Well I’m behind again.
It’s getting to that time of the holiday where I’m having loads of fun
but then energy levels don’t hold into the evening so I’m crashing out. On
Saturday we drove from Zaga, Slovenia to Tobadil, Austria. It was a full day driving so although not an ‘active’
day it was still somewhat tiring. It
took a little longer than planned so Keith, chucky and I stopped to get shopping
on the way while Rob, Matt and Brian drove on to make sure they got to the
house at the time agreed. We were conscious
that the shops are only open for a short time, if at all on Sunday so we needed
to shop for two nights dinner. It all
worked out well, and the house at Tobadil is amazing. Rob has once again worked his magic on the
bookings, and for a very reasonable price we have the most amazing accommodation. The view of the valley and the mountains is
amazing, the rooms are ample, and we have a garden to use too! It’s not long before we all crash out, after
we make paddle plans of course!
As a lot of the rivers in Austria seem to be high already,
with more hot weather due to be adding some snow melt to that, we aren’t sure
there will be much paddling to be done at all.
There’s been a glimmer of hope as a few rivers seem to have dropped just
as we’ve arrived, so Sunday is a scout with a view to paddle day. We head up to look at the Trisanna, but from
what we can see there is virtually no eddies, and no clear get in or off. We find some reports that after serve
flooding the riverbanks had works done on them, which has basically removed the
eddies, and in some reports had left some debris, including metal in the river. Although these are old reports, we can’t find
anything recent or clear about the river, and we can’t find any get in/offs any
way so it’s a no go. The next option is
the Rosanna. So, we trundle over to the
next valley and have a look there. We
spy a possible get out where there’s a group doing some safety rescue training
and consider two get in options further up.
The first get in at St Anton doesn’t seem particularly clear, the get in
a St Jacob is more obvious and it misses out the need to portage an impassable weir
and cuts out the stouter section. For me
this is ideal, the bit I can see from St Jacob looks testing enough; thank you
very much! The group decides to go from
St Jacob down today, it’s not a long drive from the house so there’s a good
chance we’ll be here again anyway.
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| Trisana where we should have a get out... |
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| Rosana get on |
We make the shuttle trying to see what we can of the river
from the road. There looks to be some
flat sections at least so I can keep in mind it does get easier. At the get out we look for eddy options. There’s one.
It’s a good one but only big enough for three boats. We know then that we need to be split in to
two groups before the end. We also see
some other kayakers come down and get off the river. They are from Kayak schul Arlberg. The guide/instructor has a little chat with
us when we ask him about the river, and he says it’s a nice run from St Jacob. If we are to run the bit above that we should
make sure we portage the weir because from the bank it looks runnable but there’s
metal work in there so just don’t do it. We aren’t there today so I don’t need to run
it, or remember where the weir is.
By the time we get back I’m not moving through mud, but I’m
not exactly sprinting to get on. I’m self-coaching,
talking myself through this bit at a time in my head, keeping myself breathing
and trying to remember everything I learnt from those days working the
Soca. As there aren’t any big eddies, we
are all getting on in slightly different spots.
As I’m getting ready chucky and Rob drop past Me and Keith to some tight
eddies by us and when we’re ready we set off.
Chucky and Rob leading, then me, and Keith, Matt and Brian behind. It’s a fast flow and no stopping, all
stations go, choo choo!!!!! I’m making
it work, left here, right there, straight on, oops, back on track, watching
Chucky and rob to see where they go, then choosing if I want to follow, or take
a different line, I’m using the slow water behind rocks to slow myself down
(not quite eddies, but slow water after small stoppers), giving myself space to
see what the leaders do and then react.
I’m doing it… It’s bloody hard but I’m doing it. And then…. I’m making a move across river to
dodge the next rock, and I end up going on the edge of the stopper side on...
SH*T… *should I roll…. Hmmm… can’t remember where that next rock is….* Deck
pulled I’m out.
It feels quite slow now I’m in the water, I’ve popped up and
looked around. As there’s no big eddies
I don’t know where to go, I look to Keith who is just behind me and shout ‘which
way do I go?’ He doesn’t know either, just pick a side and swim. Snap decision, I’m closer to the left I
think, so that’s where I go. I push past
a couple of rocks, drop through one stopper, swimming, swimming…. I’m almost at
the side and by then Matt has caught up and is in front of me, he’s there to
grab the boat if I need it but at this point, swim hard and keep going is what
I need to do. Brian then comes past me
too, quite close, but I’m not complaining, it’s always good to know someone is
there with you. Then I drop into a spot
of slower water below a tree branch, it’s not quite big enough to make an eddy
but it slows the water enough I can get to the riverbank and grab some
rocks. I stand up and catch my breath
and then climb up the bank. I let Brian
know I’m safe on a path and he carries on to the others….
It’s only now I can start to think more clearly. My fingertips are sore, probably from
grabbing at the rocks, but they don’t look scratched or damaged (My fingernails
are all intact and as they are fairly long at the moment that’s a good sign) so
hopefully it’s just the cold. I have to
hug my paddle to carry it for a minute or two though, until the sensation comes
back properly. As I’m walking I start to
notice that my one leg is a little sore, a bruise from the rocks as I scrambled
my feet under me in the river, or maybe as I came out of my boat? No other problems show themselves, until I notice
some sharp stones under my feet. Maybe
these flimsy beach shoes aren’t enough.
I’ll have to put my more substantial ones on tomorrow. Or has one got a hole in because it’s only
one foot that feels…. Ah, I’ve lost a shoe… hey ho, it’s only a shoe and not my
foot…. It’s not too far before I get to the others, they’ve managed to pin my
boat, and are currently mid rescue. But
it’s on the other side of the river.
I signal to everyone I’m ok, using the signal from the
canyoning which turns out is very useful.
Then I just stand there for a minute, watching as Keith and Chucky
rescue my boat…. It’s taking me while to work through all the training and
things I know, to figure out what I should do…. There was a road bridge we
passed under! Ok, so I get Chucky’s
attention before he starts to help Keith get his boat up the bank, he’d tied it
to a tree while he rescued mine, and I try to get across that I’m going up
river and over the bridge. He gives me a
thumbs up and off I go. I can only
really think about the task in hand but I do know already I’m done for today. I’m tired and I wasn’t in a good frame of mind
before we started, I’ll be worse now I’ve had a swim as they’ll be head games,
and the river doesn’t appear to be letting up just yet, also I can’t see
anywhere for me to get back on, the eddies the others are in, aren’t big enough
to hold a boat so they are holding on to rocks or trees to stay put!
I eventually make it over, honestly I could make this a blog
post in itself but I’ll try to condense it… Walks up path to road bridge, damn,
got to cross rail line…. Are rail lines electrified??? Don’t touch the lines,
don’t drip on the lines, over the barrier, look both ways, twice. Go, go, go!
Phew!... up a bank and… a main road…. Cross the road… *what on earth
must people be thinking* head down, clamber up steep bank to the road…. Cross the
bridge on side of big main road. Very, very steep bank down… walk
along road, try to find less steep bit…. There isn’t one…. Sitting on my deck,
using paddle for support and holding on to trees/rocks on the way, slide down
the bank, *thank trees for their help*…. Now a fence…. A wire fence…. Find way
along to fence post and climb fence… All the while thinking, *my dry suit socks
are wrecked now*…. Down the path, and I’m back with my boat…
Chucky asks if I’ve seen Keith on my way. He’s walked up the path to meet me but must’ve
gone under the road bridge as I went over it.
I quickly let chucky know I’m done paddling now, he thinks Keith will be
the same and he sends a message to Rob for the rest of the group to carry
on. I walk up the path to see if I can
find Keith. Ask I’m walking some cyclist
past I shout to them *Excuse me!* Can
you help? If you see a man ahead with
kayak gear on can you tell him I’m here and I’m ok? They’re Dutch of course so it isn’t quite so
straight forward. They check nothing serious has happened but once I’ve got the
message across, they carry on. Not long
after this Keith comes driving down the path.
I hope those cyclists realised that bloke driving down the footpath/cycle
path was the one I was on about! The
three of us get the wettest kit off (I have an extra set of dry clothes in Keith’s
car so apart from shoes I can get changed), load up boats and try to find a way
off the path, it’s too narrow to turn round here. A little “exploring” ensues before we eventually
turn round and go back to the get on, then via the road drive to meet the others
at the get off. We arrive just as they
are getting into the eddy to get out!
They say it was a fun river.
It did let up a bit eventually, but then there was a rapid at the end I
might not have liked anyway. We have
lunch and the guys having the rescue training ask us to take a picture of them,
Chucky does this for them but I get a picture too. We head in to Landeck for a walk around and
there’s only a few café’s and an ice cream shop open. We see the river gauge station, I’ve never
seen one before so that’s interesting, and we see where the Sanna meets the
Inns River. It’s quite nice to wander through
town when it’s mostly closed, it’s nice and quiet. We grab an ice cream before heading back to
the house. Now I’m really tired.  |
| Art in town - Landeck |
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| Pretty fountain by the ice cream shop |
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| Boys will be boys |
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| Where the Sana meets the Inns |
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| Info on the river guage hut |
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| The river guage station/hut |
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| Inside the river guage hut |
You know what annoys me most? My flimsy beach shoes were starting to look a bit beat up, they still had plenty of use in them but it's the bit of kit that actually looks like I might've been paddling for a while... And now I need to get new ones, and looking like a narly paddler who maybe knows what they are doing is going to take a bit longer.... I know it's daft, but I did feel very sad throwing one, perfectly good shoe, if a little rough round the edges, in to the bin....
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