Friday
On a warm, sunny Friday four Nomads made their way to Bala in North Wales to paddle the National White Water Centre on the River Tryweryn. It was due to be five of us, but a last-minute work problem meant Simon couldn’t make it.
The weekend was a joint trip run in conjunction with the Ipswich Canoe Club and, as has become tradition, started with a warm-up on the River Dee at Llangollen. By all accounts, Nigel and Nick had a great afternoon’s paddling at Mile End Mill before driving on to join the rest of the Nomad team at the Royal White Lion in Bala.
After checking in, we whiled away the evening having dinner and a few pints before finishing with the customary mensa puzzle that is arranging the shuttle for the next day’s activities.
Saturday
The weather on Saturday was not as hot as the previous day, but it was still warm and dry. After a disappointing breakfast at the White Lion, we drove to the get out point and left two cars before going on to meet the ICC in the lower carpark at the National White Water Centre whose first comment was “where’s the crazy electrician!”. So, Martin, although you couldn’t make the trip this year, your legacy lives on!
In the car park Tony and Anton bumped into two guides we had both paddled with in the past which turned out to be fortuitous – more on that later…
It was decided that we would paddle the lower section of the River Tryweryn down to Bala. This section of the River T is made up of a series of lively grade 2 and grade 3 features and ends at Bala Mills Falls which is a grade 4 drop.
We put in at the raft get out point just below the café and spent some time practicing ferry gliding. From here we were straight into two big drops where Tony lost his paddle which last seen disappearing downriver. This meant that possibly for the first time ever, Nigel’s spare set of split paddles were put to use. After this initial excitement we soon left the NWWC behind us and made good progress towards Bala. We took our time enjoying the stunning scenery and played in the lively rapids as we practiced breaking in and breaking out and avoiding the rocks. I misunderstood the rules for this game and managed to find most of them and ended up capsizing.
As many know, the Tryweryn is a dam fed river and water is released from the dam at 9 cubic meters per second; that is a lot of water travelling fast which meant that each time I tried to roll, the force of the water pushed me down again so after a couple of attempts I came out of my kayak and went for a swim.
I was able to clamber up a steep bank and through deep undergrowth to emerge into someone’s garden where I was confronted by the rather grumpy homeowner who reluctantly allowed me to walk through to the other side where I met Ian who had come to find me.
This marked a good time to stop for lunch and after something to eat Nomads and ICC continued toward Bala without major incident until we reached Bala Mills Falls. The falls is an iconic grade 4 feature which marks the end of the lower section of the River Tryweryn. Some of the group decided to run the falls while others opted to portage using a leat that contours the hillside and rejoins the river just below the falls. The leat is a narrow channel, barely a paddle’s width wide, with overhanging vegetation and the last section is a narrow tunnel which made for an interesting diversion. Meanwhile, the rest of the group were running the falls. It was at this point that Tony suffered his second paddle malfunction of the day when his paddle hit a rock at the top of the falls and broke, so he ended up kayaking down the falls on one paddle – quite an achievement and the cue for several jokes!
After the falls, it was leisurely paddle to the get-out point in Bala. But this wasn’t the end of the story. From the get out we returned to the NWWC to collect the cars we had left in the car park earlier in the day. It was also an opportunity for a little retail therapy in the onsite kayaking shop. Do you remember the guides mentioned earlier? Well, when I walked into the shop one of them was behind the counter and said, “when you see Tony, give him this” and produced Tony’s lost paddle. Fortunately, Tony had put his name and telephone number on his paddle which had been found by the other guide when it popped up in front of him further down the river.
All in all, it was a great day’s kayaking on a wonderful stretch of water in pretty much perfect weather. A few hours later both groups met up again for a few beers and curry in a local Indian restaurant, a perfect way to end the day.
Sunday
Sunday was a cooler day and there had been some rain overnight. After a much better breakfast in a small café across from the pub, we left a couple of cars at the get out point in Bala and made our way to the upper carpark at the NWWC to begin the day by paddling the upper section of the River Tryweryn. We also met Tim Ward (from Marlow Canoe Club) at the top carpark who is a founding member of Nomads. That made three of the original Nomads (Nigel, Nick and Tim) still pushing grade four which is pretty good at their age 😊!
The upper Tryweryn is a superb section of white-water made up of almost continuous grade 3 rapids with some sections that are grade 4. It starts just below the Llyn Celyn dam and continues to the visitor centre and café at the NWWC.
Nigel, Ian and Nick opted to run the course, dodging numerous rafts along the way, while Tony and Anton opted to follow the track back to the centre taking photos along the way. We met up again at the centre and after a short break put in by the campsite just below the previous day’s starting point. We continued towards Bala playing in the features with near perfect conditions and no other kayakers in sight before stopping for lunch in the same spot as the previous day.
After lunch we carried on towards Bala without much incident: dodging rocks, surfing in the waves, practicing breaking in and breaking out and generally having fun until we arrived at Bala Mills Falls, the last feature of the day. Nigel went first, shot the falls and exited safely at the bottom. Tony and Ian broke out halfway down and it was here that things got exciting. Tony caught an edge and capsized and although we were able to collect his kayak from the bottom of the falls, his paddle was pinned halfway up between two rocks. Ian went to retrieve the paddle but ended up caught in a stopper and he too went for a swim. His boat carried on over the falls and by the time Nick was able to get after it, it was already well on its way toward Bala.
Now came the tricky problem of getting Ian and Tony onto the right side of the river but Nigel was able to draw on his white water rescue experience and using throw lines both were soon rescued. Although Tony was soon reunited with his kayak, we had the bizarre sight of Nigel paddling down to Bala with Ian hanging off the back until we met up with Nick who had managed to catch up with his runaway kayak.
A few minutes later we arrived at the get out point, and after changing into dry clothes and loading kayaks, we left North Wales and the River Tryweryn to head home. It was a great weekend, with good company and some excellent kayaking so, a huge thank you to everyone for making it such an enjoyable experience and we look forward to doing it all again next year.