River Roe - 12 March 2011

Today I had planned to go surfing.

Then unfortunately it rained last night, so instead I wanted some proper paddling and went to the Roe with some of the guys from LCP.

On the drive up, we started to pass lots of snow on the ground around the Glenshane pass. At the get in, the beach was half covered which meant it was going to be a nice average level. This didn't account for the snow that was melting. The river level rose quite a bit while we were on which made for a very fun trip.

We didn't actually spend too much time playing at any of the weirs, there was too much exciting stuff around the corner.

Halfway down the river we came to the Dogs Leap. After having a quick look, most of us decided to run it. This is normally a tricky run in through a narrow constriction, but the high water levels removed this hazard, but still left a big and bouncy run through.

From this point down things just got better. Most of the river from this point is all natural, with big water and boulders providing lots of fun.

The last man-made weir was different to any other time I had paddled it. Two big holes were protecting the only lines of interest, which just meant it would be more challenging.

I decided on the most difficult line, which was tricky in the Spanish Fly due to my lack of speed and inability to correct the 2 paddle strokes I had time for through it. This just mde it even more fun.

A good clean run down one of my favourite rivers in the north. I really need to paddle this more often.