Allt a Chaorainn

We just finished Etive, great river, paddled it with way too much water, but hey we wanted water, we got it. So at the take-out of the Etive an other little tributary comes in. Allt A Chaorainn, just some fun slide, saw lots of youtube vids of it where people are scraping down slides on hardly an inch of water. But hey, let?s have some fun sliding down.

While carrying our boats up, we kind of quickly get the impression, that there is more than an inch of water on these slides. More, these little short fun slides seem to have joined up together forming MONSTER slides, no :-) I?m exaggerating, but nevertheless really big slides. I also get the impression that it takes lots of effort to carry the boat up and there might be a very realistic chance that I?m gonna carry it back down. The water is really high!

First slide, ?Speed?, really a narrow slot, has become a powerful jet into a rock wall. Luckily the high water has opened a line next to the main fall, yeehaa over hardly an inch of water. Peter is that happy, he jumps in the water for a swim.

The second one, ?Ecstacy?, a 4-part slide with 2 big holes to shred. Honestly, looking at the first hole, I knew there was NO way I was gonna pass this thingy. Still Ward passes the wobbly entry slide and punches the hole, wooow, great. Almost hitting it sideways but at the last moment turning his boat down. The second part goes great, but pushes him totally the other side of the river, 7 meters offline where we thought the line was, but on a nice little autoboof to pass the second hole, yeehaa, sliding all the way down the last easy slide.

Next up, me, hey, we had a great run on the Etive, still living it up on those good vibes, I?m taking on the impossible hole, and YES, NO WAY TO PASS ai ai ai. After the wobbly entry slide, I hit the big hole sideways, the impact tilts me immediately over. Upside down I stretch my paddle, hoping to get some pressure on it to roll. But no way, the hole turns and spins me upside, over and under. OK, I pull the spray deck, off I go, under, over, upside down, incredible, I didn?t know what side was up or down, just spinning and spinning, just like a washing machine. When finally I pop up, Peter throws the rope straight in my hands, yeeh, oufty. Thanks Peter! But how many meters did he throw? I can?t hold the rope, it slips through my gloves and under I go, start drinking a bit of water, when finally it entangles round my hand. Peter pulls full power and gets me out, oefff?
It takes a while before I get better, calm down. The boat has gone down the slides after some wandering around in the hole, but Peter and Ward got it on the side. Peter decides to run the second part of the slide, getting in after the big hole, nails the three remaining slides effortless. And after some cooling down, I do the same, had to get back on the horse ;-)

The next slide ?Pinball?. I?m kind of taking a look at the slide, already carrying my boat on my shoulder, says enough? Peter follows, also boat on shoulder. Ward is hesitating, has a better look on the left bank and decides to take it on. Pinball is a rocky S-bend slide, but now the main stream is, again, a jet stream into the rock walls. And again the high water has opened an alternative straight line, but hey, you need some balls to take this on! And you know who ?s got some? Wauw, respect, hard powerful line at the entry, he had to get left while the mainstream pushed the water right. He got the narrow line and takes a tremendous speed sliding down the steep rocks.

The last drop, ?Chasm?, easy narrow impressive gap between sheer rock walls. Jet stream full ahead Ward slides down, goes under at the bottom? one ?two ? yeeh he pops up. Nice. He warns me of the two little waves at the entry, they really look innocent. But the first one stalls me and the second one hits my back deck, U-boat move, not a nice feeling at the top of a 4 meter drop. But ok, just slide down, roll at the bottom and where off paddling towards the confluence of the Etive.

Woaw, great little tributary of the Etive!

Medevaarders