Another weekend in the lakes

SATURDAY

After last weekend’s fell walking we’d been itching to get back up to The Lakes all week and had a walk planned ready.  The weather wasn’t looking great, not wet but just looked like it might be cloudy so we thought we’d go for it anyway.

The plan was to take in 4 Wainwrights starting with Great Carrs.  The reason we planned this particular walk was that back in March we did Coniston Old Man then after we’d got home we checked the route more closely and realised we could’ve taken in four other Wainwrights if we'd planned the route a little better We are trying to bag all the Wainwrights without retracing any of our steps, thus bagging the optimum amount on each walk.

After a hairy drive up Wrynose Pass we parked up next to the Three Shire Stone.

Three Shire Stone

The Three Shire Stone marks the actual spot where the historical counties of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland all meet.

Waiting for the cloud to lift

The cloud was coming down quite low, so we decided to have a brew and wait and see if it would lift.  We decided to go for it, we could always turn back if things got too bad.

This is the thing really, I am really keen to bag all 214 Wainwrights but I’m also keen to do them when the weather is good, or at least with good visibility for the views and scenery.  As we continued on up the fell we came to a junction in the path where we had to head up towards Great Carrs along Wet Side Edge. The fog was getting thicker and if it wasn’t for the well trodden path underfoot it would’ve been difficult to see where we needed to walk.

It was soon time to leave Wet Side Edge and head up towards the summit.  The path then became non-existent over rocks and was slippery underfoot, the temperature had dropped considerably too at this point and the wind had got up and it was getting difficult to stand upright, we had about 0.16 miles to get to the summit but we couldn’t even see it, visibility was that poor, when we turned around we couldn’t even see where we’d just come from.  It was at this point that I decided we should turn around, Mark was happy to carry on but I wasn't happy ... it didn't help that Mark was humming the 999 theme tune behind me!   Click below if you're too young to remember it ...

Also I ran through the likely news report in my head should I need rescuing 'Middle-aged woman airlifted to safety after becoming cragfast on Great Carrs'... There is no way I ever want to be referred to as a middle aged woman!  If it was just a case of walking another 500ft or so to the summit and then turn round and come back down then maybe we could’ve continued but this was just the start of what we had intended to be a 10 mile walk and we were only about 1.5 miles into it!  So it was looking as though we’d have to come back anyway to bag Grey Friars, Swirl How and Wetherlam.  Annoyingly I didn't take any photos as it was just too windy and also the cloud was really wet and I didn't want to wreck my camera.

Coming back down

So we turned around and headed back down the fell and by this point we couldn’t see a thing in front of us and were relying completely on our track log on the GPSrs.  It was a relief to get back to Wet Side Edge where it was well trodden and we couldn’t go far wrong with the route.  At this point I started to relax again and we found a sheltered spot to stop for a cake and a brew before continuing back down to the camper.

Well it was certainly an experience, no views really to speak of but a good walk and at least we know what to expect when we come back in the Spring, hopefully with clear views too!

We found a couple of easier caches on the way to Windermere and spent the rest of the day mooching around the Christmas market and the shops in Windermere before heading off to our favourite camping spot in Ambleside ready for our walk on Loughrigg in the morning.

SUNDAY

I never sleep particularly well at home, in fact without fail I always wake up about 3 or 4 times during the night then struggle to get back to sleep, then wake up exhausted when my alarm goes off at 6.  I never have this problem in the campervan.  I put this down to the fact that during the week I sit at a desk all day and end up going to bed mentally tired instead of physically tired.  On Saturdays we usually walk all day and this means I have no problem sleeping.  Anyway I forgot to set the alarm and we didn’t wake up until 8am!!!  A lie-in for us!

We enjoyed a lovely walk on Loughrigg last Sunday so decided to explore a bit more of Loughrigg fell today and find a few more caches there.

We planned a 5 mile walk, the weather was fine, the sun didn’t put in an appearance but the views were still stunning.  I think that’s what I’m enjoying most about having the campervan, getting to see this area through the changing seasons and all weathers.  It doesn’t really matter what the weather is doing really, it’s so beautiful all year round but in different ways.  Anyway  I’ve waxed lyrical enough about the beauty of this area so just going to nip into Ambleside for a couple of Christmas presents before heading home.