I got home last night, soundly worn out!
It's the first time in a
good few months, that I've been able to motivate myself to get my act together and go any further than Hexham for a paddle.
I'd been delayed coming over Hartside Pass, by some of the thickest fog I've seen in years and a stop for the loo, at the "Little Chef" at Penrith. A journey that
normally takes me about an hour and a half'ish, took almost two and a half but I arrived, to find Rich all sorted and waiting by the lake.
I got sorted out, loaded up ( I tend to always carry a bit much kit to be honest,
but I look at it as, "training"
) and we set off, onto an almost mirror calm lake.
it was a bit gray but there were odd spots of blue sky trying to poke through now and then and although it wasn't exactly warm it wasn't too cold either, in fact probably ideal paddling conditions.
Not the tidiest boat in the world, "a place for everything and everything chucked in any old how"
Well not
that bad, but once We got going, I had to strip my fleece off and the camera stayed out ready for use, rather than stuffed away. I should really have put my fleece in the drybag but I thought I might need to put in back on in short order so left it handy!
The two red poles were definitely not required,as they are used either for rigging a sail or connected together for negotiating shallow water by pushing the boat along (among other things). I had kind of hoped there might be a bit of useable wind at some point during the day but regardless, I couldn't leave the poles in the car, so they had to come along on the trip.
It
was quiet with only a few dinghies, a big rowing/sailing boat from the Outward Bound School, one of the Lake "Steamers"
and a tandem inflatable, that Rich had spotted earlier, pottering about.
The couple paddling the inflatable were very pleasant and jolly, passing with a "Hello there, lovely day" etc. They were using proper, single blade paddles, so they were
all right in my book!
The path on the East shore
can get a bit busy sometimes, but it's normally
fairly quiet, this time of year. Thought this bunch might have been dropped off by the steamer at Howtown, after coming up from Glenridding, to walk back down.
One of the lad's stopped to ask us a few questions about the boats and where, if possible, they could hire canoes. I knew of only one set up on Ullswater, which is Waterside Farm Campsite, up towards Pooley Bridge. I don't
think they were thinking of trying it any time too soon, but maybe next summer.
Anyway, We'd pulled in at Kailpot Crag,for a brew stop and Rich got the Kelly going;
A bit of birch bark soon had it belting away.
I
normally carry my Kelly as well but this time I was using my "Thermos Work" flask, a really good quality and effective flask. I'd filled it the previous night and the contents were still far too hot to drink, a good 12 hrs later. Indeed, I only finally emptied the flask this morning and it's still warm enough to drink. I was also carrying a bluet stove, spare gas canister and brew kit, "just in case".
There's a natural "harbour" of sorts at Kailpot, making it ideal for canoes.
Rich's "Bob Special" from Nova Craft
A boat with beautiful traditional lines and a joy to behold on the water.
My, "Reflection 15" from Mad River.
A boat designed for the same or similar paddling as Rich's, but with more "modern" lines.( I'm kind of wishing I'd hung on a bit and bought a "Bob" now!
)
Anyway we spent a while at Kailpot then carried on down the lake, chattering away about this and that, heading towards Silver Bay.
Silver Bay is the bracken covered feature to the right of the picture here.
As Rich has mentioned, we'd been talking about the birds and whatnot that you often see above or on the lake and I happened to mention a few close encounters with aircraft, low flying etc. Then as Rich says, about 10 minutes later, as I was just idly following him, and videoing our progress, Rich gave a shout and there she was!
[video=youtube;e5VJjOMFk6E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5VJjOMFk6E[/video]
The video is unedited and it's literally only the last few seconds that show the Hercules, but it gives a nice idea of how peaceful the day was anyway. It's amazing how excited I
still get when these things happen, in spite of having been involved with
all sorts of military "stuff" over the last 30 years!
Here's a few stills taken from the video:
She was nowhere near as low as the last one I'd seen, doing the exact same route earlier in the year.
That one, had caused disturbance on the water surface as she went!:umbrella:
Anyway we stopped at Silver Bay for a little while, then cut across toward the western side, did a run around "Norfolk Island" and then set off back to the cars, as time was passing and the sun was beginning to go down.
If our final destination had been something like this;
I'd have been quite contented
As it was, we got back to the cars, loaded up and said our goodbyes.
It really was a cracking day, a "really good for the soul" kind of outing, even if it
was just a last minute day trip. It was great to finally meet up with you Rich and I hope we can get together again in future, possibly for something up in Scotland next year maybe?
Thanks again for making the effort join me at such short notice
best wishes
Steve
