We woke to another cold morning and the crew was slow to get going. The rain had persisted through the night, but there were signs it might be letting up. We finally got underway at around 8:30 and wound our way down the mountain, stopping briefly at the old trout farm to have a look at the river (which drops quickly in that area, and has plenty of strainers).
Despite ridicule from my colleagues I held fast to my theory that my paddle was waiting in the eddy where I swam, and so I drove straight to the previous day's put-in. We walked downriver a short way and Ken was soon heard chuckling jubilantly. Sure enough, the paddle was sitting in the shallows of the eddy, almost 24 hours after I'd left it there. How lucky is that! I was ecstatic, and so was Ken at the prospect of receiving the $20 reward.
Hugh tried to talk us into going further upriver, but even though it was a lot lower, the rest of the gang was happy to start at the hydro intake (once operational the hydro system will divert a substantial amount of flow from the river for 2-3km).
Hugh, Robin and I set off on the first section, which is arguably the steepest. The going was intense, with small eddies and one drop after the next. Robin and I portaged twice, while Hugh executed a spectacular "rail slide" down a log and ran everything with great skill.
After the first bridge the gradient eased slightly and we set a good pace, right until Robin avoided a hangman's noose (a looped vine at neck height). Robin was forced to roll under, on the edge of a small drop, which unfortunately resulted in a broken paddle and skinned knuckles. He made a halfhearted attempt to roll (seeing as he still had the shaft and right-hand blade) but soon ejected for a short swim - fortunately he was in a smaller part of the river and he self-rescued while I trapped his boat on a rock. Hugh located the broken paddle, which was left on the bank and Robin recovered it later.
At the second bridge I pulled out as my back was starting to play up. David had decided to get in at the second bridge, where things get a little more sane, and he took over in the Solo. From there it was a quick run to the third bridge and then on to the Pungwe confluence (Ken, Mike, Nick and I in the Landy made light work of it anyway).
Hugh some trouble extracting himself from his dry-top at the finish:
Once we saved him from certain death by asphyxiation, we set off up the mountain back to Juliasdale, stopping to explore the slide in the forest, north of the main road, which appears to be very runnable in a kayak. The evening ended with an enjoyable braai and several cold beers around a warm fire.
Click here for the photo album.
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