With legs not fully recovered from the away day, it was time for another trip to the Lake District. This time I was going with my long term best friend and walking partner, Michael (aka Walshy).
I am keen to keep the videos to our new YouTube channel updated regularly, so took along the GoPro with plenty of spare batteries.
Alarm waking me up at a relatively normal 06:20, a quick coffee and Michael had arrived. The car was loaded and we were soon heading up the now familiar M6 North towards our favourite place. I had decided to go to Buttermere as it has been some time since we last visited. Unfortunately with the A591 STILL being closed at Thirlmere, we had no option but to go the long way round and head up to Keswick remaining on the M6. This adds over half an hour however it was such a nice day with views over to the Howgill fells and beyond that we didn't mind. I hope the road gets fixed soon for the sake of the local residents and their businesses.
We arrived at Keswick and parked in the large Booths car park - I wasted £2 in the meter (my own fault for not reading the sign) for a parking ticket which wasn't required until 10:00.
We like to stop for breakfast and found a lovely cafe open on Main Street called "Laura in the Lakes". The food looked amazing and the place was already very busy with fellow walkers and mountain bikers.
I had a full english whilst Michael played it safe and went with marmalade on toast. Breakfast was quickly finished and we were back on the road heading through Borrowdale towards Buttermere. The road took us over the Honister Pass and we were soon descending into picture perfect Buttermere.
We arrived at Syke Farm camp site and picked a nice spot to pitch next to the stream. The tent we were using was the Vango Equinox 250, an old version over 10 years old and still going strong.
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| Our pitch |
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| Buttermere |
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| Scarth Gap selfie |
As is customary, we had each brought a bottle of real ale to be enjoyed on the summit. I chose a Hawkshead Brewery "Red" whilst Michael had a "Summer Lightning". We drank our beer whilst watching over Innominate Tarn which is of course Wainwright's final resting place.
It was too cold to stay for long, so we followed the path and began our descent along the flanks of Fleetwith Pike.
As we reached valley level once more, the wind was now gusting very strongly; easily 40/50 mph. Our concerns turned from cold hands to whether our tent would still be standing. A nice little surprise was a small ice cream kiosk which was selling Lakeland Ice Cream near the south shore of the lake. We couldn't pass by without buying one each.
We followed the same path back to the camp site and were relieved to see the Equinox 250 had held its ground. We had intended to grab a post walk pint at the Bridge however time was pressing on and we needed the light for our barbecue.
Our trusty Weber "Smokey Joe" was lit and soon we were full with Aberdeen Angus beef burgers and nice pork sausages. We had a few small beers and retired to the porch of the tent to share a bottle of red wine. The wind was still picking up so we fastened all the TBS (tension band system) cords within the tent. These provide increased lateral rigidity in the event of strong winds in which tunnel tents can sometimes suffer.
As it began to get dark, a man arrived with three young children who were absolutely terrified. They began to set up the tent in the dark and strong winds, refusing any assistance. The tent they were using was really tall so they struggled in the cold and dark for a good hour before finally getting it pegged down. Probably not the best experience for the kids but character building nonetheless.
Wine exhausted, we walked over to the Fish Hotel for a few pints. I tried some "King Star" lager from Wychwood which was a first for me. A lovely beer which was similar to a pilsner in my view. After our pints were finished, we headed over to the Bridge Inn and I had a "Whistling Pig Pilsner" by Tractor Shed brewery which was very nice.
As usual, Michael was on the verge of falling asleep so we walked back to the tent and turned in for the night. My sleep can only be described as awful. The wind made it impossible to fall asleep and when I finally did, I was woken by the sound of our neighbours in the tall tent having an emergency peg hammering session at 3am........ We awoke to the sound of heavy rain on the flysheet. I unzipped the door to a scene of devastation; our neighbours tent was completely collapsed at one end. The fly material on our tent had leaked and our gear and clothing was soaking. We had brought some bacon to cook however spirits dampened, decided to pack up and head for home.
We popped into Syke Farm cafe for a lovely home cooked "Silver" english breakfast with a home made potato cake - the staff were great and we received £1 off for staying at their camp site.
Another brilliant trip with lots of good memories.
I have uploaded a full HD video of this one, so please check it out on our YouTube channel, the "MCM Outdoor Show" - the link is below, see you on the next trip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qw6R2eqzG74
