Last weekend saw a group of about 20 club members heading off to the Lake District on a new adventure for Addlestone Canoe Club. The mission was to find some rivers not paddled yet by the club and to venture to an unfamiliar location to put our skills to the test.
Our location for the weekend was The Old School House in Carnforth which made for an excellent location to travel into the Lakes area each day to chase the rain.
The trip was billed as medium to advanced level, and the amount of rain in early January made it a great challenge for many paddlers.
On the morning of day 1, all paddlers ran the River Lune from Lowgill to Killington New Bridge. With a level of nearly 1m on the Killington gauge, it was big bouncy fun all the way down, with not much rock-dodging needed. In the afternoon, the braver members paddled the River Kent from Scroggs Weir to Park Head, a route that starts with a gentle bimble on relatively flat water before dropping into a series of gorges with challenging features and the final might Force Falls.
Day 2 saw the paddlers tackle the River Rawthey on a huge 2m from Sedbergh to the Lune confluence – easily the biggest river that some of the members had paddled. There were thrills (and a few spills) all the way down, including a challenging run through the Grade 4 Railway Falls that a few members elected to portage. The afternoon saw a small group travel to the Leven for a few fun runs down the first section in huge levels.
The last day was a return to the Lune – a chance to try some new lines, attempt to catch more eddies, and revisiting the sites of some topples for another go.
In the evenings everyone returned back to the bunk house to swap stories, watch videos and eat.
An amazing weekend was had by all those who attended and big thank you to the organisers and river leaders as these trips can’t happen without them.
You can see more of the fun we had in the YouTube video: