September 2024 – Ardèche Kayaking Weekend

Written by Sebastien Burgess (Life Scout; Senior Patrol Leader – Webmaster)

Troop 77 held its annual Ardèche kayaking weekend in Saint-Martin-d’Ardèche, in the south of France, on 7-8 September 2024.

We started off by driving down (leaving at 04:00!) to our location. After being driven further upriver by the kayak rental company, we set off on our 24 km adventure.

This event, which is always one of our most popular, offers brilliant views to exhilarating rapids. We all enjoyed the latter, but made sure to help out anyone who capsized (which is part of the fun!).

In the afternoon it started to rain, and we were soon all drenched (although being on a river, we were all expecting to get wet at some point). Nonetheless, we maintained Scout Spirit and pressed on.

We even found the time to work on the Canoeing merit badge, so those who didn’t have it previously will have something to look forward to at the next Court of Honour in December!

Upon arriving at the end of the 24 km journey, we arrived at the campsite next door, and pitched our tents for the night (conveniently, it had started to rain just as we were doing this). We then celebrated our achievement with a well-earned dinner at a local restaurant.

Sunday’s plan was to do via cordata, which is essentially walking alongside the rock face, and then abseiling down a 40 m drop! Unfortunately the poor weather conditions prevented us from doing this, but we instead enjoyed a walk around a local village and its market, and returned home.

Some of us were there for their first time, and for others, it was our sixth time attending! What’s for sure, is that everyone had a great time! We all learned something, and we all pushed ourselves more than we’d previously thought! (We also came home aching all over, but that’s neither here nor there.)

I’m really grateful to have had such a great weekend with such a great group, and I’m looking forward to next year!