whySquared: Embalse del Mediano and Cañón Humo de Muro

After 3 consecutive days of walking, Raquel thought it would be a good idea for me to have a change in scenery and also rest my legs. (Read: Train the arms instead!). The place of action was moved to Embalse del Mediano (Mediano’s Dam) and Cañón Humo de Muro (Canyon Humo de Muro).

Unbeknownst to Raquel, it was going to be an emotionally draining day for me. Although I can swim (short distances, not across the English Channel), I always have to get myself psyched up before going into waters (no thanks to almost drowning at the age of 12). I have not done any canyoning prior to this too. Having said the above, I was all for the change.

The Solomonte office was bustling with action when I arrived. As opposed to the 'normal' walks, there were a lot of equipment to prepare - kayaks, wetsuits, waterproof containers and bags to carry what we need, etc.

Juanjo securing the kayaks to the trailer

We also have a bigger group. The trip would be led by Juanjo and joined by Nuria (who was training to be a professional canyoning guide), her boyfriend Félix and Raquel's friends, Javi and Susana.

We drove to Embalse del Mediano which was located in Aínsa. The dam was built in the 1960s and is named after the village which was sacrificed and flooded for the purpose of constructing the dam. It is one of the largest reservoir in Aragón.

Juanjo first briefed us on how to kayak in the correct manner and led us with warm up exercises. Then we made our way across the dam to an inlet.

Loading the kayak

Mi pareja, Juanjo. Source: Solomonte

Juanjo has jumped ship. Source: Solomonte

Nuria and Félix

I think we have a bit of a competitive streak (and maybe, childishness too) - we would sneak up behind each other, splashed water on our victims and then had to out-paddle the victims so as not to get splashed with water in return. From nowhere, we raced to the shore.

We parked our kayaks and walked inland slowly (not easy to walk in the thick wet suit). Along the way, Nuria briefed me on the safety issues (how to walk safely in the water, how to slide down a rock into water, how to jump from a rock into water etc). She also demonstrated how to do some of these before I made my attempt.

Source: Solomonte

We then made our way out through floating, sliding, walking in the waters and jumping from rocks. The water was really cold initially and the greyish mud-like deposits made walking in the water slippery.

Source: Solomonte

For some reasons, I simply was unable to put up my legs and float along gracefully. Nuria had to pull me along sometimes because I was either bobbing up and down on the same spot or trying to swim.