Wednesday 8 April 2015

River Earn - Compilation!!















The River Earn is probably my favourite river in Scotland. It flows from Lochearnhead, heads East passing through St. Fillans, Comrie, Crieff, Perth and eventually joins the River Tay and makes its way onwards to Dundee and into the sea off the East Coast of Scotland.
Unfortunately, it does not become a canoeable river due to lack of depth, ease of access etc until it almost reaches the village of Comrie.
It really does have something for everyone:-
  • A steady flow that can take the lazy canoeist most of the way with a medium amount of effort required!
  • A few instances of white water and broken weirs for those individuals who like to know they are in control of the boat- but nothing too serious that will cause even a beginner any problems as long as they stop before the well documented challenging spots and assess the route they should be taking.
  • A fantastic selection of locations which are ideal for Wild Camping.
  • Ease of access from open public footpaths at various places along the route.
  • Access to essential supplies such as beer, steak, chocolate etc at Comrie and Crieff.
  • An almost never ending supply of firewood for those of you who like your campfires to be seen from Space!!
  • The ability to be able to stand up in the river at almost all locations, just in case you do capsize!!
I really cannot sing the praises of this river enough whether you are a complete beginner or an experienced canoeist. 
My personal thoughts are that anyone who is thinking of ticking this River off their list should do it over 2 days, get on the water at somewhere near Drummond Fish Farm, which is over the Ross Bridge on the South side of the river just to the West of Comrie if you have 2 full days, or if you do not have 2 full days, go in at the rugby pitches in Crieff, aim to camp somewhere near Strathallan Airfield, where if you are lucky, you can sit and watch the Parachutists play chicken with the ground and for egress there are plenty of choices from Forteviot, Perth (Which will require a short drag of the canoe from river to road via a grassy field) or Bridge of Earn.

My fellow canoeist, Fraser, is normally my travelling companion on this River, occasionally accompanied by Colin, our own Cordon Bleu, outdoor, chef!!
We have been on this river many times and this post is a compilation of memories, photographs and narratives from all of them, so forgive the change in appearance of those in the photos and the jumbled narrative that will probably jump back and forth in time rather than being linear.

So, it is Saturday Morning and we have decided to do the Earn over 2 days. Here we are near Drummond Fish farm, just west of Comrie and as you can see, there is ease of access to the river which means you can unload your car right by the river and not have to worry about dragging a fully loaded kit over a field or 2 to get on the river.

Idiot check before we get on the water.. Food-check, tent-check, beer-check, brightly coloured Bermuda shorts which make the wearer (Fraser) a laughing stock- check!






The green Nova Craft canoe in the background is my trusty steed and if anyone is thinking of buying their first canoe, I can recommend the SP15 as being very easy to handle for a beginner, big enough to take all supplies you could want for a 3 day trip and giving a sense of safety in all types of water from lochs to white water weirs. Only downside is that it is a little bit on the heavy side if you need to carry it solo, but it is possible.

The keen eyed amongst you will spot that there are 3 boats in this picture, the 3rd being a "sit on" kayak that Colin had brought along for the purpose of giving Fraser and I something to laugh at as he learned how to

  1. Get on the thing and
  2. Control the thing.















So, now we are on our way and the after about a mile or so we approach the village of Comrie, which, as mentioned above, has a couple of shops handily placed for supplies, a couple of pubs and as can be seen here a nice landing spot to stretch the legs, open the first beer of the day ....



     and prepare for the first real bit of bouncy water!

This is the view looking back up the rapid. In reality, even though it looks pretty scary and there is a drop of about 5 feet, you are in it, bouncing and out of it in about a total of 20 seconds if all goes well, just accept that you will get wet, the boat will take on water and remember to go with the flow and aim for the nearest bank should you fall out! 
Have I fallen out? Lol, yeah, a few times and whilst it is not a pleasant experience, if you have the correct equipment- floatation jacket, crash helmet and a dry change of clothes it is soon forgotten.. along with any equipment that was not correctly loaded into the boat!

So, having made it through the bouncy stuff, we now have about 7 miles of relatively smooth water before we hit Crieff.. time for some fun with a ball that we had come across.

What you seeing Colin?


Ahhh I see, Dornoch Mill 5km East of Crieff.... looks fairly placid, but the drop is actually about 30 feet if viewed from the house at the bottom of the run!! Enter at the left hand side, head diagonally to the right, heading straight towards the house and sharp turn left at the bottom.. Simples!! 

So, we have been going for a wee while now, time to find one of those ideal stopping places that are littered all the way from Comrie to Perth. 

Perfect!! Soft grass, easy beaching, blue sky and sunshine, beer and Mars bars!!