Information about various rivers
In the course of my Munro and Corbett bagging I have come across some rivers which look as if they have potential for paddling, but are not in the current SCA River Guide. Here are the ones that I can remember about - some of them were seen a few years ago, so don`t rely too much on my descriptions. Do you own inspections.
There is also a couple of pages about rivers that are in the SCA river guide, but I`ve got some additional information about them, either from paddling them, or from photographs.
Allt Coire Dhomhain
This is a few miles south of Dalwhinnie down the A9. OS Landranger sheet 42.
Park in a convenient layby ( layby 79 ) at NN 633 754, there is a convenient culvert under the railway line. You are going to have to hoof it up the landrover track as far as you can be bothered going.
This river is mostly a continuous gradient small boulder river, interspersed with about 6 rock slides, each one different, and each one with a sting in its tail. There are no pools, few eddies, and if the river is up, I guess it will be one long blast.
The catchment area is very small, so you`ll need to catch this one just after a period of substantial rain. Probably around grade 3 or 4, but if its up, I don`t think rescues will be possible - but you can probably fish out bits and boats at the bottom.
Allt Coire Fhar
3 - 4 km`s up the A9 from the Allt Coire Dhomhain lies another similar boulder river, but it is somewhat smaller, and the rockslides are mostly less defined, although there is one good one. However it also has a pretty steady gradient, with no pools, and again, it will need quite a lot of water in it to make it do-able.
There is ample parking just beside the track down to Balsporran Cottages at NN 628 792, and again, you are going to have to hoof it up the landrover track as far as you can be bothered going.
Like the Allt Coire Dhomhain, you are not going to be doing any rescues on the way down, but the river does flatten out before it dissappears under the very low railway bridge. If the river is up, I guess it would be a continuous and fast grade 3 - 4. And make sure you get off the river before the railway bridge or you`ll have severe problems.
Alt Ghiubhais
This is at the east end of Glen Shiel. OS Landranger sheets 33 and 34.
Just east of the Clunie Inn there is an old road/track which heads south and east. For the get-in, go up this track as far as the bridge over the Alt Ghiubhais, NH 093 093. Egress is via Loch Cluanie.
This is a small ( very small ) river that starts of as a boulder river but soon changes, as there follows some quite challenging drops. I think they are all paddle-able, but only if you follow very specific lines, and a good boof will help. If you blast them, inspecting from the boat, you`ll come to grief. There are a few rather inconvenient trees with low branches just below some rapids.
Again, a very small catchment area, so a lot of rain is required. Difficult to grade - if you get it right, probably grade 4 or so. Fishing bodies and boats out of pools would be quite easy from the bank.
When I was there, there were bits of plastic water pipe lying about, and signs of digger activity - I guess this river is used as a water supply, so be aware of that.
This is more of a ditch than a river, and I wasn`t sure whether to include it or not. But somebody sufficiently warped might like it, so here it is.
I think the road is a private road, so you shouldn`t be driving on it. And don`t run this river blind - inspect it first !
River Cannich
The river Cannich flows from Loch Mullardoch eastwards down to Cannich. OS Landranger sheet 25.
Easy access via lochain at NH 270 334. Fairly easy egress at road bridge over river at NH284 336.
This is a series of non-descript rapids, but there is one interesting one, where the river expands out to an enormous width, and weaves its way down through rocks and islands. I could see an obvious line down through them. The dam on Loch Mullardoch removes most of the water which should flow down this river, so water levels depend on water coming in from the sides - so a lot of rain is required.
Probably grade 2, maybe grade 3 on the one rapid. Further down the river below the above get-out is another set of rapids, which end in a drop which I don`t think is paddle-able unless you are a suicide junkie. There may be other interesting bits further down before the river reaches Cannich, but it is a long way from the road, so I didn`t look at it.
River Bran
Between Garve and Achnasheen. OS Landranger sheet 20.
This is a one-hit wonder - opposite Grudie power station at NH 310 620 there is a single rapid which wouldn`t be out of place on the Orchy. Take the bends out of End of Civilisation, throw in a dash of Sheep Trolley Gorge, and you`ve got this rapid - a big bouncy long grade 3 ( or 3+ ? ).
The outflow from the power station joins river left halfway down the rapid, but is unlikely to cause any problems as you are probably right of centre coming down the rapid anyway. You may be able to pick up some play spots on the way down.
Plenty of parking space. Don`t park on the road, even for a few minutes, the traffic is light but very fast, and visibility is not good at this point. This road is the most direct road between Inverness and Skye, and traffic doesn`t hang about.
There are a lot of lochs that both feed into the Bran, and also interrupt the flow of the Bran. So I guess you`ll need quite a long period of wet weather to bring it up.
Abhainn Bruachaig
This one is east of Kinlochewe. OS Landranger sheet 19.
Park in the big car park at the end of the public road past Incheril - NH 037 624. A locked gate prevents vehicle access up the good landrover track, so hoof it up to the obviously unpaddle-able water fall - about 2 Km`s. Apart from the interesting run down to this waterfall, there is nothing of interest above this waterfall.
With one exception, this river is a mixture of boulders and rocks and rapids, probably around grade 2 and 3. The one exception is a messy spread out waterfall, with various types of drop. At lower levels, you could possibly drop in to the slot river right. At high levels, I think a chicken shoot will form extreme river right. The river eventually flattens out completely.
I haven`t worked out where to egress - the obvious place is opposite the car park, but a deer fence gets in the way. Maybe a couple of hundred metres back up river would be better.
Incidentally, even if you`re not a paddler, or not going to run the river, it is worth walking or cycling up to the unrunnable waterfall - it`s quite spectacular, and has an interesting feature in that at one point, part of the river flows sideways through a hole in the rock. Probably best seen when the river is a bit low.
Uisge Dubh or Black Water
In the Attadale region - somewhere east of Kyle of Lochalsh. OS Landranger sheet 25.
This is another one I wasn`t too sure about including, but if you find doing the impossible a bit too easy, maybe .....
This is one for those people who are seriously warped and like a challenge - the access road climbs nearly 400 metres in 3-4 kilometres. You are also going to need to get access through a locked gate, and then have a very long hoof.
Start at Attadale - NG 924 388, up the track over the top of the coll, and down to the bridge at NH 003 383. Get on the river just up from the bridge, there is nothing of interest higher up the river. For the first 100 - 200 metres or so, there is a succession of grade 3 or 4 or 4/5 (?) drops, which look great fun. One of them is harder than a first look suggests, there is only one very tight line that will work. Then the river disappears from view, so I have no idea what is down there, but according to the contours, the river drops 100 metres in 2 kilometres, so there must be some goodies down there. The map shows two waterfalls. You may of course end up with a 2 kilometre portage, so it is a gamble, without more information. After that, once you are into the River Ling, there is quite a long flatter section down to a posible get out at the bridge at NG 938 303.
River Arnisdale
This one is just up from Corran, on the north side of Loch Hourn. OS Landranger sheet 33.
I`ve been back to this one again, and taken some pictures, so I`ve put it on its own web page.
Glen Beag
Glen Beag is just along from Glenelg, a few miles north of Corran and Arnisdale. OS Landranger sheet 33.
There is actually three rivers of interest acessed from Glen Beag, and again, I`ve got some photos, so have put it on its own page.
Allt Gleann a Chaolais
This is in the SCA river guide, but I`ve expanded on what is in the river guide.
Water of Ruchill
Again, this is in the SCA river guide, but here is my view of it.
Finally ....
That`s it - most of them I haven`t paddled, so do your own inspections. I`m not sure about a couple of them, but some of the others are worth a look, and hopefully some day I`ll get to paddle them.
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