Allt Kinglass
- Details
- Last Updated on Monday, 25 March 2013 13:09
- Written by Mark Rainsley, also Chas Couchman.
GUIDE TO THE ALLT KINGLASS
NAME OF RIVER: Kinglass.
WHERE IS IT?: A major tributary of the Orchy which forms a good starting point to an Orchy trip.
PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: We put in a few miles south of the Bridge of Orchy Hotel along the A82. There is a big layby on the right as you head south and the river is visible (flat and meandering) several hundred metres away (NN 309 367). We carried across fields to the river. The take-out is anywhere along the Orchy (NN 291 383).
APPROX LENGTH: 3 miles.
TIME NEEDED: 1 hour or more.
ACCESS HASSLES: Unknown, but exercise discretion in crossing the fields to the river...
WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: We paddled this in bank-full conditions after heavy rain. All of the falls were fully covered with water. Low water would give a less satisfying descent.
Very high water levels make the last section very continuous....last week (Dec 2006) we blundered onto this river when it was flowing around the trees at the put-in, and discovered that it had all merged into a single stoppery grade 5 rapid. Oops.
GRADING: 1 at first, increasing progressively in difficulty to 4+.
MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: There is a big tree stuck in the middle of the right-hand bend in the river on the top grade 1 section, roots as well.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A great trip when the river is up! Flat water gradually becomes steeper and long grade 3 rapids are encountered. These become more continuous until the riverbanks rise and pretty continuous grade 4 drops are encountered near the A82 bridge. A good time to inspect ahead? One notable rocky 8ft fall needs to be taken far right...if you boof it off the obvious ramp, you get to land flat on shallow rocks...I happen to know that this hurts! The river finally pours into the Orchy and you are more than fired up for this trip.
Video of the Kinglass 1 and 2 (shows Paul Mayfield)
OTHER NOTES: I understand there is some good paddling further upstream where it flows under the railway viaduct. Anyone done this bit?
CONTRIBUTED BY: Mark Rainsley, also Chas Couchman.
There will be warning signs and the roadworks will be dead obvious, but take great care.
I am led to believe that on occasions, the entire river flow may be diverted into pipes.
I would suggest avoiding this section while construction is underway.
Also, don't speed through the constriction site or nearby.
Contractors will soon start to demolish the old bridge and build a new one.
It is not a good idea to paddle any where near this construction site building and clearup has finished!
Will post more details as we get them.
Update on works at River Kinglas, Allt Chonoglais bridge repalcement. There is currently a crash deck being constructed around the centre span. Next week the bridge deck is going to be demolished. Centre span cut up into liftable sections then the north and south spans demolished. It would be advisable to stay away fron the river/bridge area until further updates.
"The bridge has now been demolished and the remaining piers capped with concrete slabs. We would still advise that canoeists avoid using the river untill further updates are issued."
Pictures can be found here
http://www.canoescotland.org/AccessEnvi ... tent200135
Select the correct tab, picture of capped pillars is 2nd row, 3rd along.