More Tryweryn Goodness. AKA Kayaking a la Alps (apparently you stop for lunch there too?!?! Madness. ALPS HYPE)

So with every river being as dry as a nuns nether regions, Tryweryn is fast becoming the only source of moisture any of us are seeing. (make of that what you will, it is exam season, who has time for moisture?) HOWEVER, I love it.

It was a fine sunny Sunday when the travellers- Dom, Bens Waller& Mason, Adi, Ruth, Jak and Mollie, oh and meee- set off relatively faff-less for the T. A personalised wake up call meant Ruth arrived a little later than the rest of us, but we all got on first for some warm up (though it was hothothot already) above the Chipper and then just below it to start our first run down. Jak and Mollie were photo bunny extraordinaires for most of the day as they waited for us to stop having so much fun on the upper. I was the only casualty of the day I believe, 3 rolls and a swim on the upper with another roll on the lower (and a swim that is not to ever be discussed). The usual lapping of graveyard, avoiding of rafts and eddy hopping ensued and there was, in the words of one of us, more plastic than water on the river that day! Sorry for the lack of hilarity in this report by the way, it all went too smoothly for much comedy!

OH Daaahling you must try this

 Ski jump however, provided some entertainment. After getting my line wrong the first time and having a ‘play’ in the VERY shallow hole, I rolled up, got out and did it again. Having no video proof, I cannot be entered for next year’s down river freestyle category, however spinning round as I went down it, and shooting off and over the rock backwards would have been a win for sure ( possibly. Maybe. Probably not actually) but it felt quite epic in an accidental ‘what just happened’ kind of way. Gnar.

Some interesting characters on the river, personally I thought they were a hoot for most of it (opinions are varying. See fb. For the debate) ba’s without anything else gets you lad points. NAAT. But it is funny when the clouds come over! ‘I love how your tan looks so red and white in the sun!’

Also, Ruth decided things were indeed too boring for her liking and started binning her own group, namely me! I, innocent and unaware she could be so malicious, was simply eddying out and paddling down just after some drop or something, when a bloke went over right in front of me, not noticing it was Ruth in the mini eddy right next to him, I simply tried to steer around him resulting in a cheeky little high brace. This failed when I felt a knock on the bottom/side of my boat that tipped me over for good. This was Ruth. I rolled up, she laughed, I was confused, and Ruth amused. 

So, after a short stop for lunch and a bit of playtime for Ben and Adi, Mollie and Jak joined us below Chapel Falls for our run of the lower. Having not run a river or any white water since the infamous post-exams January trip on the Esk (and a snowy* hill), Jak and Mollie were understandably nervous despite my expert** commentary of what the lower was like. Despite the relatively calm and friendly section, Mollie decided the river and her were just not getting along that day and decided to make a dash for it through a farmers field with her knight in shining armour Jak following in her wake. Sad to see them go, a ‘no eddies’ rule was swiftly put into place to make sure we didn’t leave them lonely for too long. The thing about the lower T is this, it seems to be the dumping ground for all the rocks that God had left over ‘Just chuck them in the lower T, no one will notice with all the flat water in between’. We noticed. The mini boulder gardens were actually really good fun, especially when binning oneself off them into shallow water. It was good rock avoidance training for myself, and good boofing/rock spinning practise for everyone else- although this did make a little dubious about following peoples lines when I knew they were trying to find the good rocks! Some CUTE dogs joined us along the way from the bank, being so happy on seeing them, minus owners, we promptly aww’ed and called to them, however swiftly began the no’s! when they looked to be jumping into the water to swim down with us. Bala Mill was also good fun! Running it blind like old hats, as you do and we all got sweet lines and made it down perfectly fine!

Just practicing....

After a good long day paddling, chips and sun in Bala was laaarvely. It was sunny, warm and beautiful. Hanging kit out to dry in the sun was a new experience for a few of us, and after much discussion, it was decided that it should always be warm and sunny.

Many thankyous to drivers, Dom and Ben Mason. And to Dom for organising!!

Good Day. Well Paddled. Enough Said.

JJ xxxxxxxxxxxx

*snow to mud to children to dog ratio wasn't very good.
** expertise in being vague about what river contained