Friday 31 July 2020 Brogo Dam

Before we start, a quick aside. On Tuesday 28 July, after 175mm (nearly 6 inches) of rain over the preceding two days, and after 3 years and 7 months of being closed, Cuttagee Lake broke open in the early hours of the morning.

This pic was taken on the 28 July at 10.30am. Water pouring out of the lake

Looking up the lake

Ten minutes later we arrived down at the Murrah to find it running a banker

and overflowing into the lower lying areas below the bridge.

At some stage it had gone over the top of the concrete piers.

What has happened down at the mouth of the Murrah remains a mystery.

Now to today's paddle.  Nearly the whole of the CKC met at the Brogo Dam Boat ramp at 10.00am and by 10.30 we were all on the water, sorted and adjusted and ready to paddle.

As we gave the spillway a wide berth we could hear the roar of the water pouring down it and we could feel the pull on our boats.

 The water was turbid , but the views were fantastic and horrifying -

nearly every ridgeline was burned to a crisp.

Toward the end of the dam we pulled in for a break at 11.20am. Here comes morning tea - Kardemumbullahs and Pan au Raisons - yum.

Don't know if you can see it, but there is a dark line running across the contour on the right side of the pic. That is the high water mark.  While we were unloading the boats at the ramp the dam caretaker/manager? came down to check us out. He told us that 3 times the dam's volume had poured over the spillway during and after the East Coast low that caused all the rain. The dam peaked at 105.24 metres at 3.00am on the 28th July and today when we paddled it was 103.03 metres.

Setting off again at Noon,

we headed up the Brogo River

Almost immediately the water became markedly less turbid

At least the high water had deposited some ash laden silt back onto the banks.

The reflection of the rock outcrops made interesting patterns on the water.

 S drawn by the sound of burbling water goes in for a closer look and discovers a small waterfall

A spots a small Water Dragon basking in the sun

 We paddled on

against an ever increasing current. After slogging it out we eventually turned a bend and saw the end point of our paddle ahead. Paddling hard I made it into the lower edge of the frothy white water, but by the time I grabbed the camera and turned it on the current had taken me 30+ metres back downstream and the looming rapid suddenly became a small blip in the distance.

However it was an easy ride back down the river, only the odd bit of steering required.

After rejoining the group

we poddled on and pulled in at 12.55pm on a rocky beach for lunch

No leisurely lunch for us today - by 1.37 we were back on the water

and continued on down the river.

And of course as soon as we turned the first bend we hit a slight head breeze, only problem it was a chilly one.

One thing that was really noticeable was the near total silence. Hardly a bird to be heard. I think we heard only 3 on the whole paddle.

Back out onto the dam proper

we retraced our steps.

Making landfall back at the boat ramp at 2.50pm.

Trip Notes:
Put In/Take Out:  Brogo Dam Boat Ramp
Water Level: 103.03metres
13kms
4hrs 25mins