Canoeing the Ardeche Gorge: Day 1
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- Опубликовано: 13 авг 2022
- The paddle through Pont d’Arc and down the Gorge de l’Ardeche has got to be amongst my favourite paddles - anywhere. It is the combination of enough whitewater, most of it very easy, along with spectacular rock scenery and, of course, the spectacular Pont d’Arc, where the river has carved a 60-metre rock arch through a limestone ridge.
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Many thanks to Ian at Adventure Ardeche for sorting us with camping, bivi tickets and the shuttle adventureardeche.com or
email: info@adventureardeche.com They can help sort for folk and even provide boats and instruction.
There is a wonderful guidebook to the area by Peter Knowles, Best Canoe Trips in the South of France. Published by Rivers Publishing
Paddling the Afon from www.venturekayaks.com
Paddle is the WW Big Dipper by freebirdpaddles.co.uk
PFD and Gear by www.nrs.com
My website: www.RayGoodwin.com
Signed copies of my illustrated book 'Canoeing', are available direct from me or from Amazon. It covers far more than my RUclips channel.
Outside of the UK the cheapest way to get my book is via the Book Depository which does free postage worldwide: www.bookdepository.com/Canoei... 
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Now that I'm 85 and no longer paddling watching this vid is a treat. Some nice drops, with the river at a good level.And then there is that arch.
Spent a couple of decades paddling white water in Southern British Columbia and Washington State.
Sigh,
Hi Bob, thank you so much for your very kind comments on this video. I hit 70 this year and my body is beginning to struggle, knees are shot and I have a heart problem. For the time being I can continue to do stuff but I am beginning to limit some of my ambitions. I can see that there will be an end to it as well so all I can do is create memories for my daughter and myself. But it sounds like you did a lot of good stuff in your time. Thanks you so much for watching and appreciating. Keep well.
What a great place for adventures.
It is tremendous. One of my favourite places.
Excellent, as always! A group of us did this in June, it was fabulous but levels were already down to August levels. They really could do with rain like that now. I love Lina's motherly advice to Maya on the Via Ferrata, "Forget about the commentary and think about what you're doing". Good advice! LOL
Thank you Sue. Appreciated. Yep it was a good one from Lina.
what an interesting place! i hope to visit so soon!!
You should! It is fantastic
Brings back memories! Have done the Ardeche twice with Acorn Adventure. Both times I managed to blag an open canoe instead of a sit-on-top and had a great time!
I used to do some staff training for Acorn many years ago.... in the Ardeche. Wonderful times. And well done on blagging a canoe, far nicer to paddle down the gorge.
What awesome childhood memories that girl will have, thanks for sharing with the rest of us. 😊😊 Wouldn’t mind doing that trip on the SUP. Off to Glan Llyn for a few days in the morning with the SUP’s and canoe, busman’s holiday 😂😂 Hope to bump into you on the lake.
I may miss you. Off to the Mawddach Estuary today. It is work but Maya is coming with me.
A very interesting and entertaining video. I Googled that area. I wouldn't be bored exploring there
Maya has stepped up nicely supporting the narration. Her paddling skills are really good; I'd be willing to have her duo with me anytime. You're a good teacher Ray.
It is fantastic down there. Love the place. Great restaurants and lots to see. If you are early in the year there are normally lots of rivers to run and the crowds haven't started. In the main season you can have 1500 people per day descending the gorge and low water, the bad weather kept it quiet for us. Yep Maya is good and I am finally getting her to to speak to camera. She is very shy, believe it or not, so it has been a gentle process. Any Keep well Karts and maybe one day we meet/paddle together.
I live here, it's a beautiful place !!!!
It really is. But now I am really envious. A great place to live
That’s a beautiful place
It is stunning.
Can't believe this . Just got your book a day ago and now you're doing the very river I wanted to do with my 14 year old son this year.
I'm going to have to settle for pebbles , but the Ardeche is awesome . Done it twice before.
It will be great doing it with your son! I have no idea how many times I have paddled it but love it every time. I hope you enjoy the book.
@@RayGoodwinCanoe Yes , thanks again . Just sorting my kit for Peebles .getting a hard box for the drone ( which I suspect is the black box on your table at camp lol )
Looks like you've got the best site . Where is it again Ray, I must keep it in mind for when we go . Book excellent by the way. Many thanks.
@@mannatuu It is the Gornier Bivouac.
Beautiful place , make me remind , i have been in ardhece was in 1987 , i did canoe , felt down in black rock , ..
It is stunning. One of my favourite places
Thanks
Welcome
Looks gorgeous Ray. I'll add that one to my to-do list for when I make it to that side of the world. Also, I know a great video on spotting rocks in the river that Maya can watch. ;)
Thanks Phil. Yep it is a great river. Will recommend video to Maya.
@@RayGoodwinCanoe I'll bet some of those rapids get pretty exciting at higher flows. Is the Black tooth rapid one that you had pictures of in your book?
@@philschaefer4651 Most of them become easier because the rocks disappear and it is all pretty wide but there are some big waves. Rapids like Black Tooth become very easy as the rocks are well submerged: and well spotted.
@@philschaefer4651 Well spotted Phil. Yes it is. After I have done part two of this I am going to do a 'technical' video looking at three rapids. As well as the film I have I will use the photos of Black Tooth to illustrate a rapid going wrong along with another swim captured on video. As ever thanks for watching Phil. I am working on the water running a course at the moment but off from tomorrow. Watching the videos of your Yukon trip are on my list.
@@RayGoodwinCanoe Looking forward seeing Part 2. I'm slowly working to cut my footage down to a reasonable length and add voice overs. Then on to music selection. So many things I wish I'd captured in hind sight, and way too much boring action cam video. Guess I'll have to go back next year. ;)
Should have included that my last white ware tandem boat was the Dagger Caption--outstanding!
Now that is a lively boat! One of the great designs.
@@RayGoodwinCanoe Yeah--14 feet long--rigged with rodeo straps that with the relatively hard chines turned beautifully. At the time it was competitive in events. Not that I was a competitor. Had a girl-friend who was outstanding as bow paddler.
Sigh,
You're from Wales.. Torrential French rain won't stop you from paddling 😅
Absolutely! Mind at the moment it feels like they have moved North Wales down into Spain. Distinct lack of water here.
Looks amazing. Did you wild camp? -soory just seen the camp site bit🤭
It is fantastic. yep it is not possible to wild camp, the fines are huge and quite rightly. It is the only way to preserve the gorge. You can wild camp on sections of the river further upstream.
Hi Ray, that was great. I’ve done it twice with rental companies and will definitely revisit one day with my own canoe. Was that this year, I thought the water levels were too low? How did you get the canoes back to your cars? Many thanks.
It was at Easter this year after we had been working on the Drome Canoe Festival. I arranged a shuttle through Adventure Ardeche (link in the description below the video). Because there was a group of us with multiple vehicles we could have driven a couple of cars through to the end and then paddled down to them. Just thought paying for a shuttle made life easier. It is one of my favourite trips.
Thanks Ray. I was gutted to realise that for all these years I’ve missed the Drôme canoe festival , it’s not that far from me 🤨. I’ve put it in my diary for next year. Hope to meet you then. Cheers
What’s a rain to you Brits!
🤣 a mere nothing.
Hi, I noticed your friend has a dog with her. I’d like to paddle the Ardèche with my son and our dog, but I read that dogs might not be allowed in the natural park. Do you have any information on this? Thank you!
I just checked with a friend of mine that operates on the Ardeche. Here is his response: 'Dogs must be on leads at all times when walking in the gorge or staying at the bivouac. They must also be in a bouyancy aid if on the water. Oh, and not tied in, in case of capsize.'
Hope that clarifies.
@@RayGoodwinCanoe that's good news, thank you!
@@RayGoodwinCanoe Did your friend have any problems getting into the Gournier bivouac with her dog? I heard you can bring your dog there if you are a hiker, but not if you are a paddler.
@@solitone No problem when we were there
'Poor horses!' (Who cares about the French Mayor, right?) lol
That made me chuckle. But I do believe the mayor survived
Triste de voir l'Ardèche avec un débit aussi faible. 🙏
And it gets far lower than than most summers. At least we were not scrapping down huge sections. I have paddled it with much higher water and it is just a bundle of fun then. Thanks for commentating. Using Google translate: Et il devient bien plus bas que la plupart des étés. Au moins, nous ne supprimions pas d'énormes sections. Je l'ai pagayé avec de l'eau beaucoup plus haute et c'est juste un paquet de plaisir alors. Merci pour le commentaire.
I take it you took your own canoe , so that would have been a long drive.
Yep certainly did take our own canoes. A couple of days in the Ardeche followed by working on the Drome Canoe Festival then back to the Ardeche for this descent. The Drome is a wonderful river but needs to be paddled in April or May.
@@RayGoodwinCanoe Spotted one at go kayaking the other day . We got a Star rave 2 , but I've got my eye on one of those when I ve sold my Old Towns. Fantastic for kids down there. Thanks for sharing.
@@mannatuu You are most welcome