25th March.
For the last moonlight paddle before the clocks go forward, 4 met at 7.00 at the Ambleside Waterhead carpark. Unloaded and ready to launch by 7.15.
The wind had dropped, the rain petered out, but the clouds wouldn’t part to let the moon peep through.
So we launched into the gloom and paddled away from the Waterhead lights and headed for the River Rothay to find some true darkness.
Annette, Graeme, Barry and JohnS gradually gained enough night vision to find our way up stream to the confluence with the Brathay. The Clappersgate bridge was reached before the flow of the river and the sound of the rapids ahead determined it was time to turn back.
Back to the Lake , still no moon and very dark by now. Visibility was no more than 5 metres so we numbered off from 1 to 4 and called out our number at intervals to make sure we were heading in the same direction.
A brief stop on the beach by Wray Castle for coffee had us wondering about the flashing light on the opposite shore. So we launched and headed across the lake to investigate. It turns out to be the light on the end of Brockhole Pier.
Then back along the shore past the bright lights of the Langdale Chase and the Low Wood hotels to Waterhead by 9.30. And still not a glimpse of moon. All packed and homewards by 10.00pm
Not a moonlit paddle but still a very enjoyable and peaceful trip.
The worm moon has risen. The final full moon of winter in the northern hemisphere appeared on March 25 and owes its name to Native Americans who noted winter’s end by the trails of earthworms it illuminated on the newly thawed soil.
JohnS
Lakeland Canoe Club 