Well ok, maybe not a full weekend but a cracking day on the water and a nice campsite too.
We headed for Side Farm camp site, opposite Glenridding at the bottom end of Ullswater, last Friday afternoon. There was me, my son, my daughter and her boyfriend. It had always been planned as a family weekend although Mrs. Badger stayed home in the sett for this one
The site is well named; being on the lower slopes of Place Fell and having hardly a single flat pitch anywhere
rolling or sliding out of bed-it's up to you
This is a view of the site from an old quarry, just up the fell a little way. The site is small but the simple facilities are well kept and the hot water is plentiful.
The one issue with the site,is the road in and out; quite badly pot holed from the main road to the farm and then, at least for standard road cars, frankly-rough! it's ok as long as you take your time and pick your route carefully I'd use the site again no problem
This was where "Das Boot" spent the night
Then after a late breakfast on Saturday morning, it was down the hill and into the water:
This is the first time I have had the opportunity to try "Das Boot" solo and she didn't disappoint
The weather was atrocious over night , with heavy rain and gales but apart from a few showers during the day, it stayed warm, with a light breeze, gusting occasionally, just enough to add a bit of interest when paddling!
I was caught by the breeze a couple of times and had to "go around"
then it was time to share the joy so me and the young un took off,across to Glenridding
Then we tried three in the boat and if anything, She handled better, obviously due to the ballast effect of the passenger.
Just in case your wondering; the passenger was wearing their B/A under their jacket because of a sudden heavy shower which hit us about half a mile out :umbrella:
Then we had our lunch but could hardly wait to get back on the water
We met up with a handful of Song of The Paddlers on the site and of course, on the water
Er....so..howcome it's not going in the right direction?
All in, we spent a good 5 hours on the water, and we all improved our skills and confidence.
We decided to up sticks about 8pm, rather than spend another night, mainly because we knew we wouldn't have much time to get on the water on Sunday anyway but also because the tents had completely dried out during the day. Of course, halfway through packing up, it honked down, soaking everything again:11doh:
All in all a smashing family outing, well worth the effort and just a taster of canoe exploration to come
Cheers
R.B.
We headed for Side Farm camp site, opposite Glenridding at the bottom end of Ullswater, last Friday afternoon. There was me, my son, my daughter and her boyfriend. It had always been planned as a family weekend although Mrs. Badger stayed home in the sett for this one
The site is well named; being on the lower slopes of Place Fell and having hardly a single flat pitch anywhere
rolling or sliding out of bed-it's up to you
This is a view of the site from an old quarry, just up the fell a little way. The site is small but the simple facilities are well kept and the hot water is plentiful.
The one issue with the site,is the road in and out; quite badly pot holed from the main road to the farm and then, at least for standard road cars, frankly-rough! it's ok as long as you take your time and pick your route carefully
I'd use the site again no problemThis was where "Das Boot" spent the night
Then after a late breakfast on Saturday morning, it was down the hill and into the water:
This is the first time I have had the opportunity to try "Das Boot" solo and she didn't disappoint
The weather was atrocious over night , with heavy rain and gales but apart from a few showers during the day, it stayed warm, with a light breeze, gusting occasionally, just enough to add a bit of interest when paddling!
I was caught by the breeze a couple of times and had to "go around"
then it was time to share the joy
so me and the young un took off,across to Glenridding
Then we tried three in the boat and if anything, She handled better, obviously due to the ballast effect of the passenger.
Just in case your wondering; the passenger was wearing their B/A under their jacket because of a sudden heavy shower which hit us about half a mile out :umbrella:
Then we had our lunch but could hardly wait to get back on the water
We met up with a handful of Song of The Paddlers on the site and of course, on the water
Er....so..howcome it's not going in the right direction?
All in, we spent a good 5 hours on the water, and we all improved our skills and confidence.
We decided to up sticks about 8pm, rather than spend another night, mainly because we knew we wouldn't have much time to get on the water on Sunday anyway but also because the tents had completely dried out during the day. Of course, halfway through packing up, it honked down, soaking everything again:11doh:
All in all a smashing family outing, well worth the effort and just a taster of canoe exploration to come
Cheers
R.B.
