11th - 13th April 2008 - Lake District Weekend
Portiscale nr. Keswick, Cumbria
Friday
It was one of the most prompt departures in history as the last minibus pulled out of Becketts Park at about 6:03pm. We had all arrived and settled into the bunkhouse by 9pm, and the beer began to flow. Soon games of scrabble, the name game (very random indeed!) and spoons were underway and the new members integrated quickly into the group.
It was after midnight when Ben finally managed to get the night hike out to the geocache near the lake - what they got up to is anybody's guess, but the games were still underway on their return and went on well into the night...
Saturday
We split into 2 groups, hard and medium walkers. Steesh managed to scare most people off the hard walk, so it was quite a large group that headed up Catbells, over Maiden Moor and up to High Spy.
The hard walkers headed across the valley and straight up the side of Ellas Crag to Rowling End, which certainly warmed the muscles up! The was a slight reprieve across Sleet Hause, and then it was the scramble up to Causey Pike and the first snow of the day.
It was a long slog up to Sail, and it was not long after that Steesh made the call to drop back down rather than continue up onto Crag Hill and Grasmoor. This wasn't enough for Steve, (James) Paul and Tony, who kitted up and headed off into the blizzard. The rest of us turned back, slid/ran down the hill and headed for the valley.
Back in the valley the weather was much better, so we detoured off the main path up onto the High Moss, Outerside and Stile End. At this point the group lost another 3 walkers, as Steesh, Vince and Cathy turned down into Braithwaite. Martin, Gwyneth, Claire and Lynne continued up and over Barrow before meeting them in the pub for a cup of tea and some beer. It was a gentle walk along the road back to the bunkhouse, past the closed pub. There was just time for a quick shower before the medium walkers returned and it was time to prepare dinner.
Whilst some chopped and peeled, others followed Ben into the garden for some tree-tapping. Having identified a suitable silver birch, Ben managed to drill into it and drain out the sap. This provided great educational entertainment for all, and took everyone's minds off their empty stomachs!
It took great precision to prepare a meal for 28 on a single domestic cooker, yet somehow we succeeded and all were soon full of sausage, mash and apple crumble. At this point some decided to head off to the pub (thanks Martin & Steesh for driving), where we stayed until closing time. The party didn't stop there though. Back at the bunkhouse the cider was cracked open and Ring of Fire commenced. This progresses into charades and it was after 4am when people finally headed off to bed...
Sunday
There was a definite Sunday feeling about the bunkhouse, but everyone was up, breakfasted and packed on time, with just a slight delay in departure due to the necessary cleaning and mopping (and walk decisions obviously...) . Finally we were all in the vans and heading for Keswick where the easy walkers were to be dropped off. On arrival, Vince decided to can the hard walk, choosing the easier option of all walking together. We all headed off following Cathy through the woods, but it wasn't long before Vince had a revolt on his hands! The would-be hard walkers decided that they needed a challenge after all, and headed off towards Skiddaw...ironically enough, Vince joined them and was soon leading the group down the road!
The easy walkers continued up onto the hills above Keswick. We stopped for lunch on Falcon Crag, with beautiful views across Derwent Water, Bassenthwaite Lake and up to snowy Skiddaw. From there the walk should have continued to Bleaberry Field and High Seat, but instead dropped back down, then follwed the lakeside back into Keswick. There was just time for a quick cup of tea before the hard walkers arrived back, having completed a supposed 8 hour hike in just 5 hours! Well done guys! |
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We were soon heading back to Leeds, and were back in plenty of time for an almost record turnout of 21 at the curry! It was a great weekend - can't wait for the next one!
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