I've been up in the English Lake District since Thursday, assisting and assessing a team of BTEC students who have had to plan and complete a multi-day expedition. It's fair to say that the weather didn't show the area in its best light, but the level of general, harmless banter and good camaraderie easily made up for that.
On a climbing trip in 2011, Clare and I had had a look around the camping barn below Wallowbarrow crag and I thought it would be a great place for a little expedition group such as this, so I was delighted to find that it had been booked by the team for us. There's an 'alpine bunk' style sleeping area upstairs. Aled and I opted for the downstairs option; I took the table top and he the fireside. I slept soundly couldn't even be woken by the persistent Cockrel that got everyone up at 6am! Or my alarm an hour later for that matter.
It's always good to be able to walk straight from the hut. No faffing around with buses or lifts, just get up, eat breakfast, put your boots on and go. We had a big day ahead of us and the team had insisted on cooking a full English breakfast. Who was I to get in their way! It made for a good start, especially as there was even a bit of sunshine around as we set off up the Duddon Valley.
The way to Seathwaite involved some pretty straightforward navigation and despite the temptation for an early break, we dug deep and pressed on past the pub and tea room with great resolve.
We soon joined the Walner Scar Road for a short section, before cutting off across the fells to Seathwaite Tarn.
Over to the west, the familiar summit of Harter Fell dominated the skyline and brought back good memories of when Paul and I had made an ascent one summer in the mid-1990s.
Just before the tarn, the first wave of what was to be several hail storms arrived. The wind was strong meaning that they tended to be short, sharp affairs, blowing through quite quickly.
With the mist down, we had to concentrate on the map much more. Gloves were worn all day long, as well as my waterproofs.
After a couple of exciting river crossings, (or Becks, as they say around these parts), we reached the very windy summit of the Old Man of Coniston, where we got some fleeting glimpses of Coniston down on the far side.
We traversed the ridge from the summit over Dow Crag, Buck Pike and Brown Pike, which eventually totaled a 20km distance day. While we moved along, the sun kept doing it's best to break through in the distance.
But every time it looked like it might, the clouds lowered and we were left in the mist again.
Until the final descent from Brown Pike down onto the Walna Scar Road.
The light from the distant setting sun was superb as we made our way down to the easier ground in fading light on the Walna Scar.
It was dark by the time we got back to the hut and we were all glad to have our boots off and huddle around the warmth of the fire. Simple things. There's been no phone signal or wifi anywhere in the valley and it's meant that we've all taken part in some good debates, games and even had a belting sing-song with me on guitar and Aled playing the piano in the hut! Good times...
No comments:
Post a Comment