After my Sligo adventure and my vow to get outside more as the lockdown eased, I took a couple of early morning, pre-work paddles and a couple of evening, post-factory walks. Living as we do in beautiful County Clare, we are spoilt for choice by the lakes, forests and hills on our doorstep.

Last Friday evening, I was due to get my second dose of the Moderna vaccine, and had heard many tales of the likely side effects*. It seemed my only opportunity for another microadventure would be Friday morning. We were in the middle of a run of fine weather and so I loaded up the kayaking and coffee-making gear the night before and planned for an early start.

As usual, I never get up as early as planned, but was still on the water by 6:45am. A cold night and early morning sunshine caused a mist over the water that burned off as I brewed my coffee on the far shore from my start point; not before I had chance to snap a few pictures…

Doon Lough is only 1.2km long but it’s possible to make a decent kayaking trip by taking the slow-moving river that links Doon Lough to its larger neighbour Lough Gar (names are not a strong point in these parts), and looping around each of the lakes.
Both are popular with anglers from the shore and from boats. The woodland on the shore is Coiltte managed and open to the public to explore the walking trails and views of the hills surrounding Broadford – it is a very special part of the world.

*As it turned out, I woke up on Saturday morning after my injection the previous night and felt OK; I thought I had gotten away with it. By the early afternoon, I had a killer of a headache and zero energy, and stayed in this state until Monday lunchtime…