Mike's brainchild, the first
descent of Liza Beck had been in the planning for the past 5 weeks. Mike had
been up and down Gasgale Gill scouting the beck, moving rocks and spotting the
best lines down the rocky riverbed. All we needed was water.
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| Mike and Tom |
On the day Mike was determined to
paddle the beck, the amount of water just wasn't enough for me but for Mike who
was intent on his quest to paddle the “previously un-paddled” it was a great
confidence building experience. For me, although I hardly paddled and lugged my
boat all the way up the Beck to then not paddle down, it was still a great
adventure. We were also joined as ever by Tom who is the most experienced
boater of the group and his knowledge of whitewater safety and rescue was used
to safely anticipate the most daring section of the descent, Double Drop. A set
of two reasonable sized drops in a narrow channel with interesting landings.
To get ourselves and our kayaks to the top of the beck we used rucksack like
straps attached to our kayaks, constructed by Mike. These proved great for Mike
and Tom however mine needed some further development to be made more comfy for
long steep hauls, so I had to shoulder my boat and endure the strain. Whilst
moving up the gill we inspected interesting features whilst having breaks from
carrying the boats a few times. After we reached the starting point, distinguishable
by the flow of water uphill of us dispersing into smaller and smaller
tributaries like branches of a tree, Mike and Tom adjusted their boats and
packed away their carry straps whilst I readied my cameras.
We were off very slowly and
bumping rather then paddling down the Beck. This wasn't what I was expecting.
After enduring five minutes of hearing the rocks of the riverbed gouge new
scrapes into the hull of my boat I opted from then on to get out and just film
and be safety officer. So again I shouldered by boat and hastily skipped back
down the path we had just come up, to a position below Mike and Tom to film
them bouncing down. The Beck surprisingly, has a number of good features that
if there was more water would be fantastic. The most noticeable Mike has come
up with names for, like the most memorable one Double Drop. As Mike continued
to bump down the Beck I continued to do my best to carry my stuff and film his
efforts. After arriving back at the most paddle-able point at the foot of Gasgale
Gill the sun came out and beamed down as if to praise Mike for his effort.
I think more water is a key
factor if this descent is to be achieved by us or anyone else wanting a
challenge. But, Mike has achieved what he set out to do, complete the first
descent of the Liza proving it can be done. When we had packed away our stuff
back into Tom's van I presented Mike and Tom with my first pieces of Whitewater
Aptitude apparel. T-shirts I had printed with my logo on. Tomorrow I'm off down
to Mike and Tom's house to go paddling again and show them the footage I took
on the day and hopefully help Mike piece together a short video to Mike's specifications.
Below is also a snapshot of me taken from a video, captured from my GoPro mounted on my rear kayak mount whilst I was carrying the kayak. I rotated the
image and made it black and white for dramatic effect.
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