Big Tay ...Little Braan

Today, Dan and I got things started on The River Tay.  With all the recent rain, the Tay has really surged.  At full strength, it is quite the treat to have in your backyard.  We suited up  in the comfort of the warm dry house and strolled down the hill to the riverside.  With the high water, the run wouldn't take long.  We only had about an hour until the Macdonald Boys were done with school.  We had plans to get an after school run in with them before sundown.  With my trip coming to a close we were running out of time to get a run in with the whole gang.  

     

There was a mile or two of flat water to slog through, but eventually we managed to find some really nice waves to surf.  I didn't have time to take too many shots, but this one wave was too sweet to pass up.  Besides, you had to catch it on the fly, so it gave me ample opportunity to be out of my boat... might as well fire off a few shots.  

Dan droppin in for a creek boat throw down session

Such a nice wave hole...to bad it had no eddy service

Dan and I hurried back to the house to prepare for a second session with the boys.  I have been trying to get on the water with Steve and his two oldest sons, Struan and Ben for awhile now.  Dan and I waited in his car while Steve collected the boys from school.  We got a few looks from the boy's classmates as they all streamed by on there way to go watch TV or do some other indoor activity.  I'm sure they thought we were crazy, but I bet some of them were pretty envious.  I know some of my best memories as a kid were leaving school early to go on paddling trips.  It didn't happen often, but it was really great when it did!  

Anyway, eventually we made it to the upper Braan.  You can find it all on the Braan.  The section we did was a really fun bit of continuous class III with a nice warm up.  The scenery was wide open and expansive. Broad meadows and dramatic hills were all around us.  The river was at a perfect level, and we were all smiles.  You could seance  the excitement we shared to paddle near one another.  

Steve finding the line

Steve's eldest, Struan

Followed by Ben digging hard 

Dan went for the boof line with much success

We took out just before dark, and the next batch of heavy rain.  We didn't even bother getting dry clothes on.  We just made the 30 minute drive back to the house and loaded boats for the Perth Paddle Show tomorrow.  More about that later...