#best-adventures-in-the-lake-district

Best Adventures in The Lake District

Best Adventures in The Lake District - The Esk Gorge

In recent weeks we have been lucky enough to have visited the Esk Gorge on a number of occasions. It always feels a privilege to show our customers this magnificent place and even though a small part of the river has now been popularised by the ‘Insta’ generation, there is so much more to explore and most of it is still an isolated paradise.

The Esk Gorge is suitable for adventurous families with older children, stag & hen groups, birthday get togethers, and couples. And for almost any other occasion for that matter.

What’s it like? Well there’s a summary of what you can expect when booking this trip with us here

But in a nutshell, it’s absolutely fantastic.

Ideal conditions for a visit is a warm and sunny day, or at least one of those. And some recent rain if you’re looking for additional excitement. But thankfully, the catchment area for this gorge is so huge, that even after very long dry spells, there will be plenty of water to have a brilliant time.

Our most recent two visits were very different due to water levels. Both occasions we enjoyed warm sunshine which is always nice of course.

Last week we were joined by a couple of locals from Grange-Over-Sands. Both being regular open water swimmers and having been in gorges before, so this was the ideal next step venue. A couple of weeks previously we had had to postpone our visit due to there being flooding and huge amounts of water everywhere. Second time around we got lucky and it let us in.

Water levels were still high, and this made progress challenging at times, all part of the fun. Swimming against the flow was often almost impossible, but with various improvisation techniques we forged a route upstream via cascades and pools. We finished up at the Emerald pool with its beautiful twin waterfalls and rainforest feel. After a good swim and explore in there we floated back downstream which was a joyful end to the session.

On Friday I was back in the Esk, this time with a stag group of 8. At their request we had a much later than usual start time of 1pm. This, along with the amazing weather, caused us all a few parking issues. Thankfully we all managed to find a space and away we went. Walking in the midday sun was soon to take its toll on us all though. After about 20 minutes of flat walking, we had to stop and take a dip in the river. We’ve never needed to do this before but on Friday this was essential. Today being a day I wish we had thinner wetsuits rather than our very warm 5mm from Lomo

After passing the busy area around Tongue Pot, we got ourselves into the water and set off on our adventures, and what a time we had. Big jumps for everyone, lots of waterfall scrambling, and everyone rose to the challenges the gorge gave us on the day. All the best to Dan on the forthcoming marriage.

For anyone looking for an exciting adventure here in the Lake District this is definitely worth considering. We cater for individuals, group bookings, couples, birthday parties, corporate events, team building, stag and hen weekends. For more information or to book, please do get in touch.

Thanks for reading

Mark

#canyoning-lake-district