Whinlatter bike trails

We drove the short distance up the hill from our camping spot to Whinlatter Forest Park and started on the Altura North trail, a 6-mile loop graded red (“difficult”). A fairly arduous climb with a few exposed sections rewarded us with a stunning view of the surrounding mountains and forest, then we descended through the trees along a good (if slightly wet) singletrack trail with flowing berms, technical rooty sections and some slippery rocky corners. The last part was one of the best bits of trail I’ve ever come across – a big switchback section down a flowing gravel track with a thrillingly steep drop on one side and quick berms, which gave little margin for error.

Exhilarated by the long, fast descent, we started off on the Altura South loop, which was 5.5 miles long and also graded red. Like the North loop, this started with a wooded climb which led to some lovely downhill sections with jumps, technical features and smooth, flowing bits, although nothing quite compared to the last section of the North loop.

Ryan’s knees were still suffering from our 12-hour hike a few days before, but for completeness we finished with the Quercus trail – a 4.5 mile blue (“moderate”) loop. It was certainly more easygoing but definitely worth doing, with some lovely open sections and smooth bits of singletrack.

Although my experience is limited to just a handful of purpose-built MTB trails, those at Whinlatter are without doubt some of the best I’ve done. I wrote about them previously (see blog post) as I’ve been once before, but then I didn’t have time for the Altura South and I was extremely keen to go back. All three trails are very well-maintained, offer stunning views of the surrounding mountains, valleys and forests, and provide an exciting variety of tough climbs, technical features and fast, flowing downhill. A great morning, and a great outing for my trusty but battered 2008 Specialized Rockhopper, Rocky.

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Derwentwater canoeing

We wanted to make the most of the day, so after a quick snack we headed down to Derwentwater and hired a two-person canoe from the marina. I’d never canoed before and Ryan had only been once, but we were soon paddling merrily along. The single oar took a bit of getting used to as opposed to a double-ended kayak paddle, as did the synchronised manoeuvring, but it was good fun and we stayed surprisingly dry. I learnt that the back person follows the stroke of the front person and steers by angling/dragging their oar, and the front person paddles along, humming obliviously and swapping the oar from left to right and vice versa as and when they fancy. Or that’s how we did it, anyway.

We had two hours, which was enough time to paddle anti-clockwise around about half of Derwentwater. It’s a large lake with several wooded islands, one or two big enough for a posh house and others no bigger than a car bonnet, which is surrounded on all sides by high, majestic peaks. Halfway round we approached a medium-sized island, admiring how we could see the smooth, brown pebbles several feet below through the clear water, and beached the canoe on a bank that was lush with overhanging foliage. The island was deserted, although people had clearly lit campfires between the tall trees in the middle, and we enjoyed a Thatchers Haze each before paddling on. On our way back to the marina we were treated to a fly-by from a fighter jet, a couple of carrier planes and a helicopter.

Satisfied with the day’s activities, we drove the short distance back to Keswick and found ourselves back in the Wetherspoons (as a trainee lawyer, I consider additional time spent in an old courthouse building invaluable experience). We agreed to climb Corvus the next day (see previous day’s post for background), drove along Derwentwater’s east bank back into the beautiful Borrowdale valley, and camped in a discrete layby.

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