Curt - Some Rapid on the Perth
Photo: Rachel Curtis
I have heard and read a lot about the Perth River, and now I have finally had a chance to experience the raw beauty and power of the Perth for myself. No where have I been where the evidence of the tremendous forces that shaped a landscape were more obvious than making a trip down the Perth River.The boats arriving
We had our overnight gear dropped off at the Scone Hut, while the 7 of us and our boats were dropped off about 2kms up the Upper Perth from the hut. Here the Perth is steep, tight and technical creek boating. Most all of the drops require scouting for a clean line and the ever present sieves and other nasty spots. We had a great flow for this upper section. Rachel and I scouted upstream while waiting for the next loads of people and gear to arrive. The evidence of the glacial activity that shaped the riverbed is everywhere. Huge granite boulders stacked precariously upon one another make up the majority of the streambed and river banks. The evidence of recent high-water events was also very obvious in the debris deposited amongst the boulders.
Dany - 1st drop on Upper Perth
Ken - Upper Perth
Rachel - Upper Perth
The action starts right away chasing the ever disappear horizon-line. We broke into a group of 3 and a group of 4 to make things easier, but we were quickly jumbled again as the drops required good scouting by all. We had a nice afternoon making our way down to the hut and enjoying a relaxed pace knowing all we had to do was get downstream to our gear, make some food, drink some wine, relax and repeat.Charles - Scone Creek
The upper section went well and we had great flows. The Wharoaha gauge was reading about 110 cumecs, (using the guidebook correlation puts the Perth at about 44 cumecs - which might have changed from recent floods - b/c there was plenty of water in the section above the Hut and from the Hut down was pretty juicy the next day!) There was even enough water to run Scone Creek. I scouted the drops and wasn't seeing the lines or feeling the motivation to get back in and out of the boat to scout every drop. This section is good though and the drops are bigger and steeper than the upper section of the Perth.
The evening in the hut was enjoyable. We had a good mixed bag of folks - Me, Ken from CO and Charles from NC, two Germans, a Canadian and Rachel- the only kiwi in the crew. Michell- one of zee Germans provided endless knowledge on chocolate and chocolate producing companies, and just about anything else really. We ate hunks of cheese and drank wine from our dinner bowls and followed our noses trying to find hot pools but only discovering a few warm springs.
The hut life - drinking box wine from bowls
Put-in Day Two
Ken gettin' the goods
Photo: Rachel Curtis
Dany - Knuckle Grinder
The Perth is real kayaking. Most of the paddling I have done in the last year was spectacular, but was generally on something familiar to me or someone in the crew. Going out on the Perth with only a small amount of prior knowledge was a real adventure. The very soul of kayaking. Immersing oneself in an environment so remote and demanding - yet equipped with the tools necessary to come out the other end. We didn't see anyone else the second day, no hikers, paddlers, fisherman, or helicopters.
Scouting...
Curt Boofing...
Photo: Dany
Looking back at the final gorge...
2 comments:
Happy Birthday!!!
Nana and Papa wanted me to get in touch with you and tell you happy birthday. They wanted me to sing too if I could. Well I can’t sing (not exactly what she meant). But here goes. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Curt, happy birthday to you.
From looking at the pictures it looks like you are having a GREAT time. The pictures are awesome. Don’t think I’ll be coming for the kayaking lesson though; I still need to work on my canoeing skills.
Happy Birthday!!!
We all love you,
Nana and Papa
Aunt Pam and Uncle Guy
That is not my email address. I think it must be one of my grandkids but I don't know how to change it.
Happy Birthday!!
Love ya,
Aunt Pam
guyandpamsmith@hotmail.com
Post a Comment