Grizedale Forest Tarn Trail

Grizedale Forest is somewhere we have visited a few times since we moved up to Kendal. My parents took us in 2011 to check out the brand new clockwork trees. We were then invited to the opening day of the new Go Ape Junior in April 2014 which we combined with checking out the Gruffalo trail. I then won tickets for the full Go Ape course. Our next visit was in 2015 for the AND festival outdoor movie in September followed by the Petzl Night run 10km in December. We kept up the night visits by going on a stargazing evening in 2016 but haven't been back since!

My son is looking for more trail runs on easy to follow routes so I suggested that we went to Grizedale as it has many such trails. I printed off the leaflet from the web site which tells you the distance of each trail and whether it is easy, moderate or strenuous. He selected the 5.5 km moderate Tarn Trail which meant we needed to park in car park. 

We had slightly meandering drive there as my son wasn't paying attention to the phone instructions plus a road closure! However, we arrived just as the sun came back out after a grey day. The signage on site was very clear so you could find out where you needed to go:

We had to follow the white trail signs which would lead us to Grizedale Tarn. This took us past some of the art work that the forest is famous for. Unfortunately after 9 years the clockwork trees no longer make music:

The paths curve round so that you get lovely surprises around corners. Bridges and stepping stones make it easy to follow, although I wouldn't recommend the giant stile as an easy route:

#CountryKids Go Ape Junior Sherwood Pines

One of the group activities on our Single With Kids break was a trip to Go Ape at Sherwood Pines. On previous Go Ape trips my son had refused to have a go but this time he was encouraged to do it as lots of the other children were taking part. He has inherited my fear of heights but he gained in confidence as he kept on going around. You can see the difference in him in my video:

I will have to save up to do it all again if we lead the break next year! I wonder if he will ever be brave enough to do the adult course like his big sister has done...

Reasons to be Cheerful: So much fun! #R2BC

Glad to see I am not entirely on my own to still be blogging in the school holidays judging by last week's entries. Once again thanks for joining in and sharing your happiness. I look forward to seeing what everyone has to say this week before I hand back over to Ojo's World for August (good job her Internet is fixed!). Any way here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:

1) A day at the seaside

I had forgotten how much we loved the beach until we went to Blackpool for the day. Sun, sea and sand made for a magic combination:

Oh and a magic/comedy show too:

#CountryKids Go Ape at Grizedale

Sometimes I can be quite lucky in competitions and winning a couple of tickets for Go Ape via their Facebook page was definitely a good one! Today my daughter and I took advantage of her little brother's absence to use them at Grizedale as we had't tried the full sized course there. We have been on the Junior one on its opening day and had our birthday treat on the Whinlatter course. 

The Grizedale course is the highest in the UK (good job I didn't remember that before agreeing to go there!). Being the main summer season I booked the night before which was just as well as it was completely full by the time we arrived in the afternoon. Once we had completed the safety talk and test run we were let loose on the course itself. So it was up the first rope ladder and onto the challenges:

What is great is that each section is different so there is something new to try and conquer. Every one was graded Easy, Difficult or Extreme. Interestingly my daughter and I found each one different and when I struggled she was OK and vice versa! For example she wasn't happy on the barrel tunnel:

My only problem on there was trying to get out at the end! Turned out I was facing wrong way and had to somehow get my legs in front of my body in a small space (glad no-one videoed it!). Unlike October my daughter was much taller than the minimum so she found it easier to reach everything:

Some of the ascents were incredibly high and seemed to go on forever...

Being a busy day we had a long wait on a few sections which a) gave a chance to recover b) gave us more time to get worried about what was to come! I was pretty scared on a few sections especially when I ended up with my feet higher than my head on the bosun's chair... 

The last Tarzan swing was going to be too much for me (I am not good climbing up cargo nets) but luckily the staff member on duty kept my daughter by her side whilst I got myself round to where my daughter would finish up. Of course I then had to return the way I had come on some scary bits.. I was quite relieved to be on the home straight:

We then got to do our Monkey Selfies:

video to follow once my phone talks to my laptop.. there is some on Instagram

Review: Go Ape Junior at Grizedale

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Today saw the opening of Go Ape Junior at Grizedale and we were amongst those lucky enough to be invited along to try it out! Having experienced the full Go Ape at Whinlatter my daughter and I were keen to try out another course. I hoped that my 7 year old would try it out but his fear of heights was too much. So it was only the 2 of us that headed up to the new course to give it a go:

It looked like a giant tree house! As you would expect safety is paramount and before we were allowed to ascend. Unlike the full course you are permanently attached to the safety line and it only comes off once you are back on the ground:

Reasons to be Cheerful week 43 #R2BC

Doesn't this linky come round fast! Not fast enough to get us to half term though.. Here are my reasons to be cheerful this week:

1) Proud of myself

I can't believe that I actually managed to get round Go Ape at the weekend! I am a) scared of heights and b) not physically strong so very cheerful about it all:

2) Proud of my son

Compliments about my son's footballing skills from his after school coach. All the Little Kickers lessons must be paying off:

3) Proud of my daughter

She did even better on Go Ape than me! Nothing seemed to phase her and she even did one bit I failed to do. Here she is showing me how to cross a cargo net:

4) Sunshine at last

Its been so wet this week it was great to finally have a sunny day to have a run in:

Why are you cheerful?

#CountryKids Go Ape at Whinlatter #WeLoveForests

Sometimes you have to fulfil those promises you hope your child will forget. In my case today it was the when you are 10 we will do Go Ape together. The fact I hate heights and am totally useless at rope ladders and scramble nets didn't get me out of this one!

Just glad my son is 3 years too young even if he is already tall enough at not quite 7:

Having signed mine and my daughter's lives away on the safety form we had our briefing and checked out how to use the course. At this point I thought we would manage to miss the extreme routes:

You really shouldn't look too closely at the course before you tackle it as it looks pretty daunting:

The first section combines a practice and a test of whether we have listened to the instructor. It lets you in gently:

Then it was time for our first little zip wire which we both managed before you get to the point of no return as once you pass through the next gate you are committed and can't get a refund! I have to say the subsequent sections are a lot higher than the first one: