"My camping spot hasn't changed since I was here a couple of months ago. Seen from a distance, this riffle area of the river looks quite gentle, gurgling along as it tumbles over the gravel, but when you come close and stand at the edge of the stream, you see more of the violent interaction between water and rock. Just a couple of meters in front of me, there are a couple of rocks out in the river, one of them open to the air, the other just under the surface, with a thin layer of completely transparent water streaming over it. Between them, the water swooshes down a chute and dissolves in a cascade of foam.

The water looks intensely attractive - beautifully clear and green - and as always I feel an impulse to jump in, but there's no question that swimming is off the menu this time. I think I could handle being in the cold water for at least a few minutes, but this very stiff wind that is blowing today would make things murderous once I came out. ... So I'll just be a passive observer of the river scene today, not a participant ..."