River Teith: Bob and Jean would be so proud – 9/25/05

Our first outing with the Edinburgh Kayak Club was a beginner trip on the River Teith (pronounced teeth). I had met some people at the pool on Tuesday and found my way onto the listserv by Wednesday morning, just in time for the flurry of trip emails. By week’s end, our choices were a Saturday trip on the Leny (a gnarly grade III-V) or the beginner trip on the Teith (grade I/II). Hanging out with the beginners seemed the more sensible introduction to Scottish whitewater.

Saturday night was filled with last minute trip preparations. Where was the gear? What should be packed? In what? Before the morning, we picked the most water-resistant duffel bag for gear and fit two people’s worth of river kit (gear) into it. I navigated the Lothian bus routes to find the bus that would get us to the lockup. We needed the 38 and it turns out there’s only one number 38 on Sunday mornings. We were lucky – it could’ve been a long walk with a cumbersome bag. Ok, for me, it just would have been a long walk.

We were early to the lockup and therefore uncertain about the location until the first car with a boat arrived. Slowly, the boaters trickled in and the doors of the lockup opened to unveil our boat selection. Their Canadian was an Old Town Discovery 168. Virtually indestructible, but we weren’t allowed to take it on this trip. Lacking proper flotation, none of the boaters who knew the river and were willing to drive us there were willing to chase a fully laden 17ft canoe down the river. Fair enough. As I was looking at the solo kayaks, Lucas was more excited about the Topo Duo.

I had my eye on a nice, newer InaZone 232 when Lucas distracted me with the Topo Duo. We laid it out on the grass outside the lockup only to discover it lacked the proper hardware to be paddled, specifically, foot pegs or bulkheads. Someone found the bulkheads and started cannibalizing the most ancient of boats for bolts. In the meantime, the InaZone was claimed by another.

I have to admit, Lucas was more excited about the Topo Duo than I was. Many moons ago, I had said, wouldn’t it be a laugh to take one of those for a spin, and he was the more skeptical one. Now, the opportunity was here and I was the skeptical one. Perhaps the new river had me jittery? Whatever it was, I decided to take the chance. What was the worst that could happen? I’d swim a grade II river. Better, I’d make Lucas swim a grade II river. Why worry? Topo Duo it was. Bob and Jean would be so proud.

We caught a ride up to the get-in (put-in) with distinguished company. The club secretary (Charlie) was at the wheel and the club treasurer (David) was riding shotgun. Instead of the usual 3+ hours of driving, we had maybe an hour to the get-in. Like the drive to Pease Bay, we enjoyed a taste of the Scottish countryside, except this time we were heading inland.

We unpacked at the get-in and the drivers took care of shuttle. Some of the access points here are fancy paved car parks where one might have to pay a few quid to park for a few hours. We launched in a still pool at one of the river bends and divided into two groups for the day’s trip. We paddled with Charlie and David, as well as Callum, Chris and Chris’s daughter Rhian. Callum was getting ready for his three star assessment and Rhian was getting ready for her two star assessment, so David did quite a bit of coaching as we worked down the river. Lucas and I had to get used to each other in the same kayak – a bit different and a bit more difficult than being in the same canoe. We started with break-ins, break-outs and ferry glides (eddy turns, peel-outs and ferries) behind the first bridge as our warm up.

Not long after, the river picked up into grade I+ rapids. It was more continuous than either of us expected – we were expecting drop/pool like many of the Cumberland Plateau runs we’re used to paddling. We practiced our break-ins, break-outs and ferry glides, trying to get the hang of working together. Practice helped a lot. Our biggest problems of the day came when we weren’t communicating enough or when we were trying to make left side moves… not all that different from Canadian canoeing!

One skill that the Scottish paddlers emphasize more than their American cousins was the back ferry. That was interesting in the Topo Duo!

As we continued downriver, the rapids picked up in difficulty. The river stayed pretty continuous in pace, although plenty of space still separated the noteworthy rapids. In many an eddy, we found ourselves next to a sheep pasture with several critters staring at us or minding their own bits of grass. We had an unexpected boof/scrape into one eddy when we misread the horizon line. Several sheep seemed to enjoy the show before continuing on with their usual sheep business of tending to their lawn. Sheep are so cute when they run. I couldn’t help but think of McCool and his baaaaaaaaad sheep jokes. Best keep him away from the Teith!

The grade I+/II- culminated in two grade II rapids. One had a big boulder in the center where the regular line was to the left of the boulder and the challenging line involved catching the eddy just behind the boulder. We continued left into a whitewater jungle tour, where thick trees lined both banks and occasionally branches required ducking or dodging to pass. Small waves kept the lines interesting along the tour. The second grade II had two parts. We managed to have both groups run the first part together, which made things a little exciting for the newbies as well as the trip leader. The second part we ran separately. Both parts were fun bouncy waves, bigger than the previous waves, but of no extra consequence beyond a face full of water.

We paddled on to the eddy with the stick gauge that marked our takeout. The gauge had our water level at 2’ exactly. A short climb out across a slippery clay path led to the lay by where the vehicles waited. We chatted, loaded boats, chatted more while Charlie retrieved his truck, loaded more boats and headed for home. It felt great doing a whitewater day trip that was truly a day trip for us. We stumbled home a little after 6pm after a great day of paddling with new friends.