In the Shadow of the Mountain.......

In the Shadow of the Mountain..........

Lower Behana Gorge....

Well this was the plan for a sunny Autumn day. Unfortunately, the plan did not come to fruition as when the crew got to the measurement guide, it seemed to be too large for our skills. The Measurment Guide as per our adviser Deb, is that the water running over the causeway below the Behana Gorge Carpark, should be below ankle deep. Unfortunately this was not the case.

Decision making was made and the crew under impromptu pushing from Craig (another gun), The mighty Russell River was chosen as the target. Yep, the crew were about to step up....

The Mighty Russell River....

Rocks, Tree Branches, cold water, ducking, diving, swerving, swinging the kayak to miss obstacles, leeches.....and that was just the hike in !!!!

Yep, the hike in for newby's is a very tough 3k's with a boat on your shoulder. In the team were Craig, Flounder, Adro, Sandy, Laggy, Gonz, and the indefatigable Tarzan. Incidentally, Tarzan had Timme's boat....which was lightweight....but he was uncertain about a smaller boat in a bigger rapid for the first time.

There were two major creek crossings for the hike in, and the crew made the most of the second crossing. Very cold refreshing water livens up the soul.

Not long after we arrived at the drop in. We had a small break (which I sooner learnt that it wasn't big enough).

We received a surprise when Deb and Jeremy turned up. That now made the numbers as 1 gun per 2 novices which were great odds.

Our introduction was the Leichardt Rapid, a solid Grade 3 of which looked straight out of the movie Deliverence. Flounder did a turn of significance due to the fact that he did not panic in the midst of churning water. Tarzan had carried a small gecko transported from Timme's place. Tarzan went for a swim himself and was surprised that the gecko had a bath in a washing machine. The gecko was let go in new surroundings of which he would be very anxious let loose in the jungle in the shadow of the Mountain.

After boats and gear of swimmers introduced to frothing water was collected, we were off for the next small grade 2 followed by a small grade 3. The interesting thing about the Grade 3 which shows Adro's yellow helmet, was that there were two large holes and as paddlers , the group had to cicane through the turmoil one by one.... All passed with flying colours.

Once that was completed, it was now time for yet another step up. We found that we were on a river with big water.....and bigger than Craig had initially thought. The next rapid was "Three Ways". This can be a very dangerous rapid and has been fatal in recent years. The dangerous part being the imposing rock in the midst of the rapid. It is undercut....and to the left of the rock, there are a few sieves which are fatally dangerous to paddlers.

Jeremy, Deb, Craig, Adro, Sandy and Gus were the ones to try this rapid with successful outcomes.

The other crew were just happy to portage around. It was at this point I had realised I was dead tired from carting my boat everywhere in the Shadow of the Mountain.

The Waterfall Rapid. At this level, it was considered dangerous. The crew had spent at least half an hour discussing options. I had landed on a separate rock island to the main crew, and looking around, I realised in horror that we had to run this rapid. there was no portage around.

What made the Waterfall dangerous was that there was a massive hole that would hold you for days if you were caught in there. So we didn't want to go there !!!! Option 1 was the Chicken Shute which seemed viable to the crew, and Jeremy successfully ran it, then Deb also . However, the crew chose option 2... the Chicken Drop . The Chicken Drop, even though is not seen here clearly was the best option for us novice paddlers.

I was worried in regards to reading this rapid (the Chicken Shute) as I was thinking about the recirculation of River right of the big catch rock at the bottom. That is if you were swimming this. However, I was to be proved wrong shortly.

The Chicken Drop was about 2 metres of a hard rock slide of which Tarzan and I had done successfully. Unfortunately, Laggy had made the decision to run it then changed his mind and went down the Shute....indecision kills... From this point I am unsure of what the rest of the crew had done, as I was paddling hard to river left to get to the portage area for the next rapid to aid the guys with Laggys Boat. The next rapid was the Rollercoaster of which the guns ran successfully . Everyone else portaged.

The Rollercoaster....a Grade 4 living hell that you must hit right at the sweet spot. Apparently it is a quick ride down....if you hit it at top speed. River right is the direction and all you have to do is keep your balance....apparently !

Next was a smaller decent Grade 2 of which was to prove my downfall. My downfall was brought about by broadsiding some large standing waves at the bottom of this. I then got separated from my boat of which Craig and Adro chased. The boys had chased my boat until it got hung up on a tree branch on River right just at the gates of the next Grade 2. From there, my boat, with a little bit of adjustment from Adro, then promptly travelled the rest of the river without me. From here my river tales differ from the crew. My experience of the last three rapids were of climbing over Cyclone Yasi trees, dodging Wait-A-While, and uttering very loud technical terms.

I did however get to have a decent view of the bend in the river for which I could see the crew's antics.

The Standing Wave Rapid is a rapid which has a couple of breaking waves in which could unseat the unwary paddler. At this level, it would be one hell of a pushing wave. From my perch high atop the ridge, I had seen Laggy and Adro both go for a swim....whilst the young gun Gonz, successfully negotiated his way through.

Gonz then paddled his way through some splashes onto the last main rapid of the day.

This is where Gonz had his fall from Glory. His brace was not quite correct and thus he went swimming all the way to the get out at Golden Hole.

Jeremy ended up passing his paddle to soapslick hands Adro. As Adro had then lost his third paddle of the day from his grasp. Adro must have been tired as he also went swimming at the last rapid....I would say he would have been tired from the full day out as I can attest to.

At long last we reached the placid water of Golden Hole. However, we did not stay in those depths for long....due to prehistoric lizard sightings made a while back. But it seemed to be a fruitful day and in the aftermath of the journey, everyone from the work team did own up to be very weary over the next few days.

Thanks for the day go to Craig, Deb, and Jeremy for not only their humorous remarks on our paddling styles, but their ever consistent lookout for our safety.

Remember : if you are paddling in the fabulous waterways or our great country, please do not leave any more than a ripple in the water and a footprint in the sand, and take nothing away but photographs and memories of your wonderful adventure

Blue Skies everyone

Flounder

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