Gorgeous Gorges - Trip on the Tywi

The trip began with a look from Dolauhirion Bridge above the final feature of the trip at the get-out. Of course, this was the scariest part of the trip, especially when you’ve just stepped out of a warm and comfortable vehicle …EEK!

After several minutes of planning which routes we all wanted to take, we set off towards the get-in. Here we had to traverse the kayaks and canoes down a steep bank from the roadside, with help from some straps and clips. Once we all got in the water, we quickly noticed the speed of the river compared to previous trips. After the safety briefing, we set sail. As soon as we got some pace, we could take the odd opportunity to look at the beautiful scenery - the banks were rocky cliff sides and the background was saturated by tall beautiful hills/mountains.

At this point in the trip, we were following another group of friendly kayakers. These were a mixture of regular and blow-ups (kayaks).

The first big feature of the trip was the falls that took us into the gorge. From a distance, it seemed like a fairly simple drop-down. As you got progressively closer however it became apparent that there was going to be a challenge. The river merged below the drop perpendicularly, and for a less experienced kayaker like myself, this could’ve been an opportunity for a swim! Fortunately, though I was thinking about some advice from Martin earlier that paddle… “pretend you’re swinging around a lamppost…”. Thankfully, as it wasn’t the warmest of days, everyone left this feature pretty dry. It was here we passed by the other group and led the flotilla.

From here onwards we entered the gorge. The already picturesque scenery became lush with green moss, waterfalls, and wildlife. The paddle was a little challenging here as the narrower river meant we were moving through faster, choppier water. There were plenty of eddys trying to catch us out!

Soon we left the gorge, but the river was still full of features to keep us entertained and amused. One of which nearly had Lloyd in the drink but managed to get out of there with his hair still dry! We decided here to stop for a spot of lunch and reflect on the exciting trip so far and to remember that the worst was yet to come!

We soon got back on the river, having been passed by the other group during the lunch break.

The river was yet to slow down so we had plenty of fun down the stretch after lunch. I managed to get caught out at this point and ended up capsized by a wave, scraping on rocks while traveling a short distance down the river before managing to get upright with my hands (by this point I’d lost my paddle to the rocks).

As we traversed further down the river, we knew the inevitable was fast approaching. As the feature came into view, we broke out at a comfortable distance away and took some time to assess the situation. As per usual with these things, we sent our resident daredevil, Martin, down first to make sure we were not biting off more than we could chew. Please check out Martin's video and watch him attack this one like a pro! Martin was followed closely by Stephen and Lloyd, where Stephen became the first victim of the wave, but nicely saved himself with a roll. Back up at the top, we saw a green paddle wave indicating it was the next person's time to head down…

Spade along with Tim were the first canoe to go down the rapids. Sure enough, they became victim to the drink and swam themselves to the bank. Seeing this from above, many of the kayakers became wise to where the safest route was (to the right), and many people managed to get down dry! This second route was arguably just as interesting as it was a narrow section between some high-up rocks to the right.

However, this path was too narrow for the canoes and they had to brave the wave. Andy even decided to convert his canoe to a bathtub during his run!

All in all a fantastic trip on the Tywi, definitely worth running this one again! Thanks to Spade, Tracy, Martin, and everybody who helped make it a fantastic day out!

River Tywi, Gallt-Y-Bere to Dolauhirion Bridge, 25/02/24, Gauge level at Dolauhirion bridge 0.68m.