Day 1 - Trip to Treen
After packing BOXY with all the toys and kit we were going to need for a week in the wild west of Cornwall we were on the road not long after nine. Travelling down on a Monday before the school holidays means very little traffic so after a slow relaxing drive we stopped off in Portreath for a late breakfast. The waves were non-existent and the weather was more like October than June :( We took shelter in a cafe by the car-park and ordered a fry up and a coffee. A few other potential tourists wandered across the car-park to look at the view but the village was really quiet considering it was June.
We decided to head off to Penzance to stock up on a few extra supplies and a quick walk up and down the high street. By the time we got there the weather had got worse and it had even started to rain a bit. The high point of the stop was seeing a seal down near the lido. We ran out the two hour ticket we had paid for in the car-park before heading off again. We actually drove down to Land's End but decided the £4 they wanted just to park wasn't really worth it. If we really wanted to see Land's End again we could always walk in from somewhere on the Coast Path. By now it was after three o'clock so we headed to the campsite. We had never stayed at Treen Farm before but the reviews on the net sounded good. To be honest it wasn't as good as I'd expected. The field we stayed in didn't have any divisions between the pitches other than a wooden picnic table. We set up in one corner on our own, but by the time we left there was a tent about 15 feet in front of BOXY's sliding door and it was a little bit claustrophobic. Other than that the site & the facilities were fine. The best thing about the site was that it was only a few minutes walk to the coast path. Once we'd had a brew and set our camp up we went exploring. The weather had started to clear a bit and the views from the coast path were pretty impressive. We headed east up to the logan stone. We climbed out on to the headland but couldn't find any stones that rocked. On the way back we watched a few Gannets stuka bombing into the sea after fish. Then we saw a few crows chasing what looked like a peregrine that had a small crow in its claws. The crows forced it out over the sea where it decided to drop its lunch and then out-run its pursuers. We found another footpath back to the campsite and headed back for tea and an early night.   

Day 2 - Coastal Walk - Treen to Nanjizal
We woke up on Tuesday morning to a sea mist which was thick enough to hide Porthcurno down the coast. We had already decided to spend the day walking west towards Porthgwarra and Nanjizal. The mist didn't really thin out much all day which was a pity because the views would have been spectacular. The path is really up and down so the first two or three miles felt more like double that. At Porthgwarra we stopped for a cup of tea and a pasty in the cafe. While we were there a dive boat came in and moored up in the cove. This led to the surreal scene of a table full of people dressed in drysuits sitting around a picnic table in the cafe's tea garden. Our next planned stop was Nanjizal but the path didn't get any easier so we stopped a couple of times to catch breath on the way. When we finally got to Nanjizal we took off our boots and had a cooling paddle in the sea. We'd squirreled away a slice of apple & cinnamon crumble at Porthgwarra so we had that while a seal watched us from the surf. According to the OS map there were a lot of footpaths leading inland from Nanjizal across the farmland to Treen. The mist hadn't thinned out so we wouldn't be missing anything by taking the "easy" route instead of following the coast path back the way we'd come. It turned out that the footpaths on the map didn't really indicate what they'd be like on the ground. The first mile or two cut through cow fields, potato fields and a couple of farm yards, so weren't too bad. Then the path sort of disappeared? We wandered around trying to pick it up and finally ended up finding a sign-post pointing in the right direction. The path it pointed to was just a bit over-grown. The mix of stinging nettles, brambles and shorts made it particularly painful. Eventually we emerged into another potato field and then onto a country road. My girlfriend wanted to find another track across farmland to Treen but I pulled rank and we kept to the tarmac until we reached the campsite. The whole walk was just over eight miles but felt a lot longer. We'd certainly earned our early night.  

Day 3 - Sennen Cove
The weather was still cloudy on Wednesday. After yesterday's walk we decided to have a lazy day. We packed up and drove across to Sennen for a day on the beach. My girlfriend had wanted to have breakfast in the cafe above the beach but it wasn't open when we got there. We walked down into the village and had a fry up sitting on the front by the lifeboat station instead. The promised sunshine was still AWOL but we unloaded our beach gear and found a spot on the sand surround by a wind break of huge granite rocks. The sun did break through now and again and the wind had whipped up a few reasonable looking waves. I left my girlfriend reading her book and had a splash around for an hour or two. To be honest the waves were a bit small and weak but it felt good to be in the sea instead of tramping around the coast. We headed for Gwithian after four o'clock. The site was quite busy but the pitches always give you plenty of room. We even pitched our awning this time. Just as we finished pegging it out the fish & chip van drove up. It seemed silly to ignore it so we had cod & chips and beer sitting at the table in the awning. After tea we had a stroll through the dunes to the beach to walk off some of the chips before turning in.  

Day 4 - Gwithian
The weather forecast had said there would be rain & showers all day, but it didn't look too bad when we got up. We managed to disconnect Boxy from the awning and drove over to the National Trust car-park in the dunes. My girlfriend went for a walk along the coast while I went body-boarding. The wind over-night had managed to whip up some half-decent waves, but not good enough ones to mean that too many people were in the water. We rendezvoused back at Boxy around one o'clock before driving up the coast to Hell Mouth. The cliffs are a couple of hundred feet high and as usual you can stand as close to the edge as you feel brave enough to. The usual gaggle of assorted seabirds were riding the updrafts coming up the cliff. I tried to explain to my girlfriend how to tell the difference between petrels & seagulls but she wasn't really listening. I think she had gotten distracted by the grey streaked sky that looked very much like an approaching rain shower. We walked back along the cliff top and got back to the van just as the first rain drops started spotting the windscreen. As the rain looked set to get worse we drove back to the campsite and quickly connected ourselves back to the awning. The rain carried on being wet and noisy for a couple of hours so I killed time by reading a book and searching the larder for something interesting for tea. My girlfriend veto'd my plan of adding a tin of tomatoes to a chicken curry so we made do with "plain" curry. I think before our next trip away I'm going to visit Lidl and stock up with the most bizarre European tinned products I can find.
By about six o'clock the weather had cleared again so we went for a walk down to the beach. I decided to try out my Trago Mills green wellies for the first time. They were suprisingly comfortable and waterproof, right up until I stood in the sea and a not so small wave broke over the top of them. Doh! At least it wasn't too far to walk back to Boxy. Back in the van we made the most of the hook-up & watched TV

Day 5 - Journey Home
Friday morning dawned breezy and cloudy. The wind had dried out the awning so we quickly packed it away in case a shower got it wet again. We decided to take the scenic route home along the north coast. The first stop was Perranporth. The car park on the sea front has got a height restriction barrier that Boxy can't fit under so we drove up to Droskye Point where you can park for free for an hour. We walked back down into the town and did a quick cruise up and down the high street. Given the choice of food on offer we let ourselves down by choosing a cheese and ham roll each from the Dolphin Cafe. On the plus side we did eat them back in the van with the view of the whole bay in front of us.
We carried on along the coast, checking out the waves at each beach we drove past. I'd though I'd convinced my girlfriend to and chase a few waves but when we got to Harlyn she had decided she wanted to stay dry. As the waves at Harlyn were tiny we carried on a few more miles to Trevone. We'd walked around Trevone on the coast path a few times but we'd never actually been on the beach. As the sun was trying to make an appearance I decided to put on my still wet, wetsuit and go boarding, and my girlfriend chilled out in the van. After about an hour in the water I'd had enough and came back in. Before we left we walked out along the headland to take some arty photos. By the time we'd walked back to the van it was after five o'clock so finally we pointed Boxy towards home and escaped from the Duchy before we found another campsite to stay in.  

Lake District 2012

Saturday 23rd June 2012

Woke up at 04:00. The plan was to leave early to beat the traffic. After a quick breakfast and some final packing we were on our way before 05:00.

The weather was dry but windy most of the way there. The traffic was light and BOXY cruised along happily at 60mph. On our second service station stop the right rear CV joint clunked a couple of times. I gave it a waggle to move the grease about and it was quiet for the rest of the day.
We arrived in Cumbria before 12:00 and the rain started to fall properly. We had planned to camp at Baysbrown just outside Ambleside. We called in at the site but there was no-one around and only two tents and a motor-home near the farmhouse. We drove back into Ambleside for an amble in the rain. We mooched around the shops and had fish & chips in the Old Smithey. We headed back to Baysbrown and this time Dawn found someone to talk to. It turned out that they thought the road in was likely to flood during the night meaning anyone camping there would be trapped in the morning. We decided to relocate to higher ground. One of the other places we planned to stay at was over near Derwent Water, Castlerigg Farm. It was only 15 miles from Ambleside so we headed north through the rain for higher ground. The scenery on the route was a bit like driving to Milford Sound in New Zealand in places if not quite as big. The rain & mist bit their best to spoil the views but Dawn managed to grab some “road-trip” photos anyway.

We splashed out on a pitch with hook-up so we can watch TV in the evenings if the weather stays damp for the next couple of days.
The campsite has its own water supply which is the colour of tea and so a bit off-putting when cleaning your teeth. Didn't taste of anything though and that was the main thing. There's also phone and TV reception (though a bit blippy), always a plus. The site's own cafe does breakfasts and evening meals so maybe we should stay here for the duration.

Sunday
Lie in until nine and then a cheat's breakfast from the camp-site cafe of two Cumberland sausage baps. Yum! And no washing up. It was raining on and off so we didn't set off until eleven after waiting for a gap. The footpath started on the road outside the campsite and led around in a big circle across some muddy sheep & cow filled fields. It took about an hour to get to Castlerigg Stone Circle where we had fun trying to take pictures without any other tourist in. The stones vary from knee high to shoulder height so bigger stones than any on Dartmoor.
Then off down the hill and into Keswick pausing to try a photograph a rooster on a wall that didn't want to pose for us. Lunch was in a traditional tea room; all thick carpets, waitress service and us in our only slightly muddy walking boots and full on water proofs. I think they must be used to it. Dan had the world famous plum bread sandwich with cheese and chutney. It tastes a bit like raisin bread. I had Keswick rarebit.
Waterproofs on again and we headed through the town towards the lakeside for an amble around. We walked to the sixth most breathtaking view in Britain (or something like that) and yes it was pretty. There was still lots of cloud around and intermittent rain. The lake was really full and the gentler parts of the shoreline had flooded so we couldn't do our planned route. We could see the gate we should have gone through (and into a wood) but it was under about 2 feet of water. We ended up going a shorter route back to the camp-site (yea!). It stopped raining and we found a fantastic view point looking back across the lake towards the mountains. Then after wading through a minimally flooded footpath (walking boots proved to be waterproof thank goodness) it was uphill all the way back to the camp-site and the sun came out at long last so we could dry off all our gear. We even managed to soak up a bit of sunshine and watch the hedgerow birdies have a communal bath in a muddy puddle.


Monday
Upped sticks from Castlerigg Campsite and headed off to Cats Bells for a walk (known hereafter as Cats Balls). There was no actual car-park so we had to park further on than we intended on the road that runs alongside the Fell.
We decide to take a 'shortcut' to the crest of the ridge. The shortcut was steep. Really, really steep. No climbing gear was needed so I guess steepness is relative. But we were rewarded with stunning views across the lake back to Keswick and then over the other side of the ridge down into Newlands Valley. There was still a way to go before the top so we rested up and got overtaken by about 50 kamikaze school kids powered by duracell batteries. Fortunately they came thundering back down from the top again before we made it up to the top. Fantastic views. Oh for a hang-glider and the nerve to run and jump.
The way we'd picked to come back down was not quite as steep as the climb up. The path was paved with stones which made the going easier but you still ended up with jelly legs with all the effort. It just kept going down and down. Next, we headed off to Ullswater to look at Hellvelyn. The Catsballs (yes, its been renamed) being a practice run but Dawn had used up all her energy climbing it. 

The next camp-site we planned to visit was Gillside Farm, about 15 miles from Keswick. The trusty satnav led the way along some surprisingly small roads to Glenridding. The camp-site was less than a mile out of the town on the route to Hellvelyn. Our pitch was a gravel hard-standing with a hook-up. Unfortunately the lack of WiFi and TV reception meant all we could use it for was charging up phones, netbook and other assorted gadgets. We had a bit of a snooze to recover from Catsbells and then Dawn cooked up some stew for tea. After we walked down to the village and got a few supplies at the village shop. Cumberland sausage, cheese, beer and some cakes. We had a quick look around the village but there wasn't much to see and most of the lake front seemed to be private land. Back at the camp-site we sampled the beer and cheese and lit some citronella candles to fend off the growing number of midges. The weather for tomorrow sounds promising but the attempt on Hellvelyn's summit may be canceled due to lack of energy and shin flints. We'll see how we feel after an early night.

Tuesday 26th

The weather first thing was bright, but still over-cast. On balance after yesterday's “walk” we decided to have an easy day and not climb any mountains. Dawn cooked up a mini fried breakfast of egg plus Cumberland sausages x2. We quickly chucked everything but the picnic table back in the camper. We left that as our territory marker to stop another camper nicking our pitch while we were away. About 4-5 miles back down the lake shore was the car-park to Aria Force waterfall. The car-park is free to NT members so it was silly not to take a look. We walked up the circular path to the bridge that crosses the falls at the top and then followed it down to where the second bridge crosses at the bottom. It was an impressive waterfall especially after all the rain recently reminiscent of Lydford Gorge with a dark rock chasm and white frothy water. We stopped off at the tea shop for lunch, cream tea for me & chocolate cake for Dawn. Next we walked down to the lake side just in time for a convoy of swans to cruise past in a photogenic way.

Having exhausted the sights of Aria Force we drove down the lake side for a few more miles until we reached Pooley Bridge. Dawn checked out the shops and made a couple of phone calls. We haven't had a mobile signal since arriving here so it was a bit of a surprise that both Orange & 3 worked. Just after we arrived it started raining but we toughed it out, took some photos before setting off down the other side of the lake. From the map it looked like there were a couple of small villages but in reality they turned out to be just a few houses, no shops, pubs or signs of live. The road eventually started to head up into the hills and it seemed daft to break the camper driving up a mountain so we turned around & headed back. The trouble with Ullswater is most of the lake shore is privately owned so you can't walk around it, or even get close to it. We did find a lay-by on the way back that was right on the water's edge. We stopped a noodle lunch & a cup of tea and watched the steam launches touring up and down. The weather had by now turned to a persistent drizzle so we drove back to Gillside. We faffed about for an hour or so until after six and then walked over to the Traveller's Rest. The tiny lounge was full so we sat in the “lean to”. I ordered the Traveller's Special burger: starting from the bottom: bun, salad, pineapple, beetroot, burger, bacon, fried egg, bun. The side dish option was either chips (nothing odd there) or baked potato (surely a dish in its own right?) Needless to say it was quite filling especially washed down with a pint of Hellvelyn Gold golden bitter. Dawn just went for a straight chicken burger that was a sensible size and half of the same.
Before turning in for the night we took a short walk up the track that leads to Hellvelyn the drizzle was a bit lighter but it was still impossible to see where the track up the mountain actually went? Maybe out for next week? There is a “shorter” route up from the other side but we'll need to see how close we can camp to the start point. The weather is supposed to turn worse for the next few days so we're thinking of head up to Hadrian's Wall to see if the weather gets better further North

Wednesday 27th
We woke up, had toast for brekkie and were out of the camp-site just after 9:30., a record. By the time we got on the M6 the rain was hammering down and the visibility was awful. We stayed on the motorway until we turned off at Gretna. We had a walk around the shops which had been set-up to cater for the coach loads of tourists. Overpriced mini bottles of whiskey, CD's by a band called the Red Hot Chilli Pipers and Tam O'Shanters with red wigs attached was the order of the day. Needless to say we resisted the urge to part with any cash and took the A-road south towards Hadrian's Wall. Our first stop was Vindolanda. The rain turned to drizzle making walking around the site a bit more bearable. The museum part of the site was interesting particularly the written documents that had survived. The gift shop was less tacky than Gretna's but we still resisted the shopping urge, although Dawn did fondle a plastic Roman soldier's helmet wondering whether buying that and a sword was a wise choice to buy her nephew who has two older annoying sisters. The sword was plastic too by the way.
The camp-site we'd planned to stay in wasn't far away so we headed there next. Our pitch turned out to be a squeeze in between a Bay camper and a tent. The site owner directed us into the spot mainly because he was worried about BOXY marking his sodden grass. After we'd parked & prepped it was still only 4 o'clock. It was still drizzling but we decided to walk up the nearest section of the wall. The first ¼ mile was along a country lane and the next across a rough boggy field. The field's occupants, some cows & possibly a bull, watched us from a distance probably waiting for us to get stuck in the mud before moving in for the kill. It took about half an hour to get to the wall itself which climbed steeply up to a high ridge overlooking the countryside. Dawn took some photos as we walked along the ridge for about a mile. We followed it along for about an hour before taking another footpath back to the road that runs parallel with the wall. We stayed on the tarmac all the way back to the camp-site because the short-cut footpaths all seem a bit wet or surrounded by livestock.
The weirdest part of the walk happened just before we got back to the camp-site. The lane back to the site was lined with a dry stone wall with a single strand of barbed wire strung above it. As we walked along I noticed something hanging on the wire? When I looked more closely I realised it was a dead mole hung by its head from a barb on the wire. Then I saw that there were ex-moles hung all along a section on the wire. There must have been over thirty? It was all a bit “wickerman” I think if we'd been the only campers on the site we'd be driving back into Devon about by now.
Back at BOXY Dawn cooked her sausage & pasta surprise (no surprise anymore but it still tastes good) followed by biscuits & chocolate for afters. The weather stayed decidedly damp but on the plus side we've got TV reception (weather looks to be wet again tomorrow) so we finished off the day in front of the box with a bottle of wine and cheese and biscuits.

Thursday 28th
Today was going to be our walk along Hadrian's Wall. The weather was the now normal damp drizzle so we dressed in our waterproofs from the start. The first couple of miles were along the B6318 (Military Road). It was obviously a Roman road as it ran straight for 3 or 4 miles, but it did dip up and down a bit. I was carrying the rucksack so Dawn set her usual “near running” pace. We reached the information centre at Once Brewed in about 30 minutes, not bad for nearly 2 miles. The lady in the info centre suggested we used a track (called Military Way) that ran parallel to the wall instead of risking life & limb on the B-road. The track lead straight to Sycamore Gap, famous for being used in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. This change of route meant that Dawn's planned circular turned into a straight walk away from the camp-site. We carried on along the wall taking snaps along the way until we reached where Dawn's route would have started. About one and half miles further on was the National Trust run site of Housesteads. We decided that if we carried on to Housesteads we could have some food in the cafe and then catch a bus back to the camp-site if we were tired. The extra 1.5 miles was quite “undulating” as the guide book said they would be, so being “tired” was a given. Part of the way actually ran along top of the wall, something discouraged along the rest of the wall. While we were looking around the thunder gradually rumbled closer but the rain stayed away. Once we'd looked around the museum and the ruins of the fort we headed down the valley to the cafe. A few minutes after we sat down for a tea / coffee the heavens opened. We sat in the cafe sipping our drinks and watching the progressively wetter people walking in. After about 40 minutes we found that the courtyard outside the cafe was underwater and we had to escape by climbing a fence behind the building and avoiding the deepest water. We stood in the car park in the pouring rain in our mainly effective waterproofs chatting to a wet American in a pac-a-mac and his Russian sounding wife & daughter who had waded out of the cafe with plastic bags over their slip on shoes. On the bus we stood at the front to stop getting the seats wet. The windscreen heater wasn't working so the driver was having trouble seeing through the misted up glass. I pulled a mini-towel out of my ruck-sack and lent it to the driver so he could clear the windows enough to get out of the car-park. The five mile bus journey was a bit like being on the bridge of the boat in Perfect Storm. Every dip on the B-road was about a foot deep in water and the bus managed to spray most of it into the fields at the side of the road. The bus driver dropped us between stops so we'd have a shorter walk back to the camp-site, and by then the rain had mostly stopped. Back at the camp the rain actually stopped and the sun actually came out! We quickly improvised some drying-horses and managed to get most of the waterproofs & towel etc. dry. We probably should have made more of the dry weather by going for an evening stroll but we decided to drink beer & eat biscuits instead.

Friday 29th
First thing the weather looked brighter, but the wind had turned blustery and while we were packing to leave there was a light shower. We got packed up before 10 and followed the sat-nav to a NT place a few miles away. It turned out to be a gorge and wooded walk which didn't float our boat after yesterday's hike. We retraced our route and went to Haltwhistle. (allegedly the geographical centre of the UK). We got some groceries at the Co-op, some chicken & pies from a butchers before finding a cafe for breakfast. We managed to fit it all in, before the one hour's free parking expired. We decided to head for the coast and avoid driving down the M6 in the high winds. The route took us out through Carlisle and then through numerous small villages. We stopped in Cockermouth to eat the pies we bought earlier and have a look around the high street. Next we drove to Seascale where we parked in the beach side car park and had a quick, wind blown walk on the sands. The sea was a long way out and just looked brown and mad in the distance. We carried on down the coast for a few more miles until we reached Ravensglass. The first camp-site we saw was a Camping & Caravan Club one.

As we were only planning on stopping for one night we decided to try it. We ended up on a gravel hard-standing behind the staff's bungalow and were charged £24 for the privilege. On the plus side there was free wifi, Dawn though the showers were excellent and really given the weather the actual pitch isn't too important. Dawn cooked up a Chinese using the chicken from Haltwhistle and then we went for a walk. The site is about 5 minutes walk from Ravensglass not that there's much to see in the village. We walked along the shore, took some photos, walked through the woods to the Roman bath-house and that pretty much ticked all of Ravensglass' boxes. We couldn't try the minature railway because that had already closed for the day but we probably wouldn't have anyway. Back at BOXY we made the best use free wifi and ran the netbook on the leisure battery (no hook-up). So far the red warning light hasn't come on much to my surprise.



Saturday 30th
We woke up after 9 so decided to skip having breakfast on the site so just packed up and went. We drove into the “centre” of Ravensglass and parked up with a view of the water. We had a muesli, blueberries & banana with yoghurt, probably the most healthy thing we've eaten since we've been away. Then it was off again down the road to Haverigg. On our right the skies were bright over the coast but to the left the top of the mountains were still covered in dark misty clouds. We arrived at Beryl's around 11 and found her cooking lasagne for our lunch. We had planned to take her out to lunch but lasagne followed by sticky toffee pudding turned out to be a better idea after all. We chatted until after 2 and then headed back along the road to Ravensglass before turning off to Wasdale Head. On the way we stopped by the lake side to take a few photos. The sun managed to find a few gaps in the clouds, just enough to make the landscape more photogenic. 

When we got to the NT campsite at the head of the valley we found out it didn't open until 17:00, and that was over an hour away. We drove back to the spot on the side of the lake we'd stopped at first to kill a bit of time in a more scenic location. We studied the OS map and tried to work out a walk to try tomorrow. Dawn wants to walk along the edge of the lake across the scree slopes and I want to climb up to the top of the ridge. The weather will be the deciding factor in the end, it's been dry all day but the wind is strong & cold, tomorrow should be the same. We drove back to the site and paid for two nights with the luxury of hook-up so we can charge up our gadgets. Tonight it was my turn to make tea so we had baked beans & mini sausages on toast followed by ginger nut biscuits. The bar had been set high by our lunch but I think I matched it? After tea we took a walk up the road to Wasdale Head. There is a pub there called the Wasdale Head Inn famed in British climbing circles according to one of our guide books. The views along the road to the pub are stunning especially when the sun put in an appearance. For a pub at the end of a dead-end road it was surprisingly busy. We ordered a pint & a half of Scafell Gold & sat outside by the river. The midges were just starting to appear but we survived relatively un-bitten. We only stopped for the one then headed back to the camp-site. The section for camper vans is on the edge of the site in a separate little enclosure with pitches for four vans. This means the toilets etc. are about a 10 minute walk away along two lanes & across a field of tents. It's not a problem now 21:55 in daylight, but any calls of nature in the middle of the night could be an adventure? Ho hum, we'll worry about that later, time for bed now.

Sunday 1st July
Woke to the sound of rain on Boxy's roof. The weather forecast that had promised sunny periods and fluffy clouds had clearly got it wrong. On the walk to the distant toilets it was obvious that the rain wasn't going to stop anytime soon. The peaks that surround the site were all totally shrouded in cloud. I checked the “new” forecast that had been posted on the reception notice board and the brighter weather wasn't expected until early afternoon. We decided to hide in the van have an extended breakfast (muesli followed by chorizo & scrambled eggs) and wait for the rain to die down. Eventually we set out after 11 wearing our waterproofs. The first section of the route crossed through some fields and a couple of streams before hugging the side of the lake. Eventually you reach a sign that says “scree path, take care in wet conditions, allow extra time etc etc.” This doesn't really prepare you for the next 2-3 miles. At first there's a rough rocky path, then there are scree slopes and more rocky path, and finally there are just boulder fields of slippery, loose rocks big enough to squash you like a fly.

The first couple of scree slopes are quite easy going with a path worn by thousands of other feet. The path is narrow and one slip would see you bouncing down into the lake between 3 and 20 metres below depending on which section you are on, but it is a path. The last mile though the boulders it far more sketchy. There is no visible path and most of the rocks you are stepping on have no visible means of support. It a bit like a giant version of Kerplunk with rocks instead of sticks. You are about four metres above the lake and above you are thousands of tonnes of rocks stretching up for a few hundred metres. Now normally gravity would say the rocks are going in the lake and no puny human is going to stop them, but something is keeping all the rocks gently in place like a house of cards. Every so often as you hop from rock to rock one gets loose and clatters a few feet closer to the lake and you freeze waiting for the clatter to turn into nature shouting “Kerplunk”. We stopped for some sandwiches half way across the last section when we reached a large rock platform on the edge of the water. Eventually we crossed the last stretch of boulders and got back onto the grassy path at the end of the lake. We cut through a wood into the grounds of a YHA so Dawn could answer a call of nature without having to hide in the bushes. The next three & half miles were along the road on the other side of the lake. We stopped to chat with the owner of a red camper type van who was wild camping in a lay-by. He was a painter who had been in the area for a week. He had watched our progress down the scree path and watched to know if he would be able to get along it with his painting gear. We suggested he drove to the YHA and walk along the “easy” path to the boulders and see what he thought. At least that way he would have an easy retreat if he didn't fancy it. The last couple of miles back to the camp seemed endless. The GPS said it was 7.6 miles but it wasn't on all the time, it certainly felt like a lot more. We were too knackered to walk the ½ mile to the pub for tea, so had a tinned curry, a bottle of red and a relatively early night.
Monday 2nd
This time the weather forecast was spot on and it was raining heavily & pessistantly. We drove across to the reception area to fill up Boxy's water tank and in the haste to get going left the waste water container behind. (Not that we noticed until that evening and far too late to go back for it). Before starting our journey proper Dawn wanted to visit a gift shop she used to get taken to when she was a child. We knew we had driven passed it on Saturday we just couldn't remember exactly where. Needless to say we explored quite a few miles of Cumbria before we found it. This did mean that we felt obligated to buy something having traveled such a “special” route to reach it. We left carrying Cumberland Sauce, Rum Butter, Kendal Mint Cake and Cumberland sausage from the shop next door. We had decided not to take the short-cut over Hardknott Pass but detoured through Ulpha. This route still took us over the high ground and was 1st gear for a lot of the way. There were supposed to be view points along the road but everything was obscured by the low cloud and rain. We carried on along the A536 which shouldn't be classed as an A-road in the traditional sense. There certainly weren't any dual-carriageway sections. We reached Coniston and found a hour max stay parking spot at the end of the high Street. That gave us enough time for lunch of rarebit with a huge pot of tea, and for Dawn to buy some replacement waterproof trousers. Our planned camp-site of Low Wray was only 7 miles away so we headed there next. The site is a real mix of options. We drove past the pitches over-looking a field of sheep, past the Yurts, Tipis, Camping Pods, old fashioned traditional Gypsy Caravans (minus horse) and picked a pitch by a river in a wood. If it wasn't for the rain and mud it would have been one of the best places we've ever camped. The site has even got pitches on the lake shore. In better weather it must be really busy. Within a few minutes of stopping a huge swan walked up from the river & stood beside Boxy waiting for food. I decided to give him the crusts from our loaf of bread.
He would have quite happily snatched it out of my hands and then probably eaten me as well. I had to throw pieces of bread further and further away just to get him to keep his distance. By the time I was throwing bread in the river another swan and three ducks had joined in. Luckily once the assorted birds had filled up on bread they left us alone. After we'd cleared the area of feathered friends we went for a stroll in the rain. We had planned to walk towards Ambleside but due to a sign-post reading error we ended up walking in sort of the wrong direction. Dawn had brought a map with her but what she though was end of the lake was a completely different tarn. If we'd have carried on through the fields we would have eventually reached a road that looped back to the camp-site but Ambleside was still in the opposite direction. We decided to re-trace our muddy footsteps and go back and make tea. Dawn cooked up a huge Cumberland sausage so we could try out the Cumberland Sauce we'd bought this morning. It was smashing!

Tuesday 3rd

Finally the rain got and we headed home.