Spring greens ! Watching the vibrant green leaves unfurl has been lovely , celebrating the start of another spring-to-summer transition . The start of our canoe trail season has been busy fencing land for our new Duke of Edinburgh campsite , like a scene from Clarkson ’ s farm . The weather has done its best to keep us all guessing , delivering four seasons in less than a day .
PADDLER 3
Foreword
Our rich adventure
Spring greens ! Watching the vibrant green leaves unfurl has been lovely , celebrating the start of another spring-to-summer transition . The start of our canoe trail season has been busy fencing land for our new Duke of Edinburgh campsite , like a scene from Clarkson ’ s farm . The weather has done its best to keep us all guessing , delivering four seasons in less than a day .
RICHARD HARPHAM
One of our first real trips of the season was paddling the River Tweed in April , which delivered plenty of excitement and so many friendly fisherfolk . The weirs and rapids made for a great paddle , and the ospreys catching fish before us was one of those golden moments we treasure . We picked up some new boats from Palm Dagger and I managed to drop in on the Thames at Lechslade . For a paddle – it was a trip down memory lane as I cast my mind back to 2009 and our length of the Thames paddle from Cricklade to Dartford in 33 hours . It would have been tough anyway , but the major blizzards certainly gave it an edge . It started our love of longer journeys which now stands over 12,000 miles between us .
By the time the August Paddler hits print , we will have completed our annual Yukon canoe expedition , although this will be my first trip for a few years with the lockdown . We are really excited to hit the trail as it will be Ash ’ s first trip to my adopted lands . In between , we have another exciting commitment with the Bushcraft Show 2023 , run by the Bushcraft and Survival Skills Magazine at Stamford Hall , speaking on stage and running water sports . It is a family show with a real community and , of course , headline speakers with Ray Mears back on stage this year .
We have been excited to develop new courses around pack rafting with a trip and some paddling skills and rescues combined . We have partnered up with Paqualife to become the world ’ s first Packaraft adventure training centre possibly . I first used them over a decade ago from Juneau to Whitehorse over the Chilkoot trail following the gold rush route of 1898 .
Despite the wet weather , we are looking forward to paddling new rivers , making new paddling friends and embracing 2023 as another year of adventure and messing about on the water . We reckon it will be a vintage year .
Happy Trails , and stay safe Ash and Rich
Richard Harpham , FRGS and Ashley Kenlock are human-powered adventurers , paddling coaches and leaders who have completed over 12,000 miles of expeditions by kayak , canoe , SUP , ski and bike . www . richadventure . com
They run the awardwinning Canoe Trail , watersports and adventure business together , offering coaching , expeditions and canoe and camp in Bedfordshire . www . canoetrail . co . uk
Thanks to BAM Clothing , Paramo , Valley Sea Kayaks , MSR , Palm Equipment and Silver Birch Canoes for sharing the dream .
PADDLER 3