Further on up the Road...

Further on up the road
Where the way is dark and the night is cold
One sunny mornin' we'll rise I know
And I'll meet you further on up the road

- Bruce Springsteen, Further on (Up the Road).

I've covered a fair few miles this week what with driving to and from university at the beginning of the week and then at the end, driving to and from Whinlatter Forest Park, over in the north-western corner of the National Park. The reason I've been over there is because I've now started my instructor training for Adventure Forest Ltd., which is better known as Go Ape and is where I'll be working from now until the end of October. The training doesn't finish until the 27th March, but from now until then I'm not only on the instructor training, but also juggling university, assessments and a 5 Star Kayak Leader training course. However, today I managed to get myself over to Head End Quarry and finish off my prerequisites for my SPA.

The van parked up at the quarry entrance.

It wasn't such a bad afternoon of climbing. It looked like the weather had crapped out on us as when we were driving to the quarry we had the windscreen wipers on, but it all came good; the sun came out, which kept us warm in what was quite a strong wind.

Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...
Iain

Back on line...

My weekend panned out very like what was forecast at the end of Friday's post. I managed to get a presentation written on a weather map on Saturday and then today I managed to get out for that paddle. It wasn't looking like paddling would be a good idea after a fairly long dry spell, but many hours on the Internet looking at various forecasts and phoning the odd EA gauge left me with a vague idea that the River Kent was rising from a super low level. How much it would have risen by Sunday morning was any one's guess.

On arriving at the Kent it looked good to go. There was enough water in it. In fact it was on a good medium level and the sections we had a quick peak at all looked sweet; apart from Force Falls. On inspecting this drop from the roadside we could see a twig bobbing around in the hole at the bottom of the fall. It was as if something bigger and meaner was lurking below the water, which had either trapped the twig on its journey downstream or was connected to the twig and was stuck in the base of the drop. After this things got a bit vague, but we eventually ended up getting in our boats at the top of the Leven.

Through the meat of the small 2m drop after the Brick Chute Weir.

At the bottom of the Graveyard.

Running down the face of the last big weir.

I've run this river a lot recently. I was on it the other week at super low levels on the first day of my 4* Kayak Leader Assessment and then a couple of months before that. That particular trip sits well in my memory as I walked the drop under Backbarrow Bridge. It was the first time I had done this since running the bottom half of the Leven and I think this approach to running the rapid had come from the visit prior to that one. I had got totally lost in the cascading water meaning that I ended up just hanging in and hoping I'd hit a reasonable line. The line I ended up on resulted in a bit of a trashing against the side of the bridge.

Today, on the drive to the bottom of the river we stopped for a peak at the monster and I, for the first time in a long while, stood and looked at the drop properly and worked it all out from scratch instead of relying on odds and ends I had read in guidebooks or online. When it came to running the drop I hit my line, got a lovely dry head and was able to sit at the bottom and watch a wee bit of carnage unfold. I have been told in the past not to sensationalise Backbarrow Bridge, but you just can't help it after such a bad record with a drop that does require some degree of skill and respect. Hitting my line today did my confidence some good, but still, being in a boat doesn't feel as good as it used to.

Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...
Iain

Half a blade

The boats lined up on the northern shore of Ullswater.

It's been a while since I posted something on a Friday after a day working on my Practical Outdoor Activities module. The main reason for this is that, with one thing and another, I've missed the odd day of activities, but also the module is coming to an end. Today, was the last day of activities for this module and we couldn't have asked for much better really. The activity in question was canoeing and the venue was the River Eamont, which flows out of Ullswater, through Pooley Bridge and finally ends when it joins the River Eden somewhere around Penrith.

Warming up on the lake.

I've never really done much canoeing before, sure I've dabbled in kayaking now and again, but as for canoeing I've never seen the attraction and to be honest I still don't. It just seems really pain full and goes against a lot of the stuff we try and stay away from when kayaking. There seems to be a lot of ropes dangling around in the boats and loads of bits to get yourself stuck on if you were upside down in the drink. I'm sure it's all fine and dandy, but it just seemed a little sketchy to me.

Ferry gliding below Pooley Bridge's bridge.

I did however enjoy myself, mainly because the weather was so nice, and I got to experience the delights of the mighty River Eamont. A grade two, at most, bumble starting off with some extraordinary views into the heart of the Lake District, but ending in the hubbub of urbanisation.

Paddling downstream.

Descending the weir just before the M6 crosses the river.

I'm not really sure what the weekend entails. Saturday might be spent in doors wading through three different assignments I've got on the go and then on Sunday I'll try and get out. That could be on a trip to the River Kent and hopefully the Leven as well, but also could be a jaunt in the hills, or even a climb on some rock. O, the decisions.

Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...
Iain

Some walking for a change

I managed to get out and do something I've not done in a long time; get into the heart of Cumbria and have a bit of a stroll around the Lakeland Fells. Of late the weather has been relatively mild meaning that much of the snow from a couple of weeks back has melted, but temperatures have started to drop again and the fluffy, white stuff has tried to make a reappearance.

Looking up Ullswater towards Glenridding and Patterdale.

My walk started off just south of Ullswater in Patterdale and from here I made a speedy get away from the road before making an ascending traverse of Patterdale Common to Boredale Hause.

Looking west from Boredale Hause.

From here I headed in a southerly direction so that I could pass the flanks of the two Angletarn Pikes before resting on the eastern shore of Angle Tarn.

Looking west across Angle Tarn.

Continuing on in a roughly south-easterly direction through the snow covered fells brought me to a junction of paths just west of Satura Crag.

Looking north-west from Satura Crag.

A bearing was quickly taken here and off I headed, across snow covered country, for the summit of Rest Dodd, where I fittingly took a rest before descending to the col at 600m and then climbing back up to 739m to summit The Knott.

Looking across to The Knott from Rest Dodd.

From here I retraced my steps for some 200m before heading west so that I could descend down to Hayeswater and then follow the outflow downstream to Hartsop and then back along the valley to Patterdale.

Good lines, stay safe and see you on the wet stuff...
Iain