River trips

2.0 metres ........ 04 March 2007

This is very similar to a level at which I had run the river back in November - it is interesting to see by how much my view of the river at this level had changed since then. It is a good level for playing - plenty to do at the Linn, some good playspots on the way down, and fun to be had at Thistlebrig and the wave on the right further down.

Linn

On this occasion, I found seven different routes down the Linn, and they all went well, apart from the last one.

Starting with the most river right channel, I ran three routes down this channel. There is a significant hole on the left side of this channel, and the shoulders on each side of the hole are a bit different at this level, compared to lower levels. I didn`t reckon there was much chance of running the shoulder on the left without dropping into the hole, so didn`t try it. The shoulder on the right of the hole is far from a flat shoulder like at lower levels - it is a big lump of very fast green water, and by running it diagonally left to right, it carried me right through the stopper into the more benign water beyond.

Over on the hard river right side of the channel, there was a fast rough ramp over the rocks, I thought it would might be a bit rocky, but it wasn`t, it was fine.

The hole on the left looked quite meaty, but after looking at it for a while, I realised that it was split in two by a narrow ridge of water right in the middle - the easiest route through the pile was off this ridge - it worked a treat.

The next channel was split in two by bare rocks, and there was a neat route down each side, both of which were easier to do than they looked as if they might be.

The next channel had a lot of water, and I ran the usual fast ramp hard right with a strong right to left diagonal route, it worked a treat, and I punched through the side of the hole straight into the calm water to the left of the hole.

On the right side of this channel there was some significant pour-overs, the bigger of which dropped steeply into very aerated water, with a boil about 2 metres down stream. I didn`t reckon it was one to play with. To its left, there was another pourover which dropped into a horseshoe stopper - I gave that one a miss as well.

And finally the most river left channel - the usual diagonal wave was huge, however I reckoned there was a route down to the left of it, between the wave and some quite rough water further to the left. My approach down the ramp was spot on, all I had to do was keep going left, across the diagonal current that was trying to wash me into the wave. However as I got close to the wave, I lost all concentration on my route - the wave was huge - there was a vertical wall of green water that must have been close to 2 metres high, with a top that curled over towards me - it was an amazing sight, and I was so busy looking at the wave, I lost my route, and got washed round the end of the wave into the very rough water downstream. It had quite a good time playing with me, before it finally let me go.

Linn bypass

The Linn bypass was running well, and if you take the first exit, provides what would be a straightforward grade 2 river - however you would need to take action to avoid the trees, and the bottom end needs some definite route picking to avoid getting washed into the trees on the right bank. The second exit isn`t worth doing because of the shrubby trees right across the river.

Wall

Water is coming over the wall, however it did produce some taillies.

Wave right hand side of wall

Just about washed out.

Weir

The whole of the weir has water coming over it, and there are stoppers over most of the length of the weir.

The main chute is however smooth and fast, and is the best way down. Provided you come right down the middle, it is quite straight forward.

There are significant stoppers which would not be easy to escape from if the wrong route is chosen.

Rapid down to Hell Hole corner

Roughish, with some playspots on the left as you go down.

Hell Hole corner

The quietest route round Hell Hole corner would be to approach the corner left of centre, as you get to the corner, move over to the right, but not too tight.

Good playspots on the left, but a bit washed out.

Hell Hole corner to Thistlebrig

As usual, not a lot in this section. There was a great surfing wave on the right below the Mill - I caught it on the way down, straight into a good surf, but in only a few seconds, it pushed me out sideways to the right, and away from the wave.

Thistlebrig

Thistlebrig is relatively benign at this level, with the usual turbulant diagonal flow only covering half the width of the river. The river right half of the river is washing straight through. Usual playwaves on the left.

Wave below Thistlebrig

There was a train of waves - the first one was just a bit too short for my boat, but did provide some surfing, but it was difficult to keep my bow out of the water. The second and third wave were just about surfable.

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