River South Esk – 2/4/2006

The lovely weather and abundance of water led to a massive unofficial club trip to the River South Esk in Angus. Chris put the word out that he wanted a trip to help Rhian get ready for the upcoming River Awe trip. Little did she know that it should have been the other way around. Niall came up with the idea of a combination South Esk - Blackwater trip for those looking for a bit longer day.

After stops at the boat shed and Tesco by the Forth road bridge, eighteen paddlers ventured north into Angus for the South Esk. Our get-in and get-out looked a lot like the Upper Isla that we did with Bram and Amy, although the grading in the guidebook suggested that this river would be a wee harder.

We divided into two groups at the get-in. Rhian’s group departed first and our group departed about 20 minutes later. The early rapids were very reminiscent of the Upper Isla. Lots of wee rocks made for a technically challenging run. Few Pakboat-sized eddies meant the rapids had to be run top to bottom before eddying out was an option. We started the run a little “off” but the continuous grade 1/2 rapids got us on our game.

Grade 1/2 stepped up to definite grade 2. Our group met up with Rhian’s group maybe a kilometer above the first grade 3 rapid. The South Esk, like the Findhorn, has a Wall of Death at one particular bend in the river. Andrea calling out to Jenny that we were indeed at the Wall of Death was the only warning we had. There were several lines available, as demonstrated by the not entirely coordinated runs of those ahead of us. The main line was sort of a right to left flush just after the official Wall that the current sends you hurtling toward. Greg’s brother went far right of the big boulder over a fairly steep drop. Greg went center and we sort of followed his line. The drop was about a meter with a nice curling wave. The Pakboat took it like a champ and Lucas cheered for his (our) first grade 3 rapid in the Pakboat in Scotland.

I was a bit disappointed to not see Rhian run the Wall of Death. Our group forged onward. Semi-continuous grade 2 rapids followed, much like pre-wall. The next challenge was the sort of broken weir. We scouted for nasty things like iron spikes while watching others’ runs. We found a nice tongue near far right and had a perfect line. In the washout that followed, a big kayak-munching hole munched Susan. Our 17 feet of canoe mostly slid over it, although we took on a fair bit of water. We bailed while Susan self-rescued with other assistance.

More grade 2 rapids followed. We enjoyed eddy hopping as much as we could. The problem with skinny rivers is the scarcity of Pakboat-sized eddies. We fit in many that I’m sure others in our group felt we wouldn’t.

A couple rapids after the broken weir, Niall and others signaled the group to catch a big eddy on the left. It was just barely above the second big rapid. Not everyone made the eddy. Turns out Greg’s brother swam. We were able to scout a good line from the bank, just right of center over another meter-ish drop. I was a bit nervous about the run, as like the Big Fluffy Puppy (Wall of Death) above it, the rapid was a bit of a flush. The problem with big fluffy puppy flushes is the tendency to kick you off line rather handily. The flush kicked us a little too right toward a very large rock. I leaned hard into my draw to correct. I don’t know if Lucas was able to pry in the back. We ran our line somewhere between 45 and 90 degrees facing left. The Pakboat landed in the pool below with a satisfying thwap, with not even a bobble. The kayakers were impressed.

A few more grade 2 rapids followed, kicking a bit of water into the boat to make up for the drier-than-it-ought-to-be grade 3 rapid. We stopped to bail. Once we (ok Lucas) had the boat empty, someone informed us very kindly that the get-out was the next big eddy on the left.

At the get-out, Lucas did his impersonation of a giant turtle carrying the Pakboat up to the car by himself. I did my impression of a pack mule, strapping the extraneous kit to my buoyancy aid for the hike out. After depositing the gear at the car, I went back to the bridge to take some photos. The river had kept me busy enough that I had only four photos between the get-in and the get-out. All were taken from the calm eddy below the second grade 3 rapid. From the bridge, I got photos of the second group approaching the get-out eddy, as well as Rhian and Chris walking out. Rhian took her first swim thanks to the same kayak-munching hole that got Susan. She got cold, and wisely decided to leave the second grade 3 for another day. Even better, Rhian knows that she is without a doubt ready for the River Awe trip at the end of the month.

As Chris was among the group heading for the Blackwater, we caught a ride back to Edinburgh with Nick and his friend. Judging by the tall tales that appeared on the listserv the next morning, I was sad that we hadn’t gone to the Blackwater at least to take pictures and watch the runs (creative, I hear) of the first big rapid. Next time. :)