Back on the Water - First Canoe of the Year

Spring is in the air! Sunglasses and sunhats were needed today down at the lake. It's remarkable to think that yesterday I was wading through thigh deep snow. What a diverse place Snowdonia is. The change in temperatures was a welcome addition to my first canoeing session of the year.

I had a small team who were able to enjoy a wonderful day paddling in the sun, surrounded by snowcapped mountains! There was barely any wind, which gave perfect canoeing conditions.

 

Recognise the mountain up ahead Mom? The one with snow on it? It's Crib Goch - the famous ridge scramble up to the summit of Snowdon (which was in the clouds most of day). It looked fantastic from our lake view.

 

Paddling back towards the coast, the skies were cloud free and beautifully blue.

 

Having finished with the canoe team at 5pm, I then embarked on a long evening of route setting at the climbing wall. I'm organising a bouldering competition this weekend, so needed to make a start on creating the competition routes and warm ups.

 

Most of the holds had been stripped (thanks John); all that remained was to get creative and get them back on the wall in an interesting and puzzling way. It could have been a daunting task, faced with a pretty much blank wall, hundreds of hand holds and a setting sun, but John sorted me out with some coffee making apparatus and a few oranges to keep me going.

Two cups of coffee, four oranges, one biscuit, four drill battery changes and multiple ladder climbs later and I was pretty much sorted and pretty much exhausted. I got home at 10pm and went directly to bed!....