Mellte and Usk one Sunday

Recently it seems that I have not been able to make the most of the rain that the UK has been seeing (and crying about), however this Sunday I ran the Mellte and Usk with a group of Cardiff Uni guys. It transpires that I didn’t take a single photo or anything the whole day, but in order to give you, the reader, a more immersive experience, I have sketched some of the happenings for you to see what happened.

Due to the fact that we were running two rivers, the decision was made to make a move in the early hours. So the Saturday night I set my alarm for 06:30 and got myself to bed at a reasonable hour. I was pleasantly surprized that I didn’t mind the alarm going off, and Max picked me up before grabbing Lucie and making our way. However we had been far too prepared and efficient, as when we arrived at the Mellte get on we found out that the Goode and her duo of manly men were running late because of a mouse. It seemed a small rodent had managed to paralyse their movements, having taken up residence at Helena’s house.

Back at Helena's

They did eventually arrive, and we went to the 15ft drop that begins the Mellte. With Rowan and Lucie never having done the river before, I imagine that nerves were high. It probably didn’t help when I aided Lucie into the water, but actually just pushed her over so that she had to re-right herself. However she managed to nail the drop, as did the rest of the group, and we paddled down to the double drop.

Will paddled it first, and apparently nailed the line. This preceded me, who didn’t. As I was paddling to the lip, I saw my line and got a super smug feeling that this was gonna be a sweet display. However, messing up my first stroke, this feeling or self-praise turned into horror and my survival instinct or erratic paddle strokes as I closed my eyes set in. Luckily it went fine, and the rest of the group followed with Max also making the drop look simple.

The two runs

From here the river is a fairly continuous stream of rapids, and everyone was running the well. Lucie took a couple of underwater moments, however held her own and came up each time. We got down to the weir, which is about 8ft, and ran it in turn. Rowan blooming nailed it, you could see by his face that he was fairly chuffed, and deservedly so.

Rowan's happy little face

We swiftly finished the river, and it was well worth the trip. Now it was to get to the Usk to jump on for a pleasant afternoon paddle. Lucie bailed and slept in the car during this river, but it was a good laugh and a high level to make it swift. Not much else to say on that point.

All in all the day was a good laugh, a really good group to paddle with and satisfied my need of another paddle.

Hope the photos provided a vivid view of the day, till next time…