26 Feb 12 - Medium/Low (0.95m at Old Bridge)
At last one of us had the nerve to run Quadratic Conundrum. And it has now been renamed: Quadratic Kermit.
A late afternoon run of the Shavas gorge, with Tom, Andy and David, was proving pretty uneventful. I was drifting backwards towards one of the smaller rapids in the gorge, chatting to the lads, when something slithered up my leg. With a very girly scream I exited my boat like a cork from a champagne bottle, much to the mirth of the lads, and swam the rapid backwards for my trouble. The humour and ribbing increased in tempo after Tom fished a small frog from from my boat.
We all took another long hard look at Quadratic, and I decided to run it. I jumped in the Solo and just went for it. The first hole was nearly my undoing, and I missed the planned line at the second, ending up on track for a proper mauling in the bottom to holes, but I managed to punch through them.
Andy showed us again how not to run Andy's drop, and the chaps all had a go at Terminal Slide, mostly pulling off a good line. Some repairs were required to Tom's running board before we could get underway for our trip home.
Monday, 27 February 2012
Sunday, 19 February 2012
Nyagui Gorge
19 Feb 12 - High (30cm over Nyagui Weir)
A late start, adrenalin rush before even getting to the river, and high water all combined for a fine day on the river, capped off with a superb braai at the finish.
After a hard night I overslept, waking up 10 minutes after the rendezvous time. Needless to say, the cussing was hard and continuous. A hasty departure and collection of Ken saw us depart town only 30 minutes late, Troy having calmed to a level of mild annoyance after Squash fed him some tea. Of course, a host of miscellaneous items such as wallets, water bottles and changes of clothing, plus the all-important maps for the put-in and improved take-out had been left behind - but let's not digress too far.
The Shavas and Nyagui looked pretty low, despite all the rain in Marondera over the past week, so the decision was made to do the Nyagui Gorge as planned. The trip to the river proved pretty uneventful, and I was pondering whether we could find the put-in without maps. We drifted out at about 110km/h to overtake a very slow-moving vehicle and as we came up on its flank, the driver turned right! Squash and I howled simultaneously and time stood still for the next few seconds. I swerved hard right to avoid collision, narrowly missing the front of the turning vehicle, and then swerved back to try and stay on the hard shoulder, but the Landy was starting to skid, so I changed direction and ramped the Landy into the roof-high ditch, executing a very clean landing in what fortunately turned out to be a soft and wide bottom, with no obstructions. Giving the Landy a few milli-seconds to settle and straighten up, I hit the brakes hard and we all debussed to relieve ourselves.
With only one easily corrected missed turn, we arrived at the weir - just where we wanted to be. Alas, when we saw the weir we had our second scare for the day - the water was massive! Troy offered to stay with Ken, but we convinced him to persevere. Later on he regretted his decision.
We ran a fairly simple drop, and at the bottom Troy went over and failed to roll.
We eventually got him out, but struggled to get his boat into an eddy for a long way - it almost went over the waterfall, but Squash and I worked together to jam it on a rock, from where I rescued it. The waterfall is pretty impressive, and not runnable.
We opted for a sneak down the centre, which rejoined the right channel, the right channel looking like it may be runnable. Just below this the river forks, with the right option proving difficult to scout (it has some big holes and a massive wave), so we opted for the easier left option.
We ran a few minor drops (videos coming soon), with another swim from Troy, before getting to Rapid K (there is a large "K" painted on the rocks and we wondered if Laurie had been there), which Squash ran left and I ran centre - narrowly avoiding a thrashing in a deep hole.
Rapid M was the next big one - a very long rapid with multiple challenges which Squash and I talked about and then ran without any major mishap. The third hole was dynamic - Squash caught it when it was open, while I almost got flipped as it closed on me. I screwed up the line towards the end and narrowly avoided yet another very big hole - thanks to directions from Squash.
The "Horeshoe-and-nail", which Wayne styled on the previous outing, looked too gnarly, so we portaged.
The next portage was quite tough, so Squash opted to run the last drop of the rapid - another dynamic hole, which if caught correctly was OK-ish, but if you missed the line or caught it at the wrong time you'd have yourself a real challenge. Needless to say, Squash was having a red-letter day and made it look easy - not enough to convince the rest of us though....
The Slide was possibly runnable, but with deep holes on either side if you strayed, so Squash ran a left line and Troy and I slid down the rocks centre. Just beyond was a deep hole which I ended up in. Knowing I did not want to swim Hyena's Bottom which was just below, I rolled upside down, stuck my paddles in the green water and waited what felt like ages to be hauled out. Only when I knew I was well clear did I roll back up.
Hyenas Bottom was three times as ugly as before, and there was a bonus hole halfway down at this level. We opted for a very hard portage involving ropes and much cussing.
Slide 2 looked scary with a must-make left turn, but this turned out to be easy and the run was even better than before. (Videos to follow).
"Steiger's Untoward" was just after the end of the Slide 2 chicken run, but was fortunately flushed out. At this point it started to rain, and we kept a sharp eye out for Ken, who we found tending the fire and cooking the meat, to ensure a fine finish to the day (except for the long walk out afterwards).
A late start, adrenalin rush before even getting to the river, and high water all combined for a fine day on the river, capped off with a superb braai at the finish.
After a hard night I overslept, waking up 10 minutes after the rendezvous time. Needless to say, the cussing was hard and continuous. A hasty departure and collection of Ken saw us depart town only 30 minutes late, Troy having calmed to a level of mild annoyance after Squash fed him some tea. Of course, a host of miscellaneous items such as wallets, water bottles and changes of clothing, plus the all-important maps for the put-in and improved take-out had been left behind - but let's not digress too far.
The Shavas and Nyagui looked pretty low, despite all the rain in Marondera over the past week, so the decision was made to do the Nyagui Gorge as planned. The trip to the river proved pretty uneventful, and I was pondering whether we could find the put-in without maps. We drifted out at about 110km/h to overtake a very slow-moving vehicle and as we came up on its flank, the driver turned right! Squash and I howled simultaneously and time stood still for the next few seconds. I swerved hard right to avoid collision, narrowly missing the front of the turning vehicle, and then swerved back to try and stay on the hard shoulder, but the Landy was starting to skid, so I changed direction and ramped the Landy into the roof-high ditch, executing a very clean landing in what fortunately turned out to be a soft and wide bottom, with no obstructions. Giving the Landy a few milli-seconds to settle and straighten up, I hit the brakes hard and we all debussed to relieve ourselves.
With only one easily corrected missed turn, we arrived at the weir - just where we wanted to be. Alas, when we saw the weir we had our second scare for the day - the water was massive! Troy offered to stay with Ken, but we convinced him to persevere. Later on he regretted his decision.
We ran a fairly simple drop, and at the bottom Troy went over and failed to roll.
We eventually got him out, but struggled to get his boat into an eddy for a long way - it almost went over the waterfall, but Squash and I worked together to jam it on a rock, from where I rescued it. The waterfall is pretty impressive, and not runnable.
We opted for a sneak down the centre, which rejoined the right channel, the right channel looking like it may be runnable. Just below this the river forks, with the right option proving difficult to scout (it has some big holes and a massive wave), so we opted for the easier left option.
We ran a few minor drops (videos coming soon), with another swim from Troy, before getting to Rapid K (there is a large "K" painted on the rocks and we wondered if Laurie had been there), which Squash ran left and I ran centre - narrowly avoiding a thrashing in a deep hole.
Rapid M was the next big one - a very long rapid with multiple challenges which Squash and I talked about and then ran without any major mishap. The third hole was dynamic - Squash caught it when it was open, while I almost got flipped as it closed on me. I screwed up the line towards the end and narrowly avoided yet another very big hole - thanks to directions from Squash.
The "Horeshoe-and-nail", which Wayne styled on the previous outing, looked too gnarly, so we portaged.
The next portage was quite tough, so Squash opted to run the last drop of the rapid - another dynamic hole, which if caught correctly was OK-ish, but if you missed the line or caught it at the wrong time you'd have yourself a real challenge. Needless to say, Squash was having a red-letter day and made it look easy - not enough to convince the rest of us though....
"Hey Squash, are your Cajones really this big?"
The Slide was possibly runnable, but with deep holes on either side if you strayed, so Squash ran a left line and Troy and I slid down the rocks centre. Just beyond was a deep hole which I ended up in. Knowing I did not want to swim Hyena's Bottom which was just below, I rolled upside down, stuck my paddles in the green water and waited what felt like ages to be hauled out. Only when I knew I was well clear did I roll back up.
Hyenas Bottom was three times as ugly as before, and there was a bonus hole halfway down at this level. We opted for a very hard portage involving ropes and much cussing.
Slide 2 looked scary with a must-make left turn, but this turned out to be easy and the run was even better than before. (Videos to follow).
"Steiger's Untoward" was just after the end of the Slide 2 chicken run, but was fortunately flushed out. At this point it started to rain, and we kept a sharp eye out for Ken, who we found tending the fire and cooking the meat, to ensure a fine finish to the day (except for the long walk out afterwards).
Monday, 13 February 2012
Umwindsi and Nyagui Mukore
12 Feb 12 - Medium Level 15cm over Mukore Weir
We found a lovely new piece of river, quite by accident. I though I'd try a different way to get to the pumphouse put-in on Riverbend, but ended up much further upstream in the Umwindswi, which turned out to be a very nice piece of river.
We portaged the first weir, then ran a slide and some gentle rapids, before hitting the long flat section of Riverbend. Shane, on his first river trip, really made it look easy. He rolled a couple of times and hung on for rescue on the occasions he couldn't roll. Margie had a few swims, but seemed to enjoy the day nevertheless. The take-out for the novices at Mukore was quite tricky so we decided to run the first section, which in hindsight may have been a mistake. Margie had a long hard swim, and we had to rope her back across, after Troy and I chased her boat all the way to Z-Bend (through some big stoppers).
The wave was working really well so Troy, Andy, Dave and I had a good surf, before and after lunch. Dave entertained us with yet another variation on the Z-Bend line, but he finished the day without a swim.
Photo's and videos coming soon.
We found a lovely new piece of river, quite by accident. I though I'd try a different way to get to the pumphouse put-in on Riverbend, but ended up much further upstream in the Umwindswi, which turned out to be a very nice piece of river.
We portaged the first weir, then ran a slide and some gentle rapids, before hitting the long flat section of Riverbend. Shane, on his first river trip, really made it look easy. He rolled a couple of times and hung on for rescue on the occasions he couldn't roll. Margie had a few swims, but seemed to enjoy the day nevertheless. The take-out for the novices at Mukore was quite tricky so we decided to run the first section, which in hindsight may have been a mistake. Margie had a long hard swim, and we had to rope her back across, after Troy and I chased her boat all the way to Z-Bend (through some big stoppers).
The wave was working really well so Troy, Andy, Dave and I had a good surf, before and after lunch. Dave entertained us with yet another variation on the Z-Bend line, but he finished the day without a swim.
Photo's and videos coming soon.
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Shavas Gorge & Novice Trip
5 Feb 12 - Medium water, 1.04m at the Old Road Bridge
Troy arrived his usual (punctual) 1 hour late (partly my fault as I'd forgotten to collect the boats) so the two of us completed a lightning fast trip down the gorge section of the Shava's, before meeting the novices for a run between the bridges.
The gorge is starting to take on quite a bit of "character" with several waves and holes developing with the extra 11cm of water. The third hole on Quadratic (Q3) looked particularly nasty, reminding us why we have so far not run this rapid. Troy had some interesting moments on Andy's drop: first he headed left which meant he lost me and the line. Making it back onto the line he flipped and rolled halfway down, and then took the far right option for the final drop, with no real problems.
The kicker at four-FIVE-six is starting to develop, but we both ran it without incident. I wedged myself up against a rock at Blind Faith in order to video Troy, and then I ran the rapid backwards - unintentionally of course. Troy had a good look at Terminal Slide, watching me run it, after which he gave it a go, managing to completely screw up the line. This resulted in him going over partially, but fortunately he has a strong metal paddle - click here to watch the video.
Ken had a fire on the go, so after cooking lunch we wedged the sadza pot between the seats and shared a fine meal of sadza, braai mealies and steak, while racing to meet the novices at the main road bridge. We arrived late and in the middle of a very heavy downpour. Undeterred we set about preparing for a trip as there was no lightning in evidence.
Of course, as soon as we were on he water the rain stopped... The group pressed on down the river without too much delay, maintaining a steady pace to stay well ahead of a thunderstorm.
Garth D, Jan L, Margie G and David C acquitted themselves extremely well and ran everything, with only the occasional swim. All tried their hands at surfing, and Troy captured a video of the group running Island Rapid.
Ken decided it was high time he gave it a go, much to his own and the crowd's delight. Click here for the video.
Troy arrived his usual (punctual) 1 hour late (partly my fault as I'd forgotten to collect the boats) so the two of us completed a lightning fast trip down the gorge section of the Shava's, before meeting the novices for a run between the bridges.
The gorge is starting to take on quite a bit of "character" with several waves and holes developing with the extra 11cm of water. The third hole on Quadratic (Q3) looked particularly nasty, reminding us why we have so far not run this rapid. Troy had some interesting moments on Andy's drop: first he headed left which meant he lost me and the line. Making it back onto the line he flipped and rolled halfway down, and then took the far right option for the final drop, with no real problems.The kicker at four-FIVE-six is starting to develop, but we both ran it without incident. I wedged myself up against a rock at Blind Faith in order to video Troy, and then I ran the rapid backwards - unintentionally of course. Troy had a good look at Terminal Slide, watching me run it, after which he gave it a go, managing to completely screw up the line. This resulted in him going over partially, but fortunately he has a strong metal paddle - click here to watch the video.
Ken had a fire on the go, so after cooking lunch we wedged the sadza pot between the seats and shared a fine meal of sadza, braai mealies and steak, while racing to meet the novices at the main road bridge. We arrived late and in the middle of a very heavy downpour. Undeterred we set about preparing for a trip as there was no lightning in evidence.
Of course, as soon as we were on he water the rain stopped... The group pressed on down the river without too much delay, maintaining a steady pace to stay well ahead of a thunderstorm.
Garth D, Jan L, Margie G and David C acquitted themselves extremely well and ran everything, with only the occasional swim. All tried their hands at surfing, and Troy captured a video of the group running Island Rapid.
Ken decided it was high time he gave it a go, much to his own and the crowd's delight. Click here for the video.
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