Summer Camp Ardèche, France
Grand Descent: Complete!
Woohoo!!
The late-afternoon sun is beating down here at the Ardeche campsite and a weary crew are putting away barrels and jumping into the showers after an AWESOME two days paddling 30KM down the Ardeche river. The weather blessed us with sun and light breezes the whole way, the river was relatively quiet, and (dissapointingly for me as photographer) there were only a handful of good capsizes!
The day began yesterday with a solid breakfast of eggs and sausages, as well as cereals, to load up on protein before getting all of the barrels out on the field, taking a full-camp photo, and hopping on the bus. The bus took us to Trois Eaux, just beyond the Vallon Pont d'Arc where we had left our boats last, and after making our way down and unchaining them, we dragged them all to the water, put our barrels in, sorted out who was paddling with who, and launched off!
Our fleet was 30 ships, 21 of the plastic tarkas and 9 of the red canoes, with 5 of those staying ahead as the River Safety team (checking out rapids and helping the kids through them), while the other group retained the Mamma Duck formation of the Mini-Descent. Lynx was mamma duck, with Snow, Pebble, and Unicorn in the middle, and Mongoose taking the sweep. The first few rapids the group were a little spread out due to differing speeds, but by lunchtime we had made enough swaps (pairing the stronger and weaker paddlers) that the group was able to stick together in a decent single-file line without spreading or bunching too much. We had lunch just after the Dent Noir rapids and some sweet cliffjumping, afternoon tea at Les Figueras, and arrived to Bivouac de Gournier at about 5.30, as the afternoon sun was lighting up the 200m-high cliffs all around us.
Dinner was already cooking on the grill thanks to Lobster and Crocodile, who had paddled ahead and started it early. The river crew stowed their boats and began hauling their barrels up the hill, and before long were taking tours around the site and laying out their sleeping bags in the tents. Because the weather was so nice, Moose allowed anyone who wanted to sleep out under the stars with her, and so a tarp was laid out and about half the kids set up camp there! After dinner was eaten (BBQ sausages and burgers with pasts salad, green salad, and breads), everybody sat around in a large circle for a Secret Friends meeting, where the campers nominated each other for great things they had done throughout the day. Then there were stories, which at one point was interrupted when a wild boar was spotted about 10 metres away from the campers - there was much whispered excitement as they watched it wander through the bush, completely oblivious to the onlooking crowd. Bedtime was 10 and quiet time was 11, although the thrum of cicadas and the buzz of mosquitos never quite died out.
The next day began at 7.30, organizing barrels and helmets and PFDs and lining up for breakfast at 8 (of cereals, bread with jam, and fruit juice). Because of a wasp problem the previous session, we decided to make our wraps at the campsite instead of at the lunchbreak, which turned out to be a good idea. By 9.30 we had all made it back down to the beach and were hitting the first rapid, La Toupine. From there it was a short paddle to a large flat section of river, near Madeleine Rock, where everyone rafted up to float down amidst snacks and stories! A few more rapids before we lunched at Cable Corner, doing another session of cliffjumping and rapid-swimming, as well as rock-skipping and napping for those who needed it. Unicorn the health counsellor was diligently applying sunscreen and refilling waterbottles (as he did at all stops), and some of the French-speaking campers enjoyed a great chat with the French river guides Flofy and Martin about the geology of the area.
The final stretch was through windy corner and out around to Sauze beach, which took a couple of hours and involved another rafting session. Splashes came more frequent, and canoe acrobatics (and sabotages) started to erupt just before we made it to the beach. Luckily there was plenty of room for parking up and loading the boats, and all of the campers helped diligently. The whole process only took about 20 minutes, before Allan handed out cans of lemonade and cola to all, and we walked back to a waiting bus. The busride back to camp was about an hour, with virtually all the campers dozing off at some point, and on return they sorted out their paddles, PFDs and helmets, before taking their barrels and getting into a well-deserved shower.
Now dinner is being served, and tonight is movie night (Zootopia). Tomorrow is a market-trip, talent-show prep, and a disco, and on Friday it's the last day of camp! It's gone so quickly, but the Grand Descent was a terrific success and we're all looking forward to having an amazing next few days.
- Breakfast: A selection of breakfast cereals with fruit, yoghurt and honey. Baguette with butter and jam. Orange and apple juice.
- Lunch: Wraps with a healthy selection of salads, hummus, cheese, salami, ham, eggs, avocados, sauces, pickles, and veges!
- Dinner: Chicken nuggets, BBQ Chicken wings, roast wedges, beetroot salad, chickpea salad, green salad with a selection of olives and pickles, baguette.
- Subject to change. Vegetarian options always available.
Click here for more information about Summer Camp nutrition
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