Chris Howarth – Page 15

Nearly Bow Fell 130610

The government could save a lot of money by disbanding the Met Office. How did fine and cool turn into WET and warm?
I picked Chris up just after 7.30, this in itself was not bad for a Sunday, I got up at 6.15. We stopped on the way at Lancaster services for vital coffee and lunch items from Marks and Spencer, well the coffee was from the Costa Coffee outlet. This time it was almost overstaffed and we got served quickly.
We had another little break in Ambleside for walking poles for Chris from Trespass. I got some socks and a replacement work rucksack as mine now deposits little black bits everytime I get anything out of it. Great cheap shop, C also bought some trousers. Funny how she and I seem to gravitate towards the retail outlets when we are together!
We got to the excellently named Dungeon Ghyll and were fleeced by the National Trust car park to the tune of £6. I must remember to try to find out car parking information before I set out, this was a shame as C has NT membership.
So at 11.30 we started walking. The first 2 km are flat tarmac which is good to get warmed up. Then it’s up from the also delightfully named Stool End Farm. There were a lot of people dressed in red doing something strange with what looked like a block and tackle (no more double entendres, I can’t cope!) They didn’t seem to be moving much, apart from a large plastic tank of who knows what. We surmised that they could be Cave Rescue people working out how to get someone out of a hole, but why they’d do this without an actual hole I don’t know. They all wore red helmets.
Some cheerful chaps passed us, and we wended our way up, taking waterproofs off, putting them back on, getting wet through, being too hot, being too cold. The first stretch is quite steep and a little bit scrambly, then it flattens out for a good 1.5 km which is a nice easy walk. By this stage we had no view at all but the path is very good and so there is no problem about going near the significant drop from the plateau. The only thing we didn’t see was the Climbers’ Traverse and this was really just as well as it wouldn’t have been safe in these conditions.
I was getting hungry so we decided to continue to Three Tarns in the rain, and this was quickly reached by another shortish steep section. We saw 2 not at all cheerful men coming down and they were all we saw on our ascent. And this is one of Wainwright’s favourite mountains.
We lunched at Three Tarns, my quinoa salad (home made, not M&S) seemed to be afloat in seconds thanks to the extra portion of rainwater. A nutritionally challenged young couple expressed admiration of our lunches but this was only because all they’d had was 2 bars of Kendal Mint Cake and a banana. More fool them, the best bit is the lunch!
I was anxious about attempting the summit in the hideous conditions so we decided not to. The mountain will be there for the next time. As soon as we started to descend, literally 5 minutes off the top, the rain stopped. I’d got all my clothes on by this point so as we dried off, all the layers came off. Chris was visibly steaming! Even though it stopped raining, the mist stayed on the top of Bowfell so we still wouldn’t have seen anything from the summit.
This has to be the best mountain so far in the Lakes for me. Despite the crap weather, it was stunningly beautiful so another trip is definitely on the cards for this one.
We got back to the car park. Boots off and then the very handy Famous Walkers Bar. Needless to say, we had a debate on were the walkers famous or was it just the bar? I still don’t know the answer. The pub web site is indicating that it’s a bar for a single walker. Lynne Truss will be tearing her hair out!
Chris ordered a pot of tea which we took outside to a damp bench. We were surrounded by lots of very tame birds – sparrows, robins, chaffinches and a blue tit. Some of them looked like they would perch on my hand. The tea was so strong it gave us new chest hairs (4 bags in the pot) and our rest was punctuated by the local mad person sitting behind us chuntering softly away to himself. He wasn’t even very old but at least he has somewhere to sit so I guess this is care in the community.
Drove back via the short cut which leads onto the Wrynose pass – though short this was pretty exciting driving. Then back to Tod to drop C off. I finally collected the Easter egg which has been lurking in Chris’ cupboard for several months. This is the egg I won in the hairdressers’ raffle which I was giving to Carol. Every time I get my hair cut, my hairdresser asks about it and now thinks that Chris has eaten it!
Home damp and hungry but quickly sorted out. Great day.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bow+Fell,+Eskdale,+Copeland+District,+United+Kingdom&aq=2&oq=bow+fell&sll=53.684599,-2.064403&sspn=0.016012,0.052314&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Baugh+Fell&t=m&ll=54.43331,-3.166809&spn=0.059908,0.102997&z=12&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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Chris and Jak’s Lakeland Adventure Saturday 150510

Woke up very early, listening to the birds and sheep. Chris continued to sleep for some time despite my best efforts to rouse her. I was big time hungry so had a preliminary breakfast of muesli and yoghurt. Then she woke up and we had a cup of delicious coffee, now whilst this was very nice, I could probably have coped with a double ration of coffee bags or disposable filters so will go for one of those options next time to save on the weight of the plastic cafetiere. For our shared breakfast we had rice and curry sauce and more coffee! This was a great way to warm up and start the day.
C washed up and we both pootled about, the sun came out and we started to feel nice and warm. We struck camp (why to strike?) and set off back up the slope with somewhat lighter packs. We ambled back to the car, waited whilst some lambs got enough bottle to get past us and back to their mother, then squeezing ourselves under the bush again.
At the car, we had a great pfaffing interlude, dumping all the camping kit and putting in some youth hostel necessities. A bite of lunch whilst sitting on a log and then we meandered our way along the track to High Gillerthwaite youth hostel to arrive about 4.00.
We wandered in to wait until the warden arrived at 5.00. At the back there was a bloke lolling about on the grass. I couldn’t understand much of what he said, I thought Geordie, C thought Brummie but the main thing we both got was that his walking partner was ill with stomach upset. We both thought he was talking about a woman but this partner turned out to be a very big man who looked like he’d just left gaol.
We booked in with Tony the manager who was very friendly, I complimented him on having put up a poster for gay walkers. We ordered our dinner and packed lunch for the next day.
The hostel is small but very well situated, with great views to Pillar. The other hostellers were the 2 crims, 2 not very friendly women, a bunch of Germans with breathing difficulties and some mountain men plus a very nice man we both liked called Stuart.
C and I made our beds and got clean again. The hostel has a good standard of furnishing and decor, better than Boggle Hole in that respect.
Then it was time for beer and dinner. Beer was local and mostly named after fells. We shared a bowl of cheesy nachos for a starter which was ok. I had veggie chilli and C had meat, it looked like I had a better deal as I got a lot of veg in mine.We both had baked potatoes which were let down by the margarine spread – yuck – no butter available.
More beer and then we went out, mainly to escape the crims, for a walk in the Black Sail hut direction. Lovely evening, beautiful clear streams. Then back for more beer. I thought it would help me sleep a bit more.
So tired C and I toddled off to our bunks quite early, C in the top, me below. The room was for 4 people and she and I had arrived first and picked the best beds for ourselves. At least this time I didn’t have a hot pipe running down the side of the bed, however that didn’t stop me from being roasted alive. Foolishly I had dropped off to sleep before opening the window, although I did turn all the radiators in the vicinity off. No sooner had I nearly dropped off than the 2 slightly unfriendly women turned up to whisper but they did get to bed quite quickly.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ennerdale+Water,+Ennerdale+and+Kinniside,+Copeland+District,+United+Kingdom&aq=0&oq=ennerdale&sll=54.540988,-3.354172&sspn=0.007842,0.026157&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Ennerdale+Water&t=m&ll=54.522576,-3.381643&spn=0.014944,0.025749&z=14&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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Chris and Jak’s Lakeland Adventure Sunday 160510

C and I both had a rotten night, too hot, too thirsty but I couldn’t face trying to locate my water bladder which was in my rucksack in the box under the bunk. Then our companions decided to rise early and took all their stuff out of the room and got dressed in the passage. They were doing the C2C and had masses of stuff to carry, huge cameras, books, make up. All I can say is they must be very strong. As they’d properly managed to wake us up by being so considerate we had a chat with them and they seemed a bit more friendly.

Two of the German men were in the room next door to us with the ok crim and the sick crim (self inflicted I suspect given the amount of beer he was drinking). The Germans had to have an extension cable going into the room for their breathing apparatus – they were also doing the C2C but with a Sherpa Van to carry their kit. The 2 women had moved the safety sign which had been put up so that people wouldn’t trip over the cable and helpfully propped it against the door into which the wire went. Sometimes I really do think some people have no sense at all.

C and I both felt very tired so we packed up and went down to breakfast at 7.30. I had muesli and yoghurt and we both had some cooked food, my veggie option not so good, in fact it had that old soapy taste of dried soup from the 70s. Also scrambled egg which I hadn’t asked for and which reminds me far too much of vomit. More toast, no marg for me, just couldn’t face it. We picked up some very nice flapjack and our packed lunches and headed out. The YH is convenient for getting food prepared but the quality is pants for the price. Also they say all their food is locally sourced, organic, fair trade but they are tied in to one supplier so this is bollocks. I’m now starting to think I don’t really want to stay in a YH again as I don’t sleep and the food quality is only ok. The packed lunch was ok but nothing to write home about. I checked out to see if we could camp at Black Sail for when we do our assault on Pillar but this is apparently not an option, so we’ll just have to carry our curries! Which were delicious in comparison with the YH!
We set off to circuit Ennerdale Water via the south side. This was a lovely walk and everyone else was coming the other way. Some people we saw twice. It looked like it might rain at one point but then it got really warm.
We stopped to eat our squashed sandwiches at the end of the lake near some swans. Then we trotted back around to Bowness Knot and the car.
A bit more pfaffing and moving of items from A to B and back again and it was time to head off to Bassenthwaite. We’d been out of mobile contact since Saturday morning when I’d very briefly got a signal but we still had to drive quite a way before a flurry of texts came whizzing in. It wasn’t very far to get to Bassenthwaite and the Castle Inn.
We checked in, sorted a table for dinner and then went up to our room, no our suite! I had forgotten we’d upgraded to a suite. Totally fab having an extra room. The bathroom was great, huge shower which I quickly took avail of. Then straight off for a swim, jacuzzi, steam room and sauna. Chris ordered a bucket of ice and we put the champagne in and had a little aperitif while getting ready for dinner.
Dinner was nice, quite plain but good that you could really taste the food. Chris had something fishy and I had unidentified vegetable soup. C went for sea bass and me for lamb shank. We washed it down with some large glasses of Sauvignon. Both selected creme brulee for dessert. A small child came to look at us so I put my napkin and did the “how much for the little girl?” bit from the Blues Brothers. After all that we just had to polish off the champagne and then both so knackered it was time for bed.

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Chris and Jak’s Lakeland Adventure Monday 170510

Both woke quite early after a somewhat better sleep with the window open but perhaps not open enough as I had been pretty hot again. Bloody hell, middle age seems to mean not sleeping and increasingly losing my senses, that’s in the plural.
Breakfast time again. We picked up the usual cereals and juices etc. and then both asked for food that wasn’t exactly what was on the menu. C for bacon and me for ham and poached egg. We were both half way through eating our cereal when the hot food arrived and got plonked down so we had to finish off the cereal holding the bowls up. I don’t know why we didn’t protest and send the hot stuff back, really we should have done but I was so surprised it didn’t occur to me! It was nice but not massive in the portion department by any means. We picked up some flapjack to take with us just in case we felt a terrible urge to eat at any point.
Chris went off to use the pool and associated facilities again and I had another lovely shower and then went down to try out the Wii machine. I played some tennis very badly, no change there although I could see how it might possibly make me better at it. Good fun and confirmed that I don’t need to buy one! It said I had a fitness age of 80 which was mildly disconcerting.
Then we packed up and checked out, and whizzed into Keswick. Parked up by the lake and had a not very strong coffee in an old fashioned lakeside cafe. Then off for a tour of the lake by boat. This was lovely, weather was great. Back to the town for lunch, funny how quickly one gets hungry. Went into Bar 26, this was a very fortuitous move, nice cafe, nice food, nice loo! C had soup and a baguette and I had a lamb and mint burger, very tasty and nicely presented. Also good strong coffee.
It was time to hit the shops, and although it felt like we went in every outdoor shop in the town the best one seemed to be George Fisher. And thus passed several happy hours until we were shopped out and it really was time to go home.
We set off but only got to Tebay services where we just had to check out the opportunities for more spending. Got back to Tod by 7.00 and I was home before 8.00. A really great weekend with lots done and good weather all through. Thanks Chris.

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Chris and Jak’s Lakeland Adventure Friday 140510

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I didn’t sleep very well as was concerned about my rucksack being too heavy. I arrived at Chris’ house to find her still squeezing the kitchen sink into her rucksack. We set off and stopped at the services near Lancaster to take advantage of Marks and Spencer. We took advantage of a few other things and nearly froze to death waiting for our drinks at Costa Coffee, which wasn’t giving me any points for my Costa Coffee card. We both got nice healthy salads for lunch and filled wraps for the next day’s lunch. About an hour later we arrived at Bowness Knot car park which thankfully was free – I’m not sure what we would have done if a ticket machine needed to be fed with money over 3 days. We lunched before getting going.
We finally left the car park and plodded along the road, it was hard to get used to the full pack and various aches and pains came and went. Set off along the footpath only to find that it was obstructed by a fallen tree/bush. This meant we had to crawl through dragging our packs with us. We took it all slow and steady, stopping to watch shepherding by quad bike, motorbike and dog. Seemed to involve a lot of shouting for no particularly obvious purpose. No whistling or arcane gestures sadly. Whatever happened to “One Man and his Dog“? That answers that then, how weird it’s still going, bit like the Archers.
We continued to rise gently and reached Floutern Tarn at about 5.30. We were very careful about picking a camp site, and ended up close to the lake’s edge but not too close on a nice dry spot which was reasonably flat and a bit sheltered from the wind.
Next we pitched the tents which for me took forever as I’d put it away with some of the tent attached to the wrong bits of the flysheet. Chris got her Vango Banshee up pretty quickly. My Vango Spirit followed. By this time it was starting to get a bit nippy so I trudged back up the hill to find a phone signal, fabulous views across to Haystacks.
Returning to camp, we quickly got cooking. Settled on 2 curries and rice. This was just about the right amount of food and was hot and quick to prepare. Great. Then Chris came in my slightly bigger tent to do the crossword. Then although it was still light it was time to try and get warm enough to sleep. This proved hard for both of us, Chris only had a lightweight down bag with silk liner so she wore most of her clothes. I had a heavier weight down bag and was warm on top but my feet were like lumps of ice. Eventually when it finally got a little bit dark, I took my socks off and rubbed my feet together and then they got warm and I managed to sleep. My self inflating sleeping mat was good, a huge improvement on Karrimats.
I’m not sure how much less I would carry to keep the weight down, my tent is heavier than I thought, 3 litres of water is heavy but I used most of it. The most important thing we didn’t have was any rum!

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