October 2019
Once a year there’s a reunion gathering of RCC old boys and
hangers-on; it generally means that all the rivers are suddenly dry and so mountain bikes
are brought along as well. This year it
was hosted by Chris and used the chalets at Inchree as a base. A motley crew all gathered on the Friday (10
of us) for a quick pint + planning session.
Day 1 was actually a trip to paddle a river after the heavy
rain – so we went down the Ailort on the Road to the Isles. In normal water a grade 2/3 bimble but with
rain the first 400m become rather more interesting. No steam trains spotted this year (this is
the Hogwarts line remember) and no drama with the rapids. Very scenic but no one opted for the second
run so all adjourned to the usual nevisport coffee bar.
Day 2 was an attempt to catch the Upper Roy at a good level
but the rain had run off already.
Nevertheless, eight folk paddled the Upper plus Gorge plus Lower
sections as a one-er. Not an exciting
level but OK. “Headbanger” is a mandatory
portage in these conditions but the rest of the gorge section ran ok. We had one last challenge with the narrow blind
slot bit – 3 down ok, and a tricky portage for others. The Lower section back to Roy Bridge itself
was a bit tedious and rocky-bashy.
The other days involved a session on the Falls of Lora but I
didn’t feel too secure in my sea kayak that morning so paddled like a complete
woos. The others seemed to enjoy the
workout and the winter sun. Two other
ladies present were having a good time with their sea boats too.
And I squeezed in a mountain bike descent using the gondola
up-lift at Nevis Range. The more
westerly of the two trails is now graded at Black, although I forget its actual
name. Lots of board-walk to start with, followed
by the boulder descent back into the forest.
Last time I did this run was on a 150mm forked carbon Jekyll so nice to also
experience it on my more general trail designed Scout with less travel. All went OK.
Cakes and coffee in the café to celebrate.
