The rivers hadn’t risen as much as expected so our options were limited. A quick text to Barry to find out if 1.36 was ok for the Vyrnwy. “Perfect” came the reply so the river was decided. John and I arrived at the Stewpony and Dave Y, Andy Gough, Geoff & Kee and Mick Bloomer coming out with us for the first time were there waiting. So, we were away a minute or two after 8.30 with our river chosen and off we went to Dobbies, sadly not to meet our regular paddle partners Nigel and Bob who were both suffering from mechanical problems with their vehicles !! Geoff fuelled up and away we went and still not 9.30. We arrived at Pont Robert just after 10am. At this rate we’d be off the water and on our way home by 12.30. The thought of getting back that early with the prospect of our wives finding us jobs to do or even worse wanting to go shopping caused John to panic ! He suggested putting on at Pont Logel and adding the middle section of the Vyrnwy to the paddle. Great idea ! Andy and Mick were newcomers to the Vyrnwy anyway and Dave hadn’t run this section before. Around 11am we were at Pont Logel and on the water. The good thing about putting on here is that it’s a steady warm up on grade 2 water with a few gentle features until a couple of more exciting rapids put a smile on your face before the portage at Dolanog weir where we all looked optimistically for a line through. “If only that rock wasn’t there” or “if that slot was a little wider”. Yeah right, definite portage for us!!
Back on below the weir and off to the gorge section, best described by watching Geoff and Kee’s video footage. More excellent work from our two cameramen.
Then we had the deluge of torrential rain, hail and thunder.We paddled on with a few more features to do as the river began to change colour. The water changed from crystal clear to a horrible mucky brown as the water washed down the banks in torrents, you could almost feel the river rising !
Well done to everybody especially Andy and Mick for their first Vyrnwy paddle and for Mick successfully rolling “twice” on whitewater and completing the gorge section, superb.
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