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GUIDE TO THE RIVER GLASLYN (Aberglaslyn Gorge) NAME OF RIVER: Glaslyn. WHERE IS IT?: It is beside the A498 Capel Curig to Porthmadog road. Map. PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: Consider starting on the Upper Glaslyn or the River Colwyn. Or, there is a layby beside this short section of river to change in. The takeout is at the road bridge where the white water ends. You must stop and get out ABOVE the bridge, however awkward this may prove. This section is so short that you probably don't need to park there and irritate the residents of the house beside the bridge. APPROX LENGTH: 1 mile. TIME NEEDED: Half an hour. ACCESS SITUATION: Access agreement in full, from Pete Cornes, WCA (march 2004)... Access/egress points: Old Railway Bridge 597473. Ample parking, though care should be taken not
to block gate LAO: Ian Ganderton Access Agreement The access agreement between the WCA, the National Trust and the Glaslyn Anglers Association allows canoeing on the Glaslyn between the Old Railway Bridge (700m downstream of Beddgelert) and Pont Aberglaslyn, from 18 October to 1 April. This includes the section of the river known as Aberglaslyn Gorge. The section of the river from Llyn Dinas to Beddgelert has no access agreement due to the presence of spawning beds. The river below Pont Aber Glaslyn used to be tidal until the construction of the causeway at Porthmadog. There is no access agreement for this section of the river. The land is National Trust property and the Trust is anxious to keep the pool below Pont Aberglaslyn as quiet as possible to encourage the indigenous wildlife, so please respect this. For access to Afon Glaslyn, please sign in at The Village Stores, Emrys House, Beddgelert Please note 1.Maximum group size 6. Please fill in your name, home town/address and whether or not you are a member of the WCA/BCU/SCA or CANI. Laurence 'Pob' Crow...(Dec '01) The last but one time I paddled it there was a plaque in the wall on the river side of the road about halfway down the long layby. I am positive it said that an access agreement was agreed between the 31 October and 1 April ( fishing close season I assume). I also vaguely remember being told by someone that this plaque had a habit of "disappearing" (hmmmm). The last time I paddled it in Feb 00 the plaque had indeed gone walkabout. Hope that helps. Maybe someone else can shed more light on it (or correct me if I'm wrong).' Richard Beveridge...(Dec '01) 'The agreed takeout is river left ABOVE the bridge, there is no agreement for canoeing past the road bridge at the takeout.' Nigel Crompton...(Dec '01) 'There doesn't need to be an agreement to paddle past the road bridge at the take out as until the "Cob" was built at Portmadoc, the Glaslyn was tidal to this point. We are thus entitled to paddle this section anytime without hiderance as it's a Navigation - cargo boats used to be able to get almost to the roadbridge. The river is wide placid & meandering downstream of the gorge - tho' heavily populated by members of the Glaslyn Anglers Association! The other hazard is the road bridge at 593414 which isn't very high & tends to collect debris. Excellent birdwatching river too. A friend of mine farms the land river left downstream of the roadbridge and also one bank at the top then both banks of the Nantmor, and my mother-in-law lived in Beddgelert for 15 years...' WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: When there are rocks visible in the river upstream of the takeout bridge (low/ medium?) the river is a continuous grade 4. If all rocks are just covered (medium?), the gorge is more 'full-on' reaching grade 4+. Any higher will undoubtedly be harder, presumably grade 5. It should be obvious if it's too low to paddle. Seems to stay paddleable for at least a day after heavy rain. GRADING: Continuous 4+ at low and medium levels. Probably harder in high water levels. MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: One significant drop. GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Put in where the small rapids begin...this is a very short section but well worth doing alone, it carries more water than many UK rivers and feels almost Alpine. You have a few hundred metres of Grade 3 to wake yourself up in, then the river drops away steeply giving great continuous Grade 4+ paddling. Plenty of waves and stoppers keep you occupied, you probably won't even notice the river splitting around an island. There are various opportunities to find an eddy and inspect ahead, but you've probably done this before getting on? The only large drop is about 2/3 of the way down, a river wide ledge which seems to enjoy backlooping people but is deceptively friendly...I don't know how friendly it'll be in high water, though! After this, the river widens and the rapids ease in difficulty towards the takeout bridge. Figure out a way to the road on river left either above or below the bridge. OTHER NOTES: Dave Bradshaw...(Dec 5th '01) 'Is this the biggest white water in the UK? (I haven't paddled the Moriston full on, so I can't compare) We ran it on Thursday, after doing the Colwyn, which was on 6 on the gauge. The grade 3 lead in had turned into a grade 4, and the grade 4 had turned into a grade 5. This was a continuous 500m stretch of White Water, with no breaks. It was littered with big stoppers, and paddling consisted of trying to survive the stoppers, and then trying to recover quickly enough to get a line into the next one. I got squirted so high in the stopper before the big drop, that I did not think it would come down soon enough to be able to pick a line. At this level the big drop has a diagonal stopper on the lip of the fall. When you hit this you go underwater, and run the drop with the boat submerged, and of course when you get to the bottom you go down a long way. The only realistic chance to catch your breath is just after the big drop, where there are eddies on both sides of the river, and then it is into the last stretch down to the bridge, which almost maintains the grade of the previous stretch.' We haven't paddled the flat bit downstream to the sea...anyone able to tell us about this? CONTRIBUTED BY: Mark Rainsley, also Laurence Crow, Richard Beveridge, Dave Bradshaw, Pete Crones WCA and Nigel Crompton. |
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