Youth Hostel – Page 2

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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Great Whernside 090510

Another late start, but much faster journey to get to the Dales. This time to Kettlewell, only an hour and a half and parked up for £3.50 (I know the car park fee is incredibly boring but I put it in so I have the right money the next time).
I really needed the navigation skills in the village as managed to set off very confidently up the wrong lane and had to retrace my footsteps to get to the other side of the stream. Once I’d done that it was a very obvious path all the way. I passed a small campsite which appealed to me as it looked very clean and neat and it had a sign with lots of NOs.
From there, a steady ascent across grassy fields along the top of the valley, quite steep drops to the side. Only a few well behaved sheep i.e. they ran away rather than at me, although I am now so wary of them.
The half way point was delightfully named Hag Dyke and was clearly showing as a building, this turned out to be a scout hut in a fantastic location, no neighbours anywhere in sight, overlooking the valley with only a track to reach it. It’s an old farm house and has solar panels and a wind turbine. Inside some scouting people were sitting enjoying a blazing fire. This took me by surprise as I thought they would be out scouting (for girls ha ha that is so bad)!
I climbed up a short steep section and stopped at the top to have my cheese and mustard sandwich. Then it was time for a good chunk of fairly flat ground with another steep section to reach the summit.
It got a bit cold and threatened to rain but held off for the whole walk. Great Whernside is 704m and Whernside is 736m which strikes me as a bit illogical but there you go.
At the top, 2 people were wild camping. They had quite a big tent so I felt a bit sorry for the bloke who was packing it up and looked like he would be carrying it.
Whizzed back down in half the time it took to get up. Had to go and look in the outdoor shop but managed to restrain myself from going mad.
This was the first outing for my new very light rucksack which is called Villain. It really is light and has a lot of bits and pieces to twiddle with and certainly did the job just fine.
Great walk, managed to walk away some of the blues of the last few days.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Great+Whernside,+Kettlewell+with+Starbotton,+Craven+District,+United+Kingdom&aq=0&oq=great+whernside&sll=53.66049,-2.04408&sspn=0.016021,0.052314&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Great+Whernside&t=m&ll=54.160977,-1.998482&spn=0.015076,0.025749&z=14&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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Boggle Hole to Ravenscar 060410

Chris arrived prompt on time but we didn’t quite set off at the crack of dawn, after coffee and chocolate, it was more like mid morning. Nice day but seemed to take forever to get there. We stopped on the way and had more coffee in a pub. By the time we got to the car park for Boggle Hole youth hostel, we were both starving. We checked in and made up our bunk beds. If only I had noticed the pipe running along the bed then! Lovely spot for the YH, just at the end of Boggle Hole cove. Got to beach and quickly had our sandwiches. Then off along the beach south to meet the Cleveland Way at the next cove. Walked to Ravenscar and found that the National Trust shop and visitor centre we had been expecting was shut. Instead walked on to the cafe on the square and had refreshments. We left a lot of mud on the floor. I bought a book for 50p (Daughters of Britannia, which I remembered hearing ages ago on Radio 4). Then we went back much faster with the wind behind us to the YH, mindful of dinner at 7.00. 10km (6.2m). Got back in plenty of time to freshen up and get a beer. Dinner was butternut squash soup which we both had, very nice and burger for C which was less good and veg curry for me which was lovely. So full couldn’t eat the ice cream and so cancelled our order. Then we had another beer and went out to the sea. Just as we crossed the footbridge, a creature ran by C, she bent to pat it thinking it was a dog, and saw it was actually a badger! I heard a scuttling and thought it was C pootling about, turned just in time to see it as it ran up the hill. Pretty fast mover. After all this we were quite tired and went to bed early as neither of us fancied chatting to the other hostellers much. We only had one other woman in our dorm and she seemed reasonably harmless, although she did have a G-Force towel G-Force. We were both quite hot and then I discovered that my bed pipe was very hot but was so tired couldn’t be bothered to move. We both had a fairly sleepless night, and so did the guinea pig woman.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=boggle+hole&aq=&sll=53.793463,-2.063957&sspn=0.007985,0.026157&g=Walshaw+Dean+Lower+Reservoir,+Wadsworth,+Calderdale+District,+United+Kingdom&ie=UTF8&hq=boggle+hole&hnear=&radius=15000&t=m&ll=54.422725,-0.531464&spn=0.059924,0.102997&z=12&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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Some Dodds 300809

Started off from home a bit later than usual as would have more time later in the day. Getting through the Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere bottle neck was immense fun and made the journey seem never ending.

My original plan had been to pitch tent and then walk but it was so late I parked at Legburthwaite car park and got walking.

Up to Sticks Pass having lunch on the way with my back to the wind and rain and then left this time to reach Stybarrow Dodd. The tops were in total mist although it did clear enough for me to get an idea of what was where. The now properly waterproofed jacket did the job fine this time, as did the new waterproof gloves. Went across to Watson’s Dodd and then returned by the same route.

Got down in almost half the time it took to get up, despite the wet and grassy slopes. Wainwright hated grassy slopes. During his account of his walk up the Pennines during the outbreak of WW2, almost 70 years ago to the day, he describes his footwear in detail and it was not up to the job so I reckon he skidded around too much on the grass and didn’t like it. In that book, he comes over as a very selfish and grubby man. No change of clothes for his weeks of walking and only one handkerchief! My favourite episode is where he arrives at a farm which has been flooded and Mrs Farmer is busy trying to deal with a flood. Instead of pitching in or offering to help, he demands tea from her!

As well as some more physical fitness, all this solo walking is also giving me more mental stamina and confidence which is great. So some good has come out of the apparent lunacy!

Back to the car, passing the old Thirlmere youth hostel at Stanah, now a very sorry sight, neglected and left to rot. The YHA shut it in 2001.

Decided to go to Castlerigg Farm Campsite as opposed to Castlerigg Hall Campsite. These are literally next door to each other but the Hall has lots of facilities and the Farm has fewer and is cheaper plus it has a “no noise after 10.30” policy.

I put the tent up very quickly, the dry run in the sitting room proved useful. It actually stopped raining whilst I did this which was nice, although not strictly necessary as the tent pitches with the fly attached, fab.

Got settled in and cooked my supper, pasta with stir in sauce, excellent. I was so hungry. Pocket Rocket worked like a dream, heated water fast. Pots also efficient as well as light.

Got warmed up with Paramo gilet and got into sleeping bag. Also warm and comfy. Dark early so read my book and tried to sleep but foam sleeping mat just not enough for my bones. Then it rained and rained and blew and blew so finally dozed off sometime around 3.00. Woke at 7.00, very groggy.

Brewed up coffee and had breakfast. Now so wet that decided to cancel walk to Helvellyn. Felt a bit crap about giving up walk, that had been purpose of camping trip but rain was extreme.

Struck camp, throwing all wet stuff, i.e. nearly everything, straight into the boot. The tent had kept me warm and dry and did very well for its first outing. A good test for future wild camps. All gear had worked well.

Went to Castlerigg stone circle and wandered round it in the rain. Then went and took some photos of the youth hostel at Stanah. Into Keswick to wander round all the gear shops for an hour.

Set off for home. Yet another crawl most of the way. Bit disappointed but the mountain will still be there next week.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=watsons+dodd&aq=&sll=54.534087,-2.970821&sspn=0.125498,0.41851&ie=UTF8&hq=watsons+dodd&hnear=&t=m&ll=54.534231,-2.971115&spn=0.119521,0.205994&z=11&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

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