared at speed into the eddy which I thought was out of concern for my welfare but later she informed me that she saw me & thought ‘that’s a tight eddy but if Sally can do it I can too’ but to her surprise I’d made the eddy without my boat! I somehow found myself on a small island but after a little scrambling and encouragement from Maxine got to the main bank where I found myself surrounded by some big bullocks not sure who was more surprised me or them, I grabbed a large branch (for protection of course!) and headed towards Dale & Fraser who had been having their own adventure in rescuing my boat, I was told Fraser had got my boat pinned between some rocks they’d used a line attached to Fraser who had gone back in to recover the boat, now that’s what you call a good service.
We had nearly finished our trip with our last section being Bala Mill Falls with the choice of padding the leet or the falls, we all took to the bank for a good view. Maxine was the brave one, though I think she thought she was more mad then brave, she took to the falls for her first time with Dale’s guidance. Meanwhile we paddle ahead down the leet and this was great fun it made you feel like Indiana Jones with a small tunnel and over hanging leaves you hardly had room to get a paddle stroke in which Ernie soon found by getting it stuck and me again following Ernie by doing the exact same thing to Frazers amusement.
We timed it well to see Dale and Maxine shoot the fall with great style, big smiles and lots of cheers, though she tells me they weren’t smiles I could see more like lots of muttering of some colourful words.
Smiling is something I need to work on when paddling, I’m sure I’m not alone on this one, concentration takes over and even if my face didn’t show it I loved every minute, learnt new things, we felt very safe it was a great trip to lower Tryweryn and to finish with did a quick roll practice first in calm waters and then fast, this didn’t quite work but Dale’s & Frasers T-rescuing were spot on.
Well done Fraser on good leadership even with those mischievous little moments, I’d still be happy to follow you, I now know what Boof-it means & I know to ask the right questions next time like which is the easiest route!
Sally 🙂