Flexibility was the key word today. Both myself and Mark knew it had been raining in North Wales the evening before and it would be a waiting game to see which rivers would rise. We decided to drive towards Bala and keep checking the river levels on the phone before committing. The Conwy and Glaslyn are usually first to rise. This time however it was the Wnion rising to a nice high level. We have a few times before on a lower 1.9-2.0 level. This time we ran it at about 2.10 on the gauge I reckon. The start became easier and less technical with rocks well covered. The gorge section became pushier and I would say it was at the the top end of my comfort zone. There is lots of good footage on Vimeo of this river. Get yourself a bomb proof roll and your coming!
Whilst Mark cycled back up to get the car he gave two options. Paddle the Wnion again or run the Three Nasties on the Mawddach for the first time. Both options scared me! We came to the road junction where I had to make a decision…..left to the Nasties or right to the Wnion and I decided to turn left thinking sometimes its better the devil you don’t know. Good decision.
The three Nasties refer to three drops in close succession. I had to roll on the first Nasty and Mark on the second. We both cleaned the third Nasty which is apparently the worst one. Another easier gorge and a final big drop leads to public toilet falls. This grade 4 is perfect for training upon as the water after it is really calm. We will organise a trip up when the water is at a suitable level. For the record we did it at about 0.75.
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