Homeward bound

Food at the bank tavern last night was just standard pub fare. Nowt special and quite disappointing really. Food at the dog and gun looked far more impressive but good luck getting a seat on a saturday night. It was heaving which is why i had to move on to my second choice. Also walked past the george on the way outta town and that looked really impressive too.

Lass on campsite reception confirms the dog is renowned for good food. Next time i'm here i've got my food options mapped out.

Walked back to campsite through the dark scary wood with just a headtorch for company. Bricked it all the way. Not helped by the dog peering out of the barn at the bottom of the hill. I caught a pair of beady eyes in the torchlight and pretty much ran the rest of the way. All the way to the pub next to the campsite where i found refuge and safety in a pint of jennings cumberland.

Chap at pub does a roaring trade. Bit of a slight of hand ringing everything through the till as no sale though. It's not particularly cheap either. I guess it's seasonal trade so crack on while you can and good luck to him.
Caned it down with rain over night but all clear by morning. Fortunately the tent and tarp survived the storm.
Packup and and left this morning after a hearty breakfast of sausage sandwiches. Took the same roads back that i came over on. I'd planned to stop around windermere for food but was still rammed after breakfast so cracked on. Eventually stopped in skipton but there was nothing that took my fancy so i just popped some fuel in the bike and moved on.

I reckon that's the last of my proper 2010 trips but it's been a bumper year. Looking forward to more of the same next year, hopefully with catherine finally on her own two wheels.

 
253 miles
  

Derwent Water

Started the day properly this morning. An espresso, cereal, banana, 2 mugs of tea and 2 big fat bacon butties.

Walked down in to keswick. There's a big run on this weekend so it's heaving. 4000 runners competing. One of them is pitched up near me and came over for a chat at breakfast. That explains why the campsites are full and turning people away.

You can pick up maps at keswick market. Far cheaper than the outdoor shops. Exactly the same maps, all official and above board. 6 quid for OS ones. They were doing all four maps of the lakes for just 22 quid a set.

Set off round derwent water. Totted up the squares on the map and it looked like a 2 hour walk. Added an hour for cream teas and reckoned i'd be sat enjoying a pint back in keswick by mid afternoon.
I was wrong on a monumental scale. Got talking to a lass when i eventually got back and she informed me it's a 5 - 6 hour walk. 9 miles though which is pretty much what i predicted. What's happened to the old 4mph rule?

It's a nice steady walk though. Great views as you'd expect. There's signs all round the lake advising you to keep out of the water and not let dogs drink from it. Some crazy algae outbreak has been causing health problems. It's the same at windermere which means a swimming competition tomorrow has been cancelled at the last minute. Much to the annoyance of everyone who's travelled big distances to compete.

There's only a couple of stop off points round the lake, certainly on the marked trail. There was one hotel on the east side and a tea room near the top of the west side. I'd only taken one and half litres of water which ran out about an hour before i got back. I stopped at the tea room in portinscale. It was adequate at best. Squirty cream on the scones rather than the real deal. Carry on round the corner and there's a hotel offering proper clotted cream teas for similar price. They've got great views of the lake too.

Grabbed an ice cream in keswick. Was just tucking in when someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. It was one of the chaps from yesterday who i climbed scafell pike with. He looked fit to drop. Done a mammoth trek today, which put my lakeside ramble to shame. The fact i was chilling out with an ice cream didn't convince him i'd had a tough one either.

Back to the tent and the biker couple from last night had left a few pressies in my porch before they left. Some tins of heinz tomato soup, some posh choc chip biscuits and a big mosquito candle. Get in! If you ever chance upon this blog chaps, ta v much!

Desperate for a shower and a pint. Got two recommendations for food tonight. The bank tavern, as recommended last night, or the dog and gun on lake street. Gonna head down in a bit and decide over a pint or two or the local brew.
 

The 'one peak challenge'

Up bright and early thanks to a barking dog and someones ridiculous snoring from across the campsite. Also busting for a wee which got me up at 4am. Popped in a pair of earplugs afterwards and eventually got back off again.

Some sneaky bugger had got to the cumberland sausage ring before me this morning and i couldn't manage a whole pack of sausages from the shop. I still managed a hearty breakfast of black pudding and baked bean sandwiches though. Yeah, pull faces if you like. They were mint.

Packed my walking stuff up into a pannier and rode to base camp (aka seathwaite farm if you must) to climb scafell pike. Note that's not the soft option from wasdale head. That's for the sunday tourists and dog walkers. This is the hardcore option. A loop past styhead pass along the corridor route to scafell pike, then back along esk hause, ruddy gill and grains gill. Ok, it's not everest but i was surprised just how tricky some bits were. Guess i was expecting a long steady stroll along a marked path, like ben nevis. This however involves some proper scrabbling across rocks and boulders. The route isn't marked and you gotta keep a close eye on where you are otherwise you'll wander off course. I picked up a map yesterday and it was definitely a tenner well spent. You'll need 2 OS maps because they conveniently don't cover the full route with just one. I picked up a harvey map which nicely covered all of derwent water and scafell pike at the same scale as the OS maps, 1:25,000. Not as nice as the OS ones but it was well up to the job. You'd probably be fine with just the lower of the 2 OS maps. It covers most of what what you need - everything south of stockley bridge.

Passed a young couple at seathwaite farm who were trying to follow a print out from the internet. The were lost already, not even 5 minutes in!

Also got chatting to a chap with a lovely weimeraner called ben. That's the dog, not him. They weren't doing the tops, just out for a gentle stroll. We swapped tales of laughter, frustration and vets bills for a while before going our separate ways.

Met up with a few chaps on the way round. They weren't together but we were all keeping similar pace so pretty much stuck together. They'd both come prepared with compass and gps, which came in handy on more than one occasion.

The corridor route, which we took, eventually meets up with the wasdale head route. It's pretty quiet until that point. And very very scenic. Remember to keep looking around otherwise you'll miss most of it. Sounds daft but it's easy to get into a habit of watching your path and not the scenery. Especially when the path is a really tricky one.

The wasdale head path is referred to by some as the motorway and it's easy to see why. There was even a lass up there who'd walked from wasdale head in an evening dress! It was a great look with her walking boots.

If you want a bit of trivia, wast water is englands deepest lake. Our highest mountain and deepest lake are alongside each other.

After stopping at scafell pike for an hour or so to enjoy the view and eat lunch, it was nice to drop down the other side and leave the crowds behind. I'd taken the usual compliment of food so lunch took a while. Known in biking circles as the tuck shop, i'd stuffed 3l of water in a camelback, 4 bananas, half a box of granola bars and a big packup of ham sandwiches.

Got back to the bike about 5.30 which meant the loop plus lunch took 6 hours. Not a bad time apparently. About 2.5 hours up and the same back down again. That also included a detour up great gable that we'd sneaked in after scafell pike. I'd recommend it for the views.

While at the top of great gable, a plane rolled around the top. It was an amazing sight, much to the frustration of my climbing buddy who'd just packed his camera away again after a few shots from the top. He's from Farnborough and goes to the airshow with his (somewhat impressive) camera kit. It put my point and click to shame.

There's always something quite satisfying about watching aircraft fly below you. There were a few military jets low level flying thorough the valley while we climbed to the top. This chap's plane was propellor powered though so gave a nice gentle roll right in front of us with the sun full on against its wings. It would of actually made a great photo.

Back to base for tea, shower and pint from pub next door. I must of been knackered because surprisingly enough they were done in that order!

That's another box ticked - the highest point in england is now firmly crossed off my list.

Another biker couple turned up tonight and pitched next to me. They're from norfolk and breaking up the journey on the way back from a tour of scotland. They'd had a pub in keswick called the bank recommended so they headed down to try it. The verdict was a thumbs up so i might check it out tomorrow on my search for a good pub lunch.
 

Staycation!

Had 4 days jolly left to burn so i booked august bank holiday week off. 5 days for the price of 4. Bonus!

Weather is shockingly good for a bank holiday. It was a bit shaky over the weekend but all good now.

Started the week off in proper tourist mode. I've lived in york 15 years and, i'm ashamed to say, i've never done ANY of the touristy stuff. Most of it is free to residents too which makes it completely inexcusable!

Kicked off tuesday with a visit to the yorkshire museum. Honestly i was pretty much blown away. Romans, vikings and dinosaurs. What more could you want? They've just had a 2m quid refurb and it shows. Defo worth a visit. I enjoyed an AV presentation on the 2000 year history of york, stamped a roman coin (albeit paper) and weighed myself against a dinosaur. The best bit for me though was the fact they've called the school canteen 'diner-saurus'. Genius!

Did a full circuit of the city walls, stopping off at the art gallery for a nosey. That's free to everyone so you should all pop in for a visit.

Wednesday involved a trip to the museum gardens to eat a packup lunch, followed by a trip to york castle museum. The dungeons, under the museum, are mint. All the actors are doing their best black adder auditions. Dick turpin is a dead ringer for prince regent. The jailer does a great nanny and there's more than one baldrick, as you'd expect. They're all completely over acting, but in a good way. Those crazy thespians.
On thursday i packed the bike up and headed over to the lakes. Well you gotta make the most of your time off. Mick recommended castlerigg hall campsite near keswick so that where i headed and that's where i am now. Had a pleasant ride across the a59 and a65, rather than the quickest route over the a66. It took about 3 hours all in, including a fuel stop. Lots of speed camera signs but very few cameras. No need to speed though, just take it steady and enjoy the views.

Arrived 4ish and took a wander down into keswick to get my bearings. It's only 15 mins away via a steep path through the woods.

Back to the tent for tea and a bottle of wine. It's a great campsite. Spotlessly clean. They don't accept groups but the bike wasn't any problem. 9 quid a night for me and bike. Dog friendly too, although i don't think they're quite ready for bessie yet. If you're not into your camping then they have a few camping pods. They're cool little single room wooden huts. Like a tent, but they're insulated and heated, plus added benefits like electricity and a balcony. Great idea, but i like to rough it under canvas.

The campsite looks down over keswick and derwent water. You get some ambient light from across the lake but the sky is crystal clear. You can pick out the milky way. Sat staring up trying to work out if it's the clearest sky i've seen and must of seen 5 or 6 satellites passing overhead in quick succession. That's pretty impressive.

The shop is well stocked. Eyed up some sausage and black pudding for breakfast then i'll be off to the hills for a good stroll me thinks.

I believe i'm officially on a 'staycation' this week. Let's see what tomorrow brings. Night night...