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Caithness Kayak Club |
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Craggy Burn Report from Colin |
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Paddlers : Colin M, Bernie McGee, Shaun
Muligan, Mathew, Anthony.
River : Craggy Burn
The Craggy Burn is a short steep gd 4/5
tributary of the Helmsdale river, joining the main river a couple of
miles below Kildonan Bridge. It is accessed via a short drive from Kildonnan
bridge on the Glen Loth Road, the burn passes under another road bridge
about 2 miles from Kildonan Bridge. The put in is about a 5 -10
minute walk upstream on river right over rough boggy ground from the
road bridge. Please note, this is a LOW water run, in higher levels it
would be a serious gd 5 undertaking due to the gradient and the narrow
gorge walls.
The action starts off with a nice 8 foot
ramped ledge followed immediately by a tight 5 foot drop at gd 3/4.
Matthew almost came to grief on the second drop when his paddles jammed
across the drop and he had to limbo under them whilst actually running
the drop !! He recovered well ........!! The river continues down though
a tight gorge with 2 / 3 foot ledges which twist and turn down to the
road bridge. The crux of the run is immediatly below the road bridge and
consists of a 3 foot drop and turn immedialty followed by a very steep
tight double undercut S bend drop of approximately 10 foot - again
immediatly followed by a right angle bend and a vertical drop of about 5
foot ! Technical to say the least...........
This rapid was pretty well unrunnable at the
level we had so we decided to carry round the S bend and seal launch
about 4 foot into the gorge immediatley above the final ledge
drop.......... Colin M was the test pilot and all went well, nailing the
intended right hand line over the drop. Everybody else made it down OK
with a variety of "different" lines, Bernie's being the most
"entertaining" .......He bottomed out on the seal launch and decided to
test the impact strength of the left hand gorge wall with his head on
his way over the main fall...........
More of the same followed with about another
1km of tight twisting drops with two notable ledges of about 4 to 5 foot
before the get out at the railway bridge. Unfortunately the photos of
the drops after the bridge rapid were not any good - a good excuse for a
return visit then !!
Col.
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| For More pics click here | |||||
| White water paddling can be a hazardous activity, the author takes no responsibility for the information contained in this article. As always, scout a river yourself before running it and decide whether the risks are acceptable. | |||||