River Leven - Loch Lomond to Clyde Confluence
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pipthetiff
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Re: River Leven - Loch Lomond to Clyde Confluence
I had the ideal opportunity to see the weir at Dumbarton during low tide. Iv only paddled down when the tide was it. It seems fairly friendly with no debris.
As for the sluice barrage at Balloch, I got out to inspect last time and decided to paddle around the floating barrage by the slip and straight on to the river. So much easier than portage. I will always inspect first though.
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Jim
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Re: River Leven - Loch Lomond to Clyde Confluence
Wow, I wrote that guide a long time ago, having only run the full river once. In fact I have still only run the whole river once although I have been paddling on it 3-4 times a week for the last year (and quite a lot previous to that).
I think Leven ford (photographed) is quite friendly because it is a ford rather than a weir, although it usually appears that there are some posts river right near where the deepest flow appears to be (I can't see them in the photos), when there is some water. It was built as a road surface rather than a water retaining structure so doesn't appear to be littered with metalwork.
The barrage at Balloch it turns out has nothing to do with flood defence and is about maintaining a minimum level in Loch Lomond. During the winter the gates are lowered to the river bed so they don't hold up any water draining out of the system upstream and there is just flow between the stanchions and it is no more dangersous than a bridge. When the gates are raised each one makes a potentially lethal straight drop between closed in walls - this year I think the barrage was raised 2 weeks ago at about Midday on the Friday because the river which was holding steady at 1.2m dropped 0.6m in a very short time and has since slowly decreased to about 0.52m before a little rain on Friday brought it back up to 0.57 and it is now slowly dropping again. So do please take extra care at the barrage from April - October (I think the barrage is supposed to go up in May but that long dry spell must have caused it to be raised earlier).
Unfortunately when the river dropped last week there was a significant amount of what I believe to be sewage floating on the surface - I really can't say if it only appeared at the same time, or if it just became noticable because there was less water- I had a jippy tummy for a few days at the start of last week and deferred paddling again until we got some higher tides this week (I normally paddle within the tidal part), and then had car trouble, so it has been about 10 days since I was last on it which must tbe the longest time in 18 months I haven't been on it!). My boat had a scum line which I washed off with disinfectant before heading up to Glasgow today. I normally notice a lot more sewage at this time of year, but hadn't correlated it to the barrage being raised and the river level dropping so much previously. I will probably continue to paddle when the there is a decent high tide, getting to the river through mud on low high tides is a bit of a chore, so I don't bother.
Over the winter just gone I have made a few longer trips upstream (WWR, would be impractical in a creek boat) and got to the edge of Bonhill - I gave up on a narrow fast flowing bend but checking the map afterwards if I had pushed on past that I was only 1 small kink away from seeing Bonhill bridge. I didn't note the level (>1.2) but I basically paddled up some of the groynes/half weirs which were just spots where there was difficult fast flow to paddle up, no actual drop - where I turned around I was just approaching another one.
All the anglers in Dumbarton are friendly, and as far as I can tell none of them are responsible for the ever increasing amount of trash, broken glass and recently a new 'fireplace' at my normal launch spot, they seem as puzzled by it as I am! If there are guys fishing I normally get on upstream of them (because I go upstream first), although there are other spots further up where I sometimes stay wide if there are people fishing. If there are a lot in a line it makes no sense to paddle past and I just turn around.
For me the most fun section is the narrows past the Polaroid estate because it is fast with a clear line to stay in the fast water, in the winter. In the summer there is a gravel bar at the upstream end of that bit, there is usually a spot I can paddle over it but it is a bit harsh on my paddle so if I go that far at all in the summer, I normally turn round there (plus the busiest spot for fishing seems to the the straight just above that).
I see very few other kayaks on the river, the biggest group was 4 SOTs last summer, although I know a couple of locals have been chacking out the ford to see if it will work as a play spot. It doesn't seem to be of much interest to others...
I think Leven ford (photographed) is quite friendly because it is a ford rather than a weir, although it usually appears that there are some posts river right near where the deepest flow appears to be (I can't see them in the photos), when there is some water. It was built as a road surface rather than a water retaining structure so doesn't appear to be littered with metalwork.
The barrage at Balloch it turns out has nothing to do with flood defence and is about maintaining a minimum level in Loch Lomond. During the winter the gates are lowered to the river bed so they don't hold up any water draining out of the system upstream and there is just flow between the stanchions and it is no more dangersous than a bridge. When the gates are raised each one makes a potentially lethal straight drop between closed in walls - this year I think the barrage was raised 2 weeks ago at about Midday on the Friday because the river which was holding steady at 1.2m dropped 0.6m in a very short time and has since slowly decreased to about 0.52m before a little rain on Friday brought it back up to 0.57 and it is now slowly dropping again. So do please take extra care at the barrage from April - October (I think the barrage is supposed to go up in May but that long dry spell must have caused it to be raised earlier).
Unfortunately when the river dropped last week there was a significant amount of what I believe to be sewage floating on the surface - I really can't say if it only appeared at the same time, or if it just became noticable because there was less water- I had a jippy tummy for a few days at the start of last week and deferred paddling again until we got some higher tides this week (I normally paddle within the tidal part), and then had car trouble, so it has been about 10 days since I was last on it which must tbe the longest time in 18 months I haven't been on it!). My boat had a scum line which I washed off with disinfectant before heading up to Glasgow today. I normally notice a lot more sewage at this time of year, but hadn't correlated it to the barrage being raised and the river level dropping so much previously. I will probably continue to paddle when the there is a decent high tide, getting to the river through mud on low high tides is a bit of a chore, so I don't bother.
Over the winter just gone I have made a few longer trips upstream (WWR, would be impractical in a creek boat) and got to the edge of Bonhill - I gave up on a narrow fast flowing bend but checking the map afterwards if I had pushed on past that I was only 1 small kink away from seeing Bonhill bridge. I didn't note the level (>1.2) but I basically paddled up some of the groynes/half weirs which were just spots where there was difficult fast flow to paddle up, no actual drop - where I turned around I was just approaching another one.
All the anglers in Dumbarton are friendly, and as far as I can tell none of them are responsible for the ever increasing amount of trash, broken glass and recently a new 'fireplace' at my normal launch spot, they seem as puzzled by it as I am! If there are guys fishing I normally get on upstream of them (because I go upstream first), although there are other spots further up where I sometimes stay wide if there are people fishing. If there are a lot in a line it makes no sense to paddle past and I just turn around.
For me the most fun section is the narrows past the Polaroid estate because it is fast with a clear line to stay in the fast water, in the winter. In the summer there is a gravel bar at the upstream end of that bit, there is usually a spot I can paddle over it but it is a bit harsh on my paddle so if I go that far at all in the summer, I normally turn round there (plus the busiest spot for fishing seems to the the straight just above that).
I see very few other kayaks on the river, the biggest group was 4 SOTs last summer, although I know a couple of locals have been chacking out the ford to see if it will work as a play spot. It doesn't seem to be of much interest to others...
Re: River Leven - Loch Lomond to Clyde Confluence
This is one we would like to do if we get a chance this year.
What river level do you think would be the lowest that 'goes'?
And, is it best to do it when the tide is in/rising. I fancy the parking at the beach near the castle.
What river level do you think would be the lowest that 'goes'?
And, is it best to do it when the tide is in/rising. I fancy the parking at the beach near the castle.
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Jim
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Re: River Leven - Loch Lomond to Clyde Confluence
I think it will be passable all summer despite the barrage stopping a lot of the outflow from the loch.
Checking Strava I was paddling up to the edge of Renton (above the tidal limit) occasionally all through last summer, the shallow bits are further up than that but I think the level tends to stay reasonably stable around 0.5m, except there seems to be increased flow at weekends for fishing (looking at historical data and the fishing forums - I don't see any evidence in the current hydrographs, which I now have loading when I start my web browser each day...)
There was someone out in a canoe on Tuesday who I'm guessing had paddled down - I was on an interval session and turned just before I got to him so didn't talk to him, just a little wave as I turned. That was at 0.6m.
As for the tide, I get in and out next to the industrial estate so don't go through the town and have never really looked to see what tide height it needs to cover the ford - it is well covered by a 3.8m tide, in fact pretty sure it is covered at 3m , so if you want the ford to be a rapid, you will need less tide than that, if you want it flat so you can paddle easily around to the castle, 3m and above will definitely work, but it probably works a bit lower. Checking the chart I see drying heights of 1 and 1.2m on the beach by the castle, so if you want to stick close to the castle and not paddle around a massive sand bar, higher than about 1.5m would probably be a good idea. I paddle around high water now because otherwise my put in/take out is slippery mud.
Judging by the difference in my speeds upstream and downstream at 0.5m, the river is still doing about 0.5km/h at HW springs from the A82 down to above the railway bridge (and I have no reason to expect it slows there as the river narrows again) so I don't think you will find it significantly slower paddling against a flood tide in that last section.
The tidal limit is about the A82 bridge (depending on tide height) and I have found it usually seems to peak about the same time as the tabulated values for Bowling.
Oh, yes, it seems a lot cleaner this week, although the boat that is usually moored on the section I paddle appears to have sunk on its mooring in the last couple of weeks.
Have fun!
Checking Strava I was paddling up to the edge of Renton (above the tidal limit) occasionally all through last summer, the shallow bits are further up than that but I think the level tends to stay reasonably stable around 0.5m, except there seems to be increased flow at weekends for fishing (looking at historical data and the fishing forums - I don't see any evidence in the current hydrographs, which I now have loading when I start my web browser each day...)
There was someone out in a canoe on Tuesday who I'm guessing had paddled down - I was on an interval session and turned just before I got to him so didn't talk to him, just a little wave as I turned. That was at 0.6m.
As for the tide, I get in and out next to the industrial estate so don't go through the town and have never really looked to see what tide height it needs to cover the ford - it is well covered by a 3.8m tide, in fact pretty sure it is covered at 3m , so if you want the ford to be a rapid, you will need less tide than that, if you want it flat so you can paddle easily around to the castle, 3m and above will definitely work, but it probably works a bit lower. Checking the chart I see drying heights of 1 and 1.2m on the beach by the castle, so if you want to stick close to the castle and not paddle around a massive sand bar, higher than about 1.5m would probably be a good idea. I paddle around high water now because otherwise my put in/take out is slippery mud.
Judging by the difference in my speeds upstream and downstream at 0.5m, the river is still doing about 0.5km/h at HW springs from the A82 down to above the railway bridge (and I have no reason to expect it slows there as the river narrows again) so I don't think you will find it significantly slower paddling against a flood tide in that last section.
The tidal limit is about the A82 bridge (depending on tide height) and I have found it usually seems to peak about the same time as the tabulated values for Bowling.
Oh, yes, it seems a lot cleaner this week, although the boat that is usually moored on the section I paddle appears to have sunk on its mooring in the last couple of weeks.
Have fun!