A guest entry from Poke - with thanks (and admiration for such good pictures whilst solo!!)

Whilst Ned was off exploring the upper reaches of Torver beck after last Wednesday’s downpour, I was on my own little mission. Despite having lived locally to this little number for a couple of years, I had yet to catch it in condition whilst there was the light to paddle. The only previous time I’d attempted it, the water levels had been a tad low and it was a not-so-enjoyable scrape-fest.
 
The river in question is the Calder. It starts as a tiny beck high up on the moors and ends with a rather unique run through the heart of a nuclear reprocessing plant down at the sea. Having no-one keen to join me, I opted for a solo run – only briefly questioning the sanity of such an idea given the politically sensitive nature of the end of the run.
 
Conditions were perfect. As I pulled into the lay-by at the top of the run the sun appeared and the only hint of the 40+mm of rain that fell earlier in the day was the water streaming across the road.
 
The run itself was relatively uneventful, just a beautiful evening in the summer sun and perfect not-too-pushy levels for a solo mission. I’ll let the photos do most of the talking (and apologise in advance for any super-cheesy self portraits - it's hard getting good photos when you're alone)!
 
Various unusual highlights for me were the challenges of taking action shots using a self-timer (if a 2m seal-launch into 6” of water is the only way to get from camera to river in time, you’ve just got to man-up and do it), being spotted by a worker at Sellafield (who gave me a friendly wave and carried on with his business) and spotting a “Private Fishing” sign in the middle of the Sellafield site (who on earth would want to fish there)!
 The put-in;

The gradient is steady but continuous 

The volume builds

Monks bridge - a tiny stone bridge spans one of the small gorges.

The main event

Running the main event - hurrah for self timers on cameras!

Peaceful gorges, just below Calder Bridge

Novel drainage system just before entering Sellafield site.

Running the gauntlet - the canalised section flanked by trees and intimidating fences, topped with razor wire.

Who'd want to fish here? (or kayak for that matter!)

The last of the tasty ledges on the run through Sellafield site.

Takeout = the sea

You ain't getting in!

Many thanks to Martin Young (my girlfriend's dad), who was extremely kind and gave me a shuttle from the take-out back to my car.

Seeing things with fresh eyes is important. If I look at a rapid or fall with thoughts of someone else’s opinion, or the guidebook description, in my head I find it hard to focus properly. Sometimes the book will say something is nasty but you can’t see it from the bank and it does enough to put you off. The same can be true the other way around. The consensus is that a rapid is fine, but it looks horrible and you go into feeling stiff and unfocussed with predictable consequences. Look with fresh eyes, old opinion has no place.

Back in the days when we were looking for every beck around the Lake District that might be paddleable we did a section high on Torver beck from below a narrow slot. I'd we had walked in from the bottom and this felt like the obvious upper limit. I'd accepted my own opinion for too long. On a recent tramp around the fells I ended up going for a quick peek at what lay above. What lay above was a steep tight section of slides and drops, all of which looked like they would be good to go. Sure it was always going to be a small lakes beck, but it looked like it could be good fun and not too pushy.

So after the heavy rain on Wednesday I found myself looking for water. The stuff in Kendal hadn’t come up so i just chanced it and went up towards Coniston and Torver beck was thumping. The rain had stopped so if the upper was going to get done it had to be done now so I decided to go solo. I strapped the boat on and hiked straight to the most likely put in. levels were marginal with the water receeding fast but I was there now so quickly rattled down. It was a real hoot leading down to the section at Tranearth where the beck is held up by a thin rock bridge between two large holes in the ground!

I went back to grab some photos on the phone with the water now a fair bit lower. Strapped the boat back in and became frustrated about how I had missed this little genm all those years before.

So the lesson was never trust accepted wisdom – even, and perhaps especially, your own. Always look with fresh eyes.

I seem to be mellowing into summer nicely these days. I used to get stressed about the lack of boating, and that's despite not having a trip planned this year! To be honest Im ready for a break from boating at the moment. It seems like one of those moments that come periodically where I need to step back from it and re-evaluate. This usually results in a dip into another sport for a while.

As my leg is only just recovering from a torn calf I'm still pretty limited with my preferred second sport of moving quickly on the hills. Its 90% there but that feels a very vulnerable time in the healing process so I'm trying to be good and take the dog walking easy for a while longer. Still taking it easy leaves plenty of room for getting out on these great evenings we've been having. The daytimes have been a waste of space though, too hot, too busy, the traffic too slow. Evenings are the way forward. Someone tried to suggest that mornings are good as well but Im convinced that is just a wicked conspiracy to try and get me up earlier.

The Herdwicks may add interest to the pictures but the sad reality is that the hills are infested with the things. They destroy any chance of any interesting vegetation returning. That means we have to deal with thin soil and perform 'upland conservation' which is code for putting pavements over the hills via heli lifts of stone. Heres a suggestion - reduce the sheep, encourage the trees  and heather to grow back and get the farmers to earn subsidies for something useful - not producing uneconmic meat lamb.

Well its been pretty much all quiet on the activity front for me since that last Scottish trip. I managed to rupture a calf muscle whilst running the day after I got back and have been hobbling since. Gradually mobilty has started to return and the fells were acheivable again...

Last week brought a splash of rain and a reminder why it so handy living near some rivers. That instant accesibility led to an evening trip on teh Upper Duddon at a good level, followed by a cheeky afternnoon run on the same stetch at a lower flow (pictured).  Happy days.

So now we are back to dry conditions I need a garden challenge - speed lawnmowing offers limited sporty appeal, so I think I shall play slacklining instead...

This is what I dont look like now!

I had a couple of days over easter where I had no reason not to go out and play. I'd been pouring over the maps again and stumbled across a canyon in the Cairngorms that looked very intruiging. After I'd seen it became the only thing to fill the time with. The internet also revealed that that the canyon was formed by huge flows glacial outbreak waters that had created a scar in the landscape 7km long and 300ft deep. The river was easily large enough to paddle in terms of catchment (over 30 square km) and the gradient was significant, but hopefully manageable.

We arrived to find low water levels and hopes of getting it done dimmed somewhat. When we arrived, our quick inspection of the lower section showed that we may actually be thankful of those low levels! Losing the light we only scouted the lower 2 or 3 km and this revealed a beautiful canyon unlike anything we'd seen in the UK before. Most of the water looked straightforward, but the gorge was walled out in a few sections and there were glimpses of some ugly slots and potential siphons.

As we headed back to the car we made the decision to go. We would walk in from the bottom, on the river right bank which would give the best views of the canyon. This would mean a 7km hack, uphill, through heather to reach the entry to the canyon named 'The Castle'. The pictures can cover the details...

( final pic by Dave B)

11 hours, 1 big portage, 1 big decision and 5000 calories later, we were done. We didnt find a single 'nice rapid' all day, but kayaking is about so much more than that. It's also about fixing goals, overcoming barriers, beautiful landscapes, testing yourself and forging friendships. This day had all of these in abundance, so it really was a truly great days boating - with no good rapids.

A big shout is due to Ando and Dave. If anyone wants the beta just drop us a mail (ned 'at rainchasers.com) - we think it would go at at least slightly higher levels.