With a medium level we flew with James Scott upriver, dropped our overnight gear at Scone Hut including a good stash of food and an even better stash of wine!
We then lifted upwards again breifly to fly roughly 3km further up the Perth valley.
As with most West Coast heli landings we touched down on a small gravel bar, unloaded and then waited for the rest of the crew to return with our slingload of boats.
The chopper returned and we quickly unwrapped the boats, before sending our pilot on his way.
Its such a great feeling, sitting on a remote riverbank, your surrounded by huge eroding peaks and glaciers lying in the Garden of Eden. The air temp is fresh, you have just waved goodbye to the thing that put you there without breaking a sweat. You think about the distance between you and the car, the whitewater ahead, the cold alpine water.
Big days on the coast are fantastic!
We did have one minor setback, 6 paddlers and 7 paddles at put in!
Somehow we had loaded an extra bent shaft. The remedy, paddle 200m of class 4-5 then eddy out, walk up the river bank and take your turn at getting the paddle down river left to Scone Hut!
There was no hurry to get down to the hut, (not that the Upper Perth is going to let you do that anyway!)Lots of scouting was required, and the photo ops were plentiful, we arrived at Scone Hut unscathed in 3.5-4hrs
Day two - the regular Perth run took 5 hours. The hard stuff immediately below Scone Hut is some of the best boat scoutable class 4-5 in the country. Its classic, continous, steep technical moves one after the other.
Photos in order are
James Scott West Coast Taxi service
Pinballs, JJ drops in.
JJ at Scone Hut
Scotsman #1 sticks his boof in the Upper 3km
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