Eight Nomads spent the weekend of 13th-14th May in North Wales, concentrating on paddling the River Tryweryn. We were lucky as the weather was excellent. So Peter Scott, Ian Walker, Ian Williams, Anthony Vecchio, Ben Varnals, Martin Edwards, Richard Hilson and Chris Fabb, with Chris choosing not to paddle due to a neck injury received 2 days earlier.
We stayed in the Bala Backpackers Bunkhouse which everyone agreed was good accommodation and was excellent for walking out in the evening to get food and drink.
On the Saturday morning some people paddled the high grade rapids of the Top Tryweryn. The highlight was watching Ian Walker surfing a recirculating rapid / stopper. He put his paddle down for support but it slipped between 2 rocks and would not come out. He went for a swim. Then latter on another surfing feature, Ian again decided to show everyone his surfing stylish moves, he did very well but alas he eventually flipped over managed to do a roll but went backwards into a massive rapid, flipped again and so went swimming with the fishes.
In the afternoon we paddled the Lower Tryweryn and had some excellent water, grade 2 -3 rapids, in a very pretty environment being watched by the many sheep and their lambs along the banks.
For Richard this was really his first time in this rocky environment and the rocks won with Richard swimming twice after hitting two different rocks. Saying this Richard did extremely well and did not seem fazed at all and was smiling the whole of the trip. Consistency prevailed because on the Sunday we paddled the Lower Tryweryn again and Richard found the 2 same rocks. He lost one shoe on the first rock and lost the other shoe in the second rock. He finished the day barefoot, but still with a smile.
We did some excellent socialising, eating and drinking in the evening and I think everyone will agree we had a great time.
Peter Scott