Two years ago, Tom and I got married on the Etive over Easter, and we’ve made it our tradition to have an adventure week every year to celebrate. This time, the Macken family invited us to join PaddlePlus for their club trip to Scotland. We’ve known Dean for years and his daughter Sophie is a Palm Grom so we’ve spent a lot of time together because of this.
Outside of University kayaking, my experiences of paddling with a club is limited. The trip turned out to be a very different kind of adventure to our usual ones. One that involved a much bigger group and therefore more faff, but also one that was full of warmth and laughter. Here’s the story of our week in the Highlands!
Friday – Travel & The Awe
We left at 5:30am, racing the Good Friday traffic, and rolled into the Highlands in classic Scottish weather: sideways rain. PaddlePlus were already waiting at the Awe, so we jumped into kit and got paddling. I’d never paddled the Awe before and found it to be a gentle grade 2 with pretty views and just enough water to make it fun. It was a good warm up river.
After dinner in Fort William, we settled into The Little Houses in Roybridge, a cosy woodland base complete with daily deer and red squirrel sightings. The highlight? A roaming gang of chickens that Sophie was absolutely terrified of, which made every walk between houses unintentionally hilarious.
Saturday – The Garry
Our first full day brought a Garry release and minimal faff – a miracle with 17 paddlers. The teenagers ditched their parents to ride with us, meaning we were always first to the river.
The Garry was its usual joyful grade 3: busy enough to push people, friendly enough for everyone to try things. Tom and I dropped ahead to grab photos, direct people down lines and be ready to rescue. Anton was the group’s main leader but we tried hard to support where we could.
We met a couple of University groups on the river – Edinburgh and Southampton. My very first visit to Scotland had been at University with Nottingham so it was nice to see the students having alongside our group.
Instead of getting out at the bridge, PaddlePlus encouraged us to continue to the lower section – which is something I have not done before. It was a great call, with a couple more fun rapids.
We got out mid afternoon and called it a day. It was pretty cold and the appeal of a coffee and slice of cake at a nearby cafe seemed to appeal more to everyone than more paddling!
Sunday – A Snowy Roy
Easter Sunday arrived with full blizzard conditions thanks to Storm Dave. I was grateful for my drysuit as we put on the Upper Roy in sideways snow. Both the Upper and Lower were lovely grade 2/3 sections – scenic, continuous, and made even prettier by the snow showers.
Soph had asked to learn some leading skills, so I coached her through supervised leading on the Lower section. She did brilliantly. Encouraged by mini eggs!
When we finished paddling – the get out was only a 5 minute walk from our accommodation so it was nice to get back for some hot showers and a chill evening indoors.
Monday – Spean & Lower Falls
Still cold, we opted for a gentler day on the Middle Spean. It’s mostly flat with two fun rapids – one at the start and one at the end. There were also some fun surf waves throughout the section. The final drop was a bit awkward to scout, but everyone was brave and gave it a go. We did have a couple of swims and one unfortunate paddle casualty but some super stylish lines as well.
In the afternoon we headed to the Nevis. The Lower Falls (also known as Polldubh) was just runnable. It is a great little drop as it is right by the road so easy to scout and paddle. You also get quite a few onlookers from the bride and who doesn’t love paddling in front of an audience. (Especially the ones that clap!)
Myself and Tom went first, followed by Sophie and Zach. Soph had been quite nervous at the top. Whilst having plenty of freestyle experience, her river running has been limited. The drop was well within her capabilities however and she smashed her line. I was very proud of her! Zach also did very well and was happy to join us for another lap of it.
Inspired by the youth of the club, Anton, Jamie and Ross followed suit. Soph said Anton was using a few choice words as he came down – obviously I won’t be repeating any of those on here so I will leave it to your imagination. I particularly enjoyed Anton’s line as he managed to get his kayak completely vertical during freefall which made a satisfying plop at the bottom!
A group of us then want on a walk to Steall Falls to finish the day. The highlight of this beautiful walk was Sophie hitching a piggy‑back across the river from Scott rather than using the wire bridge. Scott ended up slipping on the rocks, and the whole situation provided great entertainment. An American tourist even called him “Dad of the Year.”
The walk to Steall Falls was just as funny. Both Zach and George decided to drink from the Falls and ended up getting thoroughly doused in the water. I had to thank all 3 teenagers for providing such high quality entertainment on our little adventure.
Tuesday – Sunshine on the Etive
Triple step
After days of snow and cold, the Etive greeted us with sunshine and 17°C – the perfect day for an anniversary paddle! Triple Step was lively but friendly, with Southampton Uni providing high‑quality carnage entertainment.
There was one Southampton girl who lost her paddles in the first drop, fell over on the second and attempted at least 10 hand rolls before swimming. Her friend later messaged me and informed me that is why they are call her ‘Abi Big Balls’.
Our group got on and had a mix of lines and swims, but everyone gave it a go. For those who didn’t want to kayak, a new sport of cliff jumpers was taken up and gave everyone great joy!
Letter box
Letter box is always a funny one. The line is relatively simple (head left and boof) but I have seen people have an unpleasant time in this rapid – particularly when they have got stuck on the right side. We got out and scouted. Myself and Tom were confident with our lines but it is a drop that PaddlePlus normally portage and so we took some extra time to scout.
The teacher in me meant I always try to encourage people to work out the line for themselves. I spent a lot of time with Soph on this river (and Zach and anyone else who wanted to chat it through) talking through reading the river.
Tom, myself and the teenagers hopped down nicely and were followed by a few more of the group. One swim unfortunately resulted in a pinned boat which required some teamwork to unstick. Myself and Zach then chased this kayak down the next rapid before getting it into an eddy. Luckily our hero Miles appeared and kindly emptied it and carried it back up to it’s owner. A well timed hero!
Crack of doom
Crack of Doom went smoothly for most, though I managed to plug the second drop spectacularly. Luckily the huge rocker on the ReactR helped me to save this one!
crack of dawn
The second crack is normally a portage at lower levels which is what we were expecting. However when we reached the eddy – me and Tom both looked at each other and said ‘it’s risen!’. The river had gone up since we had got on and strangely it actually looked smoother to run the rapid than to portage it today! So run it we did!
Tom went first and I followed, choosing to get it at a slightly lower eddy. Tom then got out in a small eddy at the bottom to take photos and I had the joy of watching as he swam in that eddy getting out of his boat. He was fine and I eventually stopped laughing by the time the last paddler came down.
the slide
It wasn’t a smooth rapid. Tom went first and I went last. I hit a rock halfway down, span 180, back boofed off a ledge and somehow styled the rest of the rapid backwards.
A couple of the others had also found this rock leading to a couple of swims / rolls and some bruises. Once everyone was back in their kayaks and recovered – we headed down for the final drop.
right angle
Right Angle was higher than I was expecting and so I decided to portage – the dead sheep in the bottom eddy sealing the deal.
Tom is a much better kayaker than me and decided to go for it. In this time, with the help of the cliff jumpers who had met us there, I lowered my boat down and got on the water. Myself and Tom are used to doing safety for each other and were both happy for him to do the drop in this way.
The eddy was pretty boily (a few of our group flipped and had to roll when getting on the water) and so I held onto the wall whilst I waited. I didn’t see Tom’s entry line but I heard the group collectively gasp as Tom appeared coming down backwards.
He saved it as the bottom – only just. His entry line had involved an impromptu tailee of his ReactR on the lead in rapid, leading to a tailee of his kayak, saving it just enough to bring it down but be backwards as he went down the drop. I was frankly, quite impressed he saved it!
A gentle paddle out with a stunning view was a great way to end the day.
We went to the Clachaig Inn in Glen Coe for dinner (which is also where we had had our wedding meal) which was just lovely. Everyone was elated after their paddle today and it was so nice to hear people buzzing from so many wins.
Wednesday – The Arkaig
After a physically full on day on the Etive, we all wanted a slower day. The Arkaig is short but pretty, with one punchy grade 3 drop that’s easy to lap. Southampton Uni appeared again, giving me the chance to congratulate “Abi Big Balls” on her legendary Triple Step hand‑roll attempts.
The river starts in a loch and immediately you have to get out to scout the weir / rapid. Most of us walked the weir (I hate weirs), then enjoyed the main rapid. A few swims but lots of smiles.
At the end of the river, there is a bridge which PaddlePlus tell me that they always jump off. Standing on the bridge, I was far more terrified than on any rapid the day before, but with Mini Macken’s encouragement I eventually leapt – screaming the whole way down.
In the afternoon, me and Tom took Zach and Sophie for a walk up the Spean to scout some rapids. It was good fun to pick imaginary lines and as a bonus we got to see lots of frogs too.
It was a dry evening, so Anton had suggested it would be a good night for the BBQ and fire pits. It was a lovely atmosphere although I was a little concerned by the start of a game that Anton fondly called ‘Fire Hats’. The clue is in the name for this one!
Thursday – Nevis
Our final day brought with it some cold rainy weather and also saying goodbye to Zach and Ross who had to go home a day early. With the return of the rain, levels were up and so we headed to the Nevis. As we drove up the road to Lower Falls – it was clear that the river was runnable!
We arrived and the Falls had much more water flowing down that earlier in the week. Myself, Tom and Sophie paddled off and it felt much softer than before. With some persuasion, Seiko also ran the drop. Somehow, she managed to spin whilst coming off and did the most perfect freewheel – it was quite impressive!
The rest of the group got on and we headed down the river – enjoying the scenary!
Further down, a small group of 5 scouted the final rapid. Tom and I disagreed on the best line; he made his look awful, and I made mine worse. I was so cold by this point I was struggling to get my deck back on after we scouted the drop. I wobbled after the first drop, capsized, hit rocks, failed a roll, and swam on the second drop. It was FREEZING!
It was completely flat after the second drop, so I pushed my kayak and paddle into the eddy, emptied by kayak and then paddled back across. Slightly in shock from both the cold and the fact I had just swam!
It was an easy rescue and not a bad swim at all, but a good reminder that tired, freezing paddlers don’t make great decisions. After watching me and Tom be beaters, the others sensibly chose not to run it.
Back at the accommodation, we ended the evening warm, fed, and sharing Tom’s photos from the week whilst comparing our favourite moments of the trip,
Final reflections & thanks
Paddling with a big club was new for me, and I’m so grateful to PaddlePlus, especially Dean, for welcoming us so warmly. The week had more faff than our usual trips, but it was also full of kindness, good humour and people supporting each other on and off the water.
I especially loved spending time with Soph (Mini Macken) and watching her confidence grow on the river. It was brilliant to share rivers old and new with such a nice bunch of people.
I hope this inspires someone else to plan their own Scottish adventure. Happy paddling!
