Michael Ward kindly organised and led a trip to the Lower Tryweryn on Sunday 17th July, assisted by Dale Clark, Nikki and Martin Aldridge.
A motley crew assembled at 10am at the Welsh National White Water Centre to energize with bacon sandwiches and coffee before arranging the car shuffle and getting kitted up. We were a mixed bunch from seasoned WW paddlers through to those with a few years under their belts, so excitement was high in some and a bit of trepidation in others (lucky the toilets are free Colin!). My feelings being mixed as this was my first trip on moving water for 20 years, bar a visit to Symonds Yat a few months ago.
It was a beautiful warm sunny day and we expected the river to be busy, but thankfully it was very quiet. We started our trip as one large group led by Michael and we progressed our way steadily downstream, practicing our ferry gliding, breaking in/out and finding the occasional wave to have a play on.
Lunch time came and despite all staying in our boats we were a little behind schedule so we stopped upstream of the normal lunch point, re-energized after lunch we split into two groups to enable us to move downstream more quickly.
The section after lunch was much rockier and a bit of a bump and scrape in places, resulting in a few of the group being caught broadside and taking a plunge into the icey waters of the River Tryweryn, to be honest I think the cool waters were very welcome considering what a nice day it was.
We eventually made it down to the top of Bala Mill Falls which had already been inspected and given the all clear by the advanced party. Some chose to portage this particular feature, but those of us that chose to run it both managed to make the eddie at the top of the falls and run it without making any bottom inspections – Result!
From the falls we continued down the short stretch to the final breakout point by the car park, where some of us changed and left for home and the more intrepid raced back to the top to a run of the upper section.
Overall a very enjoyable day with a great bunch of people and on a personnel note I’m pleased to be getting the opportunity to get my WW wings back. Many thanks again to those that organised and led us safely down to the bottom.
Bring on the next one!
Andy Williams