Deepdale Gorge at Low Water
Thursday, 06 April 2006 16:33 | 
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DEEPDALE GORGE AT LOW WATER
Friday afternoon, the usual traffic out of
A short nights rest and we are awoken by Mike with the camera… This is going to be a long day. Not a cloud in sight and the humidity is rising. We climb into the back of a Hilux, which is occupied with all our kit already, and ‘settle’ down for the hour drive to the put in. With the temperature rising nicely the thought of carrying a heavily laden boat down to the water is not an appealing one. A brief look around reveals some willing porters. All of whom barely make it past my waist. They seem eager and for a few rand begin the walk down to
The porters with my boat and Carls in the backround.
Mike and 'newone' cruising through the bush.
The Falls are miserably low and obviously too dangerous to run at this level. The run is usually down the left side, although the right hand side has been run before. Like most big drops, run this one at your own risk. Several people have hurt themselves on this 15 meter waterfall.
Deepdale Gorge is different to other sections of the Umkomaas and indeed many of the other rivers in the area. The water channels nicely and is one of the few options that exist during low water times in the area. This 35 km stretch can be run in one day with good water but I would recommend that you take your time and enjoy the excellent scenery. The rapids start out fairly gentle with nice pools between the rapids for a little while. The first major rapid is called The Ledge and believe it or not, consists of a ledge. At low water no problem. At high water the suck back becomes more of an issue.
Me on the Ledge with our faithful entourage giving their support in the background.
Carl van Wyk emerging from the Ledge.
Mike Pennefather hiding.
The rapids begin to become longer and more continuous with smaller pools. Loads of fun. Short drop rapid is probably just before half way and at these low levels doesn’t pose any problems. At high water it becomes trickier because of the narrow width of this rapid which causes some big holes and pourovers.
On this trip we camped just above Short Drop.
The camp was a good one and we swam in the rapid alongside it. Armed only with board shorts, swimming probably wasn’t the wisest of ideas. The rock at the ‘swim in’ looked like nothing until I disappeared into the cleverly disguised undercut and with the aid of some smart handwork I made my way back to the surface and into the main flow of the current. After this little wake up I continued down only to become familiar with the phenomenon known as a ‘rock enema’. Much fun was to be had in the little pourover and Mike got some good footage.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
A good evening was had by all and Mike decided to put his excellent eating skills to the test.
Mike and Brett Pennefather enjoying a warm summer evening on the Umkomaas.
The following day we paddled Short Drop. Pretty simple with such low flows and we didn’t even know we had done it until we were through. So we had to hike up again and run it for the camera.
Adrian in Short Drop.
Carl also in Short Drop.
After Short Drop the river becomes steeper and more continuous. This section really is good and can be boat scouted all the way down in low water. I must add that at high water the river changes character and can be a little unfriendly to most. Be warned.
After a while Long Drop is encountered. Long Drop is longer than Short Drop (surprise, surprise) and it too has holes and pourovers that would love to get to know you. Long Drop should be obvious to spot with it’s house size rocks and limited horizon line. At low levels it is fairly straight forward to run. But scout first. A big siphon is evident on river left but this shouldn’t be any need for concern. Run the rapid on river right. At high levels this rapid is a little tricky to portage because of the large rocks but quite possible.
Adrian boofing a drop in Long Drop.
Jared making it through.
Mike. Same place. Different camera angle.
Brett trying to freewheel the pourover in Long Drop. This pourover is really bad at high water.
It must be mentioned now that these rapids are very technical with little water and the right line must be taken to avoid landing up in dead ends. This is because of all the exposed rocks. In fact the level at which this trip was run would probably be considered the minimum for a successful trip on this stretch.
A very short distance after Long Drop is another interesting drop where all the water flows in a gap about 2 meters wide. With more water it is a broad ledge… The pools now begin to become longer and the rapids less steep but the trip is not over. Many rapids still await and I’d guess about another 10 km of river. Look out for the natural weir. At low levels it is nothing but at high levels beware. Scout in any case. Spray will probably warn you before hand with better water.
Natural weir.
Adrian a few meters above the natural weir.
After the natural weir some good surf waves can be found at higher levels but there was nothing on this particular trip. The so called ‘Commercial Section’ begins a little way after this and is a fairly chilled section. At our low levels it turned out to be a nightmare! Out of the gorge now the river broadens and therefore the rapids become shallow beasts. So after a nice and relaxing trip we had to resort to using our hands to force our way through some of the rapids. At least a huge thunderstorm was starting up and the rain provided a welcome relief from the oppressive heat.
An excellent trip overall and well worth the effort. If memory serves me correct, the water was at about 0.6 or 0.7m at the bridge near Highover. As mentioned already, don’t bother running this section with any less water.
To get to Highover or the bridge near there just follow this link. Use either Highover or the bridge as your take out point. Accommodation at Highover is both reasonable and good! Well worth it. For the put in, try to get near the
BY: Adrian T.
Photo's by Adrian Tregoning and Brett Pennefather.
This story is not really meant as a guide so don't blame me for any errors. If you'd like add your own description of this spot then please contact me. Thank you.