by banzer » Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:39 pm
Update from the Doe on Sunday.
I never heard back from the landowners / estate managers about some sort of compromise. So it seemed sensible to go stealthy. We parked up well away from the centre of town to get changed and load all the boats onto one car- the fewer cars at the top the better. We drove up the usual small access road and beyond the crossing of the Waterfalls Walk path as it leads down to Beezley Falls.... we parked about 300 yards further on. No need to walk down the tourist path and annoy the staff that way. If you then continue up the same lane another 100 yards there's an old gate on the right leading down to the river. This gives you a couple of hundred yards of easy shallow warm-up before the comedy squeeze through the stepping stones.
Water levels were perfect.... it's amazing how often this is going a day or so after rain. As a rule of thumb if you look over the road bridge on the A65 and it looks 'up a bit' but by no means brown and thumping, then it's on.
Watched by the inevitable crowds (the estate should pay us for the spectacle!!), we proceeded down and between us ran everything except the entry to the weird right hand turn into the no-way-out corner. (Which I swear goes if you run the drop backwards thus facing forwards ready for the charge out of the eddy.) Good work Martin, Darragh and Beth for firing it up, I'm still too wuss to do the Kiwi!
Martin and Rhiannon had a chat to one of the staff as they went back up for the car. They might want to elaborate but in essence the vibe they got was:
1. that the estate does not want kayakers on the river
2. they kind of accept that they don't own the water in the river
3. they do NOT want payment or contributions from kayakers in case of an accident and the possibility of them being made liable
4. they would rather not have to see kayakers or have conversations or arguments with kayakers
My take on it is that we should take every opportunity to minimise contact with the staff, parking area, ticket office etc of the Waterfalls Walk. Some of which I have mentioned above. I think not accessing or egressing (having walked back up) the river at Beezley Falls is a smart move. (You can actually get back across to river left quite easily and head back up to the stepping stones on that bank). Or, paddle on down to Ingleton. This was pretty boney but doable, with the odd bit of metal debris here and there. Sadly - or not - for this to be at a good level (and it's a nice section), the waterfall section will be very full-on.
Still, a great river and a good day out, thanks guys!
