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.
