Good friend Danny Wayte, a playboating addict but relative creeking virgin, took a trip from the flatlands to come and stay with me for a couple of days so he could get stuck into some good old fashioned Yorkshire Rivers. We had met at last years Wet West Paddlefest, which ignited a desire within him to get on more rivers.
We got up super early on Wednesday morning, and headed up dale where we warmed up on Cray Gill. He had done the lower gorge with me before, but levels were a bit better and we did the whole thing this time.
The beck gets going straight away, with the following 5 or 6 metre drop into a small pool.
Next up is the main drop, which Danny dispatched with ease. After this the beck eases off for a couple of minutes before entering the lower gorge. ‘Mini-Dalness’ opens this up, and ‘Backbreaker’ is the final drop of note before a fun shoot and the get out.
After running Cray Gill Danny expressed an interest in running the Swale, perhaps because of its reputation as a classic white water river and testpiece. Although there hadn’t been massive amounts of rain, all my previous Swale hunches had worked out so we took the gamble and headed further North. The sun shone and it was great fun at a just below a medium level.
All too soon the final and intimidating drops of Upper and Lower Kisdon were reached. For the Upper, we just tucked up and went deep. A couple of paddlers from Teesside were waiting at the second, and biggest, of the two Kisdon Forces. Lines were discussed and the moment of reckoning came. Danny managed to get a loop of the second lip as he got his speed and line slighlty wrong, but the smile on his face told a story of triumph and joy. We got lost on the walk back out, but the adrenaline carried us all the way back to the car.
A late start on Thursday took us for a play run down the Wharfe, where Danny spent a while trying to improve my cartwheel. Hopefully, he returned home buzzing from the experience as the realisation that river boating is far superior to any amount Helixes and concrete ditches.
Tom
