Just returned from a weeks boating trip to north western Greece over the Easter break. Despite the weather being uncharacteristically cold (apparently making national news in the country) the water levels remained good, and the sun came out just enough to make the decision of taking shorts instead of a drysuit the right one.
Dropping in on the Aoos river
Sun in the Mileapotamos Black Canyon
On the first paddling day, after an easy warm-up river, Nikos (our driver and also a kayaker) recommended that the group tried out a trib. We quickly looked it up in the guidebook and soon discovered that it said that it was 4-5hrs of grade 4(5) – and by the time we got to the put-in there would be only 3 hours of light left of the day. Having sold this trip to our better halves as a relaxed boating holiday where they could have fun in the sun on grade 3(4), the ladies were obviously somewhat sceptical about this emerging plan. Nikos was adamant that the 4-5hrs of grade 4(5) in reality was 2-3 hrs of grade 3(4), and suitable for everyone. The girls weren’t convinced, so the boys set off to hammer down before dark to check Nikos’ claims – with a view to paddling it at a more relaxed pace the next day. Fortunately, we managed to reach the takeout in just under 2 hrs with no dramas and learned lesson #1 – don’t trust the guidebook.
Quick scout on the Mileapotamos
Amie testing out the new Burn on the Mileapotamos
The remainder of the trip followed a similar fashion, Nikos suggesting rivers – us generally ignoring the guidebook and going with his suggestions. I class myself as a pretty well travelled kayaker, and have to say that Greece ranks near to – if not at – the top of my list in terms of stunning river scenery. Pretty much every river we paddled contained at least one beautiful deep and narrow box canyon, and the number of natural springs feeding the river with crystal clear drinkable water was impressive.
Yet another stunning canyon – The Arachtos Great Gorge
Springs of Voidomatis: Above here was a dry riverbed
Since the plan for the trip was to concentrate on less gnarly rivers of the region, I opted to take a river play boat rather than a creeker. Way back in the day I used to have an Inazone 230 (best boat in the world) which I used on everything. I wrote-off this fine steed years back, but recently found another on e-bay for a bargin price, so decided to go old-school and take this with me for the trip. I can highly recommend getting out of the creekboat once in a while and (re-)learning the art of the rock-splat and tail-squirt. Ear-to-ear smiles all day!
Playing the eddylines in the Inazone – Great Arachtos Gorge
Teaching the old boat to fly – Aoos river
The paddling highlight of the trip was undoubtedly an upper section of the Aoos river – 27 or so kilometers of “guidebook” grade 4(5). This time though, the predicted 5hrs that Nikos mooted was a little short, and the difficulty of the whitewater was much more in-line with the guidebooks claims than we had expected. After 9 hours on the river, and the girls paddling some of the hardest (and remotest) whitewater of their boating careers, we made it to the takeout with less than an hour of daylight to spare.
First canyon in the Aoos river
Takeout bridge on the Aoos – to say that reaching this bridge was a relief would be an understatement!
A few more pictures to give a flavour of the trip:
The long (but beautiful) walk down to the Voidomatis Springs
Typical bridge on the Venetikos river
Wild camping was very easy – usually just at the put in to the river!
Additional pics by Phil Higgins, Rhiannon Walker and Martin Linford