Paddling the Rob Roy.

After reading John McGregor's 150-year old tale of one man in a canoe, The Rob Roy on the Jordan, our kayak club, Dor kayak, decided to follow his route. McGregor's goal was to discover the sources of the Jordan River. In his canoe, named Rob Roy, he paddled waters now in Lebanon, Syria and Israel. In the book he describes lakes surrounded by papyrus, bridges over the river controlled by Turkish soldiers, Arab hunters and fishermen, some hostile some friendly, locations of biblical sites and villages.

We chose to paddle a route as close to the original as possible, taking into account political and nature changes over the last 150 years. We could not do the Lebanese and Syrian parts as the Hule, a large swamp lake north of the Sea of Galilee, has been dried up in order to gain farmland. The river has been channeled east of the former lake; bridges have been destroyed while some others have been built. Still, we followed the route for two wonderful days, paddling in placid and rough water (class I-IV).

Our team and what we paddled:

Liran - Wavesport Z

Adi - Dagger RPM

Shachar - Wavesport X

Guy - Wavesport ACE

Shlomi -Pyranha Innazone

Gosta - Wavesport EZ

Tomas - Wavesport X

Starting out, we drove two and a half hours to the northern border between Israel and Lebanon, right by the upper sources of the Jordan River, today called Hatzbani, and by John McGregor, Hasbaya. The river gets its water from Hermon Mountain and the hills in south Lebanon. Other sources of the Jordan are the Dan, Banias and Yarmock rivers. After a short briefing we hit the water. This part of the Jordan River is beautiful, surrounded by maple trees, birds and turtles. The river runs quite fast in the beginning, then calms down to finish with a nice drop. We took lunch at the drop while getting ready to paddle into the lower part of the river.

Not long after we were stopped by a huge "manmade" drop, with big stones, logs and debris that made us decide to portage and not to take chances on a run. In return we got a nice friendly rapid further down stream. Adi flipped over but a quick roll saved him from swimming.

By evening we decided to make our camp by the water. We made fish, pasta and salad and sat drinking wine by the fire. We all went to sleep early and woke early, ready for day two.

The day included both placid and rough water. Rob Roy ran Hule Lake, but since it's dried up, the river is funneled through a straight channel 18 kilometers long with slow running water. So we paddled on and suddenly met a thick metal pipe crossing the water with 20 centimeters of open space between the water and the pipe. Liran showed us how to cross upside down, rolling. Tomas tried and got stuck, but eventually made it through. The others were smarter and climbed over the pipe.

We spent an hour saving a stork that was stuck in the mud and totally wet. We practiced paddling techniques over the next two hours, getting ready for the rougher parts of the river. We also met up with Gosta, who joined us through to the end.

We reached Ateret, an ancient water mill, where the real whitewater of the river starts. Rob Roy portaged this part, carrying the boat by horse and wagon. There are four rapids on the Jordan: the turbine, Kfar Hanasi, Dodot and Arik bridge. The first and last are easier. The river has lots of rocks and bends and requires total commitment in order to finish runs safely and with your gear. The last part has fast water with waves, but then it calms down, becoming a delta among the reeds. Choosing the right line was tricky. The whole group finally made it to the end, at the shores of Lake Kineret (Sea of Galilee), tired but content.

Total distance paddled: 40 kilometers; 12km in rough , 10 in medium and 18 in slow moving water.

Elevation: From 200 meters above sea level to 200 meters below sea level.

Total paddling hours: 5 hours on Day 1 and 8 hours on Day 2.

Equipment on boats: helmets, throw-lines, spare paddle, water bottles, fruits and energy bars.

Equipment in cars: tents, sleeping bags, cooking stuff, food and the The Rob Roy on the Jordan, by John McGregor, published by The Long Riders Guild Press in UK.