Triple Combo

At 6pm the other night when I answered the phone to Dave Martin, a fellow weegee boater, the best we were hoping for the following day was a nice mid level blast down the Etive and tribs. However, driving up the A82 we were delighted with the monsoon conditions which hit us as we rounded the point of Loch Lomond. Our aspirations for the day were instantly upgraded to a nice mid level blast down down the Falloch… until we pulled over to look at the gorge which had gone beyond unrunable and seemed to be entering apocolyptic levels. And so I felt the need to keep positive as Dave’s concerns of a day chasing unpredictable levels grew.

          

To kick off we opted for a high level Connonish, and as we started the walk in, rain stopped causing us to pick up pace and arrive at the put in to a slightly calmed, but never the less awesome level.

 

The first drop, always a menace due to the stream which enters from river right just above the drop and tries to push seemingly good lines astray although the considerable undercut and tow back below the drop on river right were enough to keep me online.

   

Some nice continuous read and run class three leads to a more ominous view above this drop, where first timers down the run should certainly have a look. The drop above, a fun little boof on river left, has a nasty sump two feet to the left of where you run it so keep an eye out.

Some great read and run makes it an amazing wee run. Don’t be put off by very high levels as when rain stops it’s as if someone has pulled the plug and the river looses volume very very quickly.  

To keep our day on a roll we decided to take a gander at the Etive, which despite blue sky and fluffy clouds was very high indeed with very little room for error, although the lip of most drops cleaned up with no rock showing to catch you out.

The nicest surprise was the turbo boof which letter box seemed to give you, great fun!

Right angle had a more intimidating look than usual but some power and a late stroke gave a nice angle and satisfying kick through the towback.

Dave on a solid heading, but in for a fairly hefty beat down due to the kick at the bottom. Fair play he held on and made it out of the river left hand side and rolled up against the wall which is pretty much unheard of at good levels.

From the Etive we had hoped to fire up the Nevis but brilliant sunshine and a text from Dave Biggin informed us the extra drive wasn’t worth it, and so we hit the road home… with one quick stop for a run down the Falloch which had calmed to nice medium levels.

One of my favourite rapids due to the short but nippy lead in. I think the Falloch has also become one of my favourite rivers due to it having numerous sections, all of which hold some great rapids, and in all the times I’ve run it, the sun has been out for all but one!

The run in to ‘Twist and shout’.

All in all, an awesome day, I hope a lot of people are getting so jammy with the levels!

Ed