Royal Dee

Some time in October

It had been at least four years since we had paddled the Dee which had been a long hard slog because of low water levels, however Nick, Wendy, Pete and I decided to give it another chance. The other attraction was to combine the trip with a visit to the Scottish Canoe Show in Perth.

Day One - approx. 18 miles.

Tuesday morning saw us pushing off from the Linn of Dee at 10am--ish. We were paddling two fully kitted white water open canoes and two kayaks. With all the recent rain the river was really full.

In the first couple of miles the river flows over a series of grade III rocky drops and rapids, before levelling out into a flood plain through some wild country. We could hear Stags bellowing in the distance as it was the rutting season, a young buck limped across the river in front of us with a nasty looking wound on his hind quarter. Buzzards wheeled overhead and for the next few days the pressures of modern living were an eternity away.

An eight foot game fence across the river heralded the approach to Braemar followed by a pleasant couple of miles through pasture and deciduous woods to the major obstacle of the day, the rapids at Invercauld Bridge.

The last time we had been here, it had been a torturous passage through rocky channels under the stone arches, this time it was to be a ferry glide the full width of the river, a quick 180 degree spin and a very fast run through some fair sized standing waves and stoppers with a very long swim for anyone that came out. We pulled in for lunch and to compare notes at the picnic spot at the bottom.

All that was left now was a five miles of continuous grade II down to Crathie. then back to the campsite in Ballater for tea and medals.

Day Two - approx 16 miles.

Being able to get all four boats on one car reduces the time messing about with shuttles, so 10 a.m. saw us at Crathie ready for the off The river soon changes in character, surrounded by pine forests and frequent grade III boulder rapids, it takes on an air of desolation for the next few miles.

The next major rapid was 'The Queen Mother's Rapid", so called because on our first trip I, unbeknown, was inspecting the rapid from the veranda of the Queen Mothers fishing chalet, while she was in residence and oblivious to Pete and Wendy who were by now surrounded by the Royal Protection Squad, desperately trying to avoid being incarcerated in Edinburgh Castle. Needless to say this time we paddled on without mishap.

We stopped for lunch a further five miles downstream at Cambus o' May, the start of a six mile white water racing course. This section is almost continuous rapid building up in difficulty and culminating in 500m of wild grade three plus to the bridge at Dinnet.

Pete led off down this section and tucked himself into a small eddy at the bottom to wait for us. I followed next managing keep upright in the hard stuff but while heading for the safety of an eddy near the bottom, noticed both Nick and Wendy's boats were upside down in the thick of it. This moments lapse in concentration became my downfall, catching the last wave of the rapid side on it tipped me in.

With the flat sections of the river fast flowing and eddies infrequent and small the ability for self rescue became paramount. We all made it to the bank O.K. which was conveniently the end of the days trip.

With the speed the river was flowing, we reckoned we could knock off the last 21 miles down to Banchory easily the next day.

Day Three.

We woke up to the continuation of the overnight rain, and estimated that the river had risen two to three feet so, faced with approx. 5 miles of continuous grade III in the day, we rapidly dismissed any thought of paddling and set off for Braemar for afternoon tea.

Day Four.

The rain had stopped, but the river level was still quite high so we decided to abandon the rest of the trip and head off down to Perth for some retail therapy at the Canoe Show.

	Search this site powered by FreeFind
	Swaledale Outdoor Club