==> by JS
It took a sunny Sunday and about 3 hours and a half for us to embark on the “Haut Tarn” adventure. This river is said to be mythical, even a rite of passage in the life of a kayaker from the Cevennes… Feeling the pressure?
Luc, Jérome and me had slept in a bucolic but equally freezing little spot, before heading to Pont de Montvert for a coffee and a chestnut fondant. For a while, we studied Jérome’s idea to swap sailing for a game of pétanque… All in all, it was becoming more and more difficult to postpone our meeting with the awe-inspiring river. Luc left us to organize the shuttling. He came back an hour later, having miraculously got an immediate lift with a group of fellow kayakers.
The river was a first for me. Luc wanted a rematch with a few rapids. Jérome considered it hygienic to face the Gouffre des Meules and the Rapid of the Trumpet once a year.
We caught up with the other group just as they were paddling the first monster. This Gouffre des Meules rapid is very impressive.
Jérome goes first, nice line at the beginning of the rapid, a stern stall at the exit of the square bent, a stop in the perilous eddy before sliding down the steep slope. Stylish!
Luc goes next. His paddling the rapid is spotless, making it look easy peasy lemon squizzy.
Since there is no recording of my passage, I will not tell you how I flipped upside down in the middle of the square bent. I did not inadvertently eskimo rolled, which removed my skirt. Then, inside my boat full of water, I did not slide down the last slope backwards, losing my helmet on the way. This would have been my first bath with the CKTSV.
Almost immediately came the Trumpet. It is as impressive as the Gouffre des Meules, but we all managed to slide it down pretty easily.
The rest of the sailing went well. It is still intense, but quite less. The river is isolated and the landscape is stunning.
It took us about as long to sail this section as to go back to Lyon.
