If you are unable to work out the heading, it stands for the following:
Aqueduct, Peak, Peak, Peak, Loch, Lake, Llyn times three.
It was Catherine who came up with this mnemonic to identify our April trip.
2025 appears to have morphed into a year of Challenges. This summer sees me undertaking a personal Challenge to climb the highest point and paddle 10 nautical miles in each of the 70 counties in England and Wales. Taking 70 days at the start of my 70th year. That is due to start on the 6th July in Cornwall and finishing on the 14th September, at the summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon).
Almost by accident I was sucked into another Challenge, starting in April. Again involving paddling and some summits but with a few differences from the summer project.
Completing Paddle UK’s 3 Lakes Challenge. To paddle the 3 longest lakes in Scotland, England and Wales:
Loch Awe - Scotland
Lake Windermere - England
Llyn Tegid - Wales
In contrast to my Nordkapp LV being my craft of choice in the summer. We used SUP’s for the paddling.
The walking involved us visiting the summits of the 3 highest mountains in England and Wales.
Ben Nevis - Scotland
Scafell Pike - England
Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) - Wales
The A stands for aqueduct, in particular the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, with a plan to rent canoes to cross this iconic paddling feature.
The more observant will have noticed the use of the pronoun, we. In contrast to my summer Challenge, which is largely a solo undertaking, this is definitely a group activity. 8 of the more enthusiastic stand up paddleboarders from the Jersey Canoe Club. Saturday mornings are the normal SUP sessions, with each year there being a holiday. The last 3 years have seen the Great Glen (Fort William to Inverness). The canals of southern Brittany and last summer, for those who made it, Disko Bay, Greenland.
So how did it go? It was beyond our wildest expectations with the weather creating ideal conditions for the week. The Sunday morning saw us heading out of Glen Nevis towards the summit of Ben Nevis. Not a cloud in the sky with gradually expanding views across the mountains of Scotland. The peaks of Rum visible through a gap in the hills and the Cuillin of Skye gradually appearing in the distance. The most noticeable aspect of the walk though was the heat. The first week of April and we were in t-shirts, on the highest mountain in the UK. There was an almost complete lack of snow, although I did have to caution one young man, in trainers from walking onto the snow at the top of one of the gullies. Walking a few metres further and the fragile cornice was easily visible!
Summit photos, lunch and the long walk down before driving south towards our accommodation for the next two nights near Loch Awe, the longest loch in Scotland. There wasn’t much wind forecast, what was, could probably be best described as “light and variable”. So we were able to paddle from north east to south west, which reduced the amount of driving. Flat calm and a paddlers paradise. We were able to slip into an easy rhythm and watched the miles slowly increase. At the end of the first day we had reached the small village of Dalavich on the northern shore. We were able to leave our SUP’s here overnight, which saved a considerable amount of time. That evening we had a meal with Gordon and Morag Brown at The Oyster Inn, overlooking Connel Bridge- A lovely way to finish our first paddling day.
Tuesday was more of the same, although a much shorter paddle. From Dalavich to Torran at the southern end of the loch was a pretty straightforward 8.5 miles, although if anything the temperature was climbing by the day. That was it Scotland was complete. A drive south through Glasgow for a nights rest before tackling the English part of the trip.
I hadn’t visited Wasedale Head since I was on an Outward Bound course in Eskdale in 1973. Its hard to say whether it has changed in the intervening 52 years but once on the mountain it was clear that things were different. There were hundreds of walkers taking advantage of the amazing weather, to visit the highest point in England. It was the 9th April and we ate lunch in t-shirts on the summit. By coincidence we met a player from the Jersey Rugby Club on our ascent.
With the walk up Scafell Pike we were half way through the Challenge, this left Windermere to paddle plus Wales. The following day there was a light southerly wind forecast so we decided to paddle from Fell Foot to Ambleside, enjoying a slight tail wind. Lake Windermere was a complete contrast to Loch Awe, numerous watercraft, including passenger steamers and private notices along the shore line. From a paddling perspective Windermere was the most challenging due to the wash off the boats, nothing too difficult but not flat calm either.
Friday was a much easier day, starting with a change of activity. We went canoeing! Thanks to TNR Outdoors we paddled across the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Not a major trip but one which should be part of all paddlers development, in my opinion. Living in Jersey canoeing is something we rarely get the opportunity to do, so its always a treat to experience some single blade paddling.
From here it was a quick drive to Bala to complete 2 lengths of Llyn Tegid on the SUP’s. In the 1970’s I lived near Bala for 2 years and cannot remember one day when the weather was as good as it was last Friday. Hundreds of people taking advantage of the easy access to the water. To complete the PaddleUK 3 Lakes Challenge you have to paddle up and down Llyn Tegid, whereas fortunately the other two lakes are one way only.
We had spent most of the last two weeks monitoring weather forecasts and were amazed as the beautiful weather continued. The last part of our Challenge was Yr Wyddfa, the highest peak in Wales. The first hint of change was becoming apparent a few days earlier and by Saturday morning it was clear that the perfect conditions of the previous 7 days were going to come to an end between 6.00 and 7.00 pm. Literally 3 hours after we had completed the 3 Peaks and 3 Lakes. How convenient.
Yr Wyddfa was a complete surprise (or shock), the sheer number of people heading up the various paths towards the summit was amazing. I thought that it was great to see so many people enjoying themselves on the highest peak in Wales. There must have been thousands of other walkers, but I am not complaining, there are less frequented areas of the National Park, if I wanted to escape the crowds. People of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, it really was quite a diverse mountain last Saturday.
Ok, there are a few niggles, people walking around drinking cans of lager, others playing loud music as they walk (how does anybody thing that is acceptable), a couple smoking some dope on the Miners track and so many dogs. Just like home some people put their dog poo in the plastic bags and then leave the bag at the side of the track. Perhaps they think a dog poo collector walks the hills every night collecting the plastic bags.
On all 3 mountains there was very little litter, which is really positive. The most common, in fact almost the only litter, was orange peel. I can picture it now, people leaving the peel behind in the belief that it is biodegradable. They are not wrong either, the problem is that in ideal conditions, warm and moist it can take 6 months to decompose. In colder environments it can take up to 2 years, so please encourage people to take their orange peel home. The evidence suggests that they take everything else home, so a bit of peel shouldn’t be too difficult.
When the idea of paddling the 3 Lakes was first suggested I have to admit that I was sceptical. Surely the weather towards the beginning couldn’t be settled enough for a successful completion of the Challenge. When it was suggested that we also did the 3 Peaks, I was even less confident. How wrong was I. Last week was one of the most satisfying weeks I have ever spent in the mountains and paddling. Clearly the weather was a major influence but the main contribution was from the group, such a great group people to go away with. We are already discussing possible destinations for next years SUP holiday.