It started initially through some whispers on email, then a public government press announcement. The news? The Snowy River would flow again. I spoke to many rivers people and the answer was the same - no matter what's down there - when they release the water we have to be on it. Rivers Canoe club has a long history with this river and the original footage of a 1949 decent can be seen on the 75th DVD. After a week of studying maps, calculating gradients, watching old archive RCC 1949 footage, and phoning local contact - it was on.
The rarity, and historic significance of this event cannot be downplayed as seen on the graph to the left – this was the first time this section would be paddleable since 1967! Years of lobbying by various groups including the Snowy River Alliance, finally convinced the governments to force a release.
We settled on a plan of action where we would paddle the most accessible section from Jindabyne Dam to Dalgety on Saturday, then take it from there. A small group assembled on Saturday morning - not knowing what to expect. One thing was for sure - there was water and lots of it. Would there be trees, sieves, or even rapids?
The river report follows but suffice to say it’s a brilliant section of whitewater with great rapids and stunning scenery. For those dedicated enough to take the gamble - it was well worth it, as 13 paddlers went down on Sunday while others scouted sections downstream for Monday. After the paddle Lynn was heard to say “ you don’t need to take me down rapids that big again”, while reports from Penrith are that that Glenn had a distant stare for the next week muttering to himself, “it was big...it was really big...”
Three paddlers managed to delay work for a day to paddle a further downstream section on Monday. Reports are that this was brilliant too but a lot harder, and more remote.
Thanks to Ali, Rob, Gary, Scott, Matt, Kevin, for helping the group get down the river safely and scouting new possibilities downstream.
One thing is for sure when they release again - we will be on it again!River: Snowy River
Section: Jindabyne Dam to Dalgety Campsite
Other pull out points are at the end of Werralong road and at the Snowy Wine and Micro-brewery
Level: 1.37 BOM gauge at Dalgety Weir ( 3080 MLD released from dam)
Grade: Big volume 3+/4 with a couple of grade 4 level rapids.
Distance: 25kms to Dalgety
Time: 6 hrs to Dalgety. ( 1hr to the gorge, 2-3 hours in the gorge and 2-3 hours to Dalgety)
Gradient: 10-15m/km in the gorge (see map).
This section has 3 distinct parts to it, 7km of grade 1-2 flowing water. A 4-5 km steep gorge, and then another 13km of flowing water. Although there is one significant rapid (3+ rapid )in the first hundred meters that is hard to scout and a poor line can result in a close encounter with a bank of dead black berries.
After about 7kms of flowing water with small rapids, a steeper gorge is reached. When you see the horizon drop off and series of rapids in front of you – the fun is about to start.
There are numerous big multi-stage rapids, the first of which is probably the most significant. Scouting/portaging on the left is recommended. Many good rapids follow, there are often many options to choose from and the risks of each have to be weighed up. One rapid seems unlikely at first as the water sieves through many dead willows and rocks. (Hopefully after a few ‘floods’ - these will be removed. The best line we found was left side of the right channel. More big, bouncy, fun rapids follow, inspection is definitely recommended although all the rapids were runnable.
Once out of the gorge the river flattens and winds its way through farmland and scenic boulder strewn countryside to Dalgety. There is a exit about 1-2km after the gorge at the low-water Werralong road Ford. The next exit is at the Snowy Vineyard and Microbrewery a further 5km down river.
This is a “almost-never” run section since the building of the Jindabyne dam in the 60’s – but with the now promised water releases there is good chance of it running again. The gorge could handle more than 3000MLD – less rocks to hit, but the holes would be something to watch out for and it would be a wild ride. It could likely be runnable at lower levels of 1000MLD but it would be a rocky creeking trip and there is a possibility of sieves at lower levels.
Exceptional willow and blackberry eradication work has been done in the river bed, and there is evidence of the many dead bushes and trees along the way, only a few remain – and these are mainly large trees below the gorge on farmers properties. In future releases beware that this debris may cause straining hazards.
The Jindy dam was kind to us and released water that wasn’t too cold (12C), we saw some platypus, and a blue tongue lizard along the way too. At this level perhaps the best big volume grade 3+/4 river in the state!
No comments:
Post a Comment