November 2006 - Canoeist Magazine

to dry out and we were able to brush off the goat muck which was on
everything. Soon after leavening the hut we found ourselves climbing
a rock face to avoid the swollen Mgoun River. Our main challenge
that day was to cross over another 3,000m pass. Once over this we
would be heading down into a popular trekking valley and home to
the trekking guide’s training school where Omar had trained. We
walked 22km that day. Omar told me that this 6 day trek was for ‘fit
men, not boys’ and could not understand why we were doing such a
hard trek with such a young group. I think he was more use to groups
doing easygoing, holiday trekking, not a group wanting a challenge.
After a good night’s sleep, day 4 started with blue skies which
accentuated the snow capped mountains. Morale was high. The day
was going to be easy along a dirt track road. The day is best summed
up from Stuart Fairbairn’s entry in the group diary:
‘Woke up at 6.30am by Sam kicking us. Had breakfast, then went
walking. Lovely hot weather and nice easy road to walk on. At the top of
Tizi-n-Tsalli-Imenain had a snowball fight. We walked for 14.12km before
we stopped for lunch.”
The weather was becoming much kinder to us, clear blue skies and
a pleasant 32 degrees. By mid morning we reached a viewpoint where
we could see La Cathédrale Rock in the far distance. This was to be
the end point of the trekking and the start of the paddling. This put an
extra spring in the step of the group as they were looking forward to
paddling. However, it was still 3 days away.
By day 5 the trekking was becoming easier. We were loosing height
all the time as we headed down to the river. However, most team
members were now visually tired. Blisters started to give some people
problems. This was, again, another long day of 5 1/ 2 hours, covering
20 1/ 2km. Our campsite for that night was just outside a small village.
Numerous children appeared and joined in a game of Frisbee. Sam,
Jack and Matt decided to take them on at football. It wasn’t long
before the older teenagers from the
village joined in and our boys had quite a
battle on their hands! Not sure who won.
Stick to the Frisbee next time, boys!
Our last day of trekking was only
15 1/ 2km. To most this was not a day too
soon. It had been quite a physical
challenge during the last 6 days, much of
which was at 8,500 ft. La Cathédrale
Rock once again came into view but this
time it was much bigger. By lunch time
we had reached the Hidden River and
the end of the first part of the expedition.
We had just walked 114km from the
Sahara Desert and crossed the highest
part of the Atlas Mountains. Now we
were about to paddle down a white
water river for a further 5 days.
Omar, our trekking guide, had done a
fantastic job of helping get the team
safely through the mountains. The
wellbeing of the group had been his main
priority. He was very impressed with
what we had achieved with such a young
group. He had kept the group motivated
with his wit and dry sense of humour.
We said our farewells to our muleteers
and Omar.
20
The group by an old casbah.
CANOEIST November 2006
Later that afternoon a large white Transit van with trailer pulled up
and out jumped four big, mean, tough looking river guides who
introduced themselves as Blue, Olli, Clive and Dougie from Waterby-Nature.
Our next adventure had just begun...
A bombproof roll required
Spaghetti bolognaise was on the menu that night. The Explorers
where happy, food they recognized! Clive, the river team leader,
briefed the group about camp hygiene and etiquette. Our trip was
going to take us into a remote area where road access was at least 5
hours way. The only contact with the outside world would be by
satellite phone so falling ill because of poor hygiene could affect the
whole trip as well as being very unpleasant for the individual as the
only runs they would want would be down the rapids.
Day 7 was our 9th day of continuous travel since leaving Ripon, a
challenge in itself. The team were about to be physically and mentally
stretched and their kayak skills tested beyond anything they have ever
experienced before. Due to the exceptionally high winter snowfalls
(highest in 40 years) the river was at least a metre higher than it should
have been. This caused concern among our river guides. Clive had
seen the team paddle at the Tees Barrage earlier in the year and had an
idea of their ability. Normal river levels would not have been a
problem. However, with a more powerful river the remoteness of this
expedition made the consequences of a swim or an injury more
serious. A bombproof roll was important, which some of the team
were still trying to master on moving water! Although there were
options to portage the grade 4 sections, much of the river was grade 3.
Having multiple capsizes and swimmers would test the guides’
leadership and kayak skills to the full. After the first day there was still
access to a dirt track road (about 3km from the first night’s camp). This
would be the last opportunity to make other arrangements if paddling
skill were not up to the river ahead.
The morning was very busy, boats fitted out, kit issued and safety
briefs. All kit was double checked in anticipation of any swims ahead!
Also, the 1 1/ 2 ton kit raft (which Dougie was paddling) had to be
loaded and launched. While all this was happening, Jono, our video
photographer, recorded events.
Pinball rafting
By 11am we were on the water. Clive organized us into three
groups so the better paddlers would form one group and would wait at
various places to help provide safety cover for the others. The swiftness
of the water took most by surprise. It was not long before Sam took
the title as first swimmer. After about an hour of paddling we were at
our first serious rapid with large undercut banks. Everyone portaged
this because being washed into the undercut could have been fatal.
Even the raft had to be helped past, using ropes. At lunch stop Big
Stuart said his big toe hurt. This turned out to be an ingrowing toe
nail. It hadn’t troubled him during the 114km trek; however, after one
Running the first gorge.