Iain had a few days off basking in the unusually summerlike conditions that have put in an appearance this October, before working again - this time with Avril & Duncan McCormick and their daughter Hannah and "westy" - Milly.
The family were on holiday from Northern Scotland for part of the October half term holiday; and Avril had contacted Iain at Kendal Mountaineering Services sometime previously asking whether or not it would be possible to do full day Canadian Canoeing river journey. Iain was sure he could find somewhere.
There are some great rivers in the Lake District and Iain was able to guide the family on one such river.
After getting on and covering Canadian Canoeing skills such as forward & backward paddling/stopping, turning using sweep strokes and the stern rudder, forwards & backwards ferry gliding and draw strokes, Iain felt the family were ready to begin the journey along the stretch of river to be travelled.
This particular river trip was, at the level - no more than a good grade two and here - in shot two, Avril and Duncan can be see negotiating one of the more difficult rapids.
Once the halfway point is reached the river slows down and broadens - becoming a "bump & scrape" in some parts. On occasion, this necessitated both Iain & Duncan getting out to push - or pull!
The whole journey was a breeze for Milly - seen here in shot three - sat in the middle of the canoe, although there were several times when she jumped out of the boat and got rather wet.
In shot four, Hannah looks on from the front of Iain's canoe as we approach another short grade two rapid. The day had been idyllic - blue sky, warm sun and no breeze - truly pleasant!
At this particular point, the river bed had changed markedly from Iain's previous trip (done last year - before the infamous November floods) from a broad shallow rapid to a short steep narrow one reminiscent of Blacksboat Rapid on the River Spey in Scotland. Also, downstream from here, a number of previously braided channels had simply disappeared!
Finally, having set off from our get in at 11am, the party reached our get out at 4:45pm. It had been a long day on our Lake District Canadian Canoe river journey, but the whole family were very satisfied with the day in terms of skills learnt and overall distance covered. All that was left to be done was to load up the boats and shuttle the family back to their car.
Iain hopes they enjoyed the rest of their holiday in the area and it is good to know that the weather remained fine during their entire visit.
To find out about our watersports full and half day sessions check out our Canadian Canoeing
and Kayaking courses pages.
We look forward to your joining us on the water - whether it be on one of the lake Districts many lakes or rivers.
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