A bit of a mission...

on Leck Beck. Thought after yesterday's heavy showers that the Hindburn and the Roeburn would have come up for some Sunday fun however when we peered over the bridge in Wray village we were left with despondency as the river was near enough bone dry. We turned to the guidebook in our moment of despair and looked up Leck Beck, which flows out of the Easgill Caving system, and thought it might still be up as it will take a time to fill the caving system and drain out down the river bed. So we moved on to Cowan Bridge to kit up and start the mission.

Walking into Leck Beck. The beck is the one centre-left in the picture lined with grey trees.

This was the first time that I have had to walk into a river and it definitely added that bit more interest to the trip. The walk-in lasted about twenty minutes and I was hot by the end of it and glad to see the beck. The beck at the point we put-in was fairly wide and therefore it was shallow and bumpy for a while until it started entering Leck Beck Gorge. What a great name for a gorge found on Leck Beck!

One of the last rapids before we entered the gorge.

Inspecting the first drop into the gorge. It went on the right.

Me running the slide out of the second rapid in the gorge.

Running the first drop of Double Dilemma.

Running the last drop of Double Dilemma. Note the paddle shaft of the paddle as it jams against either side of the gorge.

The last drop of the gorge, Going Under. The other paddlers on the trip decided on portaging. After a fair time inspecting I turned and when asked said: "I reckon it'll go." The reply was "where do you want safety? I'll take the camera as well..."

Here was the resulting picture. I went deep off this drop, resurfaced upside down and rolled up as the pillow from the gorge wall pushed me away from the undercut at the base of the fall.

The last section of the river got a bit bumpy again and we often had to get out and drag the boats over the rocks.

In the end we gave up paddling and walked out back to Cowan Bridge.

Another great day on the river. I've now lost count of all the paddling I've done in the last few weeks. I can probably work it out by looking back through the blog, but I can't really be bothered. Anyway I'm off paddling tomorrow.

More pictures can be found here.

Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...
Iain