The last day of our trip to Northern Wales we went canyoning (not to be confused with the popular sport of can-yawning where competitors yawn into cans trying to make cool noises). Canyoning is where you get into a COLD mountain stream and climb/scramble/slide/jump your way downstream. Not for the light of heart. And technically not for 5 year-olds, but since we were the only ones that day, the guide said he could take care of Mark just fine.
Before heading out, we had to gear up. We were told to wear swimsuits underneath (yes, we remembered) the wetsuits. This was probably the hardest part of the entire experience – putting on the wetsuits which were still wet from being cleaned the day before!! (we hope they were cleaned...) After each of us finally managed to squeeze and wiggle into our wetsuits the guide recommended we put on a second wetsuit because the water was REALLY COLD! He even had wetsuit socks for us (which I appreciated because I hate having cold feet).
This is where the pictures stopped. We didn’t have a waterproof camera so sadly you don’t get to see any action shots. I’ll try my best to give you a play by play.
To get to the jumping-in point, we had to hike almost a mile (in our wet wetsuits). Excitement kept the kids moving without complaint). Along the way the guide taught us about some of the local fauna, like that one fern I can’t remember the name of but Lyana guessed the name of it and won 10 points.
Soon enough we were at the jumping off point, which to be more accurate was really the falling-backward-into-the-cold-water point. We swam a yard then began our awkward scrambling descent through the water, traversing the slippery rocks all around us, frequently losing our footing, sometimes dragging another down with us. The kids had no problem it seemed and they easily kept up with the guide, all the while leaving us parents trudging slowly behind.
We soon came to our first waterfall. The guide had tied a rope for us to grip to prevent us from going too fast. I was tasked with holding onto Mark as I held the rope to guide us down with painful results. Mark was fine. But my tailbone met a rock at full speed and OUCH! After floating in the fetal position for several minutes at the base of the waterfall, I proclaimed I was fine (which I was, except for all the times later down the stream where I was required to slide down more rocks). Next time I’ll tie a pillow to my seat.
Anyway, at the bottom of this little slide there was a deep pool where we spent a good 10 or 15 minutes jumping into from the rocks, ever pressing each other to go higher and higher. Thankfully no more injuries, but I was getting nervous, especially when Mark would jump in. The guide would point to the deeper section and tell us to jump over there away from the shallow spot near the edge. Those instructions were lost on Mark and he kept jumping into the shallow parts! At least he was little and didn’t sink much – wouldn’t want him to get cut on a submerged rock or something.
So we swam out of that pool and made our way downstream, through a couple other tiny pools, sliding down a couple tiny waterfalls. Pretty uneventful for most of it really. But then we came to a large slide where we had to wait for a time while he set up ropes across the stream and along the boulders. The water was rushing so quickly and it was so strong that we had to latch onto the ropes with the carabineers and ranger crawl our way down, one person at a time, hand over hand (the guide took Mark – he didn’t trust me anymore after my tailbone fiasco). At one point we had to cross through the rushing water, holding on tight to the rope even though the water was gushing over our heads. Only Alex lost his grip and would have been washed away except for the carabineers. After that adrenaline rush I think he just wanted to do it again.
When we were all down, still attached to the ropes, we sidestepped our way along the ledge to the edge of . .. a bigger, vertical drop waterfall. I secretly hoped we would get to jump off of it. Nope, too dangerous. Instead, we were to abseil down one-by-one with the guide holding the ropes. (by the way: abseiling is the British word for rappelling) When we would get close to the bottom, he would have us “jump” away from the wall and then he would let the rope go and we’d fall into the pool of water.
First Katya, then Alex, followed by Mark, Lyana then me. I put my full trust in him not only to NOT drop my family, but to not drop me either. (at least not till the last few feet).
And that was the finale of our canyoning adventure. We could have stayed and swam in the pool, which was beautiful, but everyone was pretty cold and tired by then (even with double wetsuits on) and were ready to get back to the car and change.
Before heading out, we had to gear up. We were told to wear swimsuits underneath (yes, we remembered) the wetsuits. This was probably the hardest part of the entire experience – putting on the wetsuits which were still wet from being cleaned the day before!! (we hope they were cleaned...) After each of us finally managed to squeeze and wiggle into our wetsuits the guide recommended we put on a second wetsuit because the water was REALLY COLD! He even had wetsuit socks for us (which I appreciated because I hate having cold feet).
Over the TWO wetsuits we each had a life jacket, helmet and harness with rope and carabineers (which we used several times).
Of course we had to put on shoes, which were just regular sneakers that we didn’t care about getting soaked.
And the finishing touch . . . something to wear OVER our wetsuits. Everyone else chose old shorts but me, I wore some old scrub trousers! Styling!
To get to the jumping-in point, we had to hike almost a mile (in our wet wetsuits). Excitement kept the kids moving without complaint). Along the way the guide taught us about some of the local fauna, like that one fern I can’t remember the name of but Lyana guessed the name of it and won 10 points.
Soon enough we were at the jumping off point, which to be more accurate was really the falling-backward-into-the-cold-water point. We swam a yard then began our awkward scrambling descent through the water, traversing the slippery rocks all around us, frequently losing our footing, sometimes dragging another down with us. The kids had no problem it seemed and they easily kept up with the guide, all the while leaving us parents trudging slowly behind.
We soon came to our first waterfall. The guide had tied a rope for us to grip to prevent us from going too fast. I was tasked with holding onto Mark as I held the rope to guide us down with painful results. Mark was fine. But my tailbone met a rock at full speed and OUCH! After floating in the fetal position for several minutes at the base of the waterfall, I proclaimed I was fine (which I was, except for all the times later down the stream where I was required to slide down more rocks). Next time I’ll tie a pillow to my seat.
Anyway, at the bottom of this little slide there was a deep pool where we spent a good 10 or 15 minutes jumping into from the rocks, ever pressing each other to go higher and higher. Thankfully no more injuries, but I was getting nervous, especially when Mark would jump in. The guide would point to the deeper section and tell us to jump over there away from the shallow spot near the edge. Those instructions were lost on Mark and he kept jumping into the shallow parts! At least he was little and didn’t sink much – wouldn’t want him to get cut on a submerged rock or something.
So we swam out of that pool and made our way downstream, through a couple other tiny pools, sliding down a couple tiny waterfalls. Pretty uneventful for most of it really. But then we came to a large slide where we had to wait for a time while he set up ropes across the stream and along the boulders. The water was rushing so quickly and it was so strong that we had to latch onto the ropes with the carabineers and ranger crawl our way down, one person at a time, hand over hand (the guide took Mark – he didn’t trust me anymore after my tailbone fiasco). At one point we had to cross through the rushing water, holding on tight to the rope even though the water was gushing over our heads. Only Alex lost his grip and would have been washed away except for the carabineers. After that adrenaline rush I think he just wanted to do it again.
When we were all down, still attached to the ropes, we sidestepped our way along the ledge to the edge of . .. a bigger, vertical drop waterfall. I secretly hoped we would get to jump off of it. Nope, too dangerous. Instead, we were to abseil down one-by-one with the guide holding the ropes. (by the way: abseiling is the British word for rappelling) When we would get close to the bottom, he would have us “jump” away from the wall and then he would let the rope go and we’d fall into the pool of water.
First Katya, then Alex, followed by Mark, Lyana then me. I put my full trust in him not only to NOT drop my family, but to not drop me either. (at least not till the last few feet).
And that was the finale of our canyoning adventure. We could have stayed and swam in the pool, which was beautiful, but everyone was pretty cold and tired by then (even with double wetsuits on) and were ready to get back to the car and change.
We hiked back like a flock of ducks, waddling along in our wetsuits. The excitement fulfilled, we were all just ready to go home.
If you want a fulfilling, exciting, adrenaline-rush (tiring) adventure, then check out canyoning. They also have gorge scrambling, but I don’t know what the difference is. I think that’s going the opposite direction and safer for younger kids. As it was, Mark broke the record for the youngest kid ever to go canyoning there.
Frozen, happy, memories made.
Thanks Lyana for finding and booking this fantastic trip. It was one-of-a-kind for sure. I will always remember our time canyoning in Wales.
Rob
PS: my tailbone still hurts a littlez
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