This trip turned out to not really involve backpacking but was fun non-the-less, but more on that later! With much joy members of Ben Lairig descended on Eskdale with the idea of walking a few mountains and then sampling some Ale at the Boot beer festival. The idea was to backpack our way from Wynrose pass and wild camp after the event with Sundays walk depending on numerous factors not in the least how hung-over everyone was feeling.
Of course this being the first trip that the new committee was fully in charge of, fate had different plans. The trip up was pretty eventfull for some of us and the long and the short of it was that one car arrived about an hour after the other. This was particularly distressing as not only had we navigated Hard-Knott pass twice with no real cause we had also missed out on seeing ‘some chavs’ do doughnuts in the car park. With the night closing in, the weather set to turn and no one actually that keen it was decided to abandon the backpacking aprt of the trip, a plan that turned out to probably be a very good idea.
Camp was set up and tinnies were drunk. 4 members of the club had decided that tents were a hassle for this kind of trip and that bivving was the way to go, this was possibly a mistake when it started to rain heavily especially as I had bet Bance twenty pence that it wouldn’t. The rain continued in the morning which really slowed everyone’s movements as well as dampening their spirits (and everything else as well)
When it became apparent that the rain just wasn’t going to stop it was decided to just ‘Man Through’ and walk
We ascended Grey Friar with not a huge amount of joy and I quickly fobbed off any suggestion of me navigating, citing the fact that the day could already be hard enough without us getting lost in the bargin as well, Great Carrs and Swirl How were bagged in short order before we stopped for what has to have been one of the quickest and most uncomfortable lunch breaks I have ever had. Be now everyone seemed to have been struck by a strong sense of ‘how much more wet can we get’ and the route continued to have tops added to it.
Brim Fell was decided on and then Coniston Old Man as it was so close before finally Dow Crag rounded out the set. As we came off down towards the tarn the weather finally took pity on us and we had a quick much more pleasant second lunch in the sun before setting off the wrong way round the tarn and back to the car.
People continued to dry out in the wind back at the cars as we settled down to eat a quick dinner, the slop that Carrig and I prepared may have filled a whole but looked like it had already been eaten more than once. After varying degrees of sustenance we headed off to the main (for me at least) event, the beer festival.
We dumped the cars by a secluded spot and then headed on to the first pub, which while it was pretty rammed had a fair selection of beers on and space outside. After a couple there the coldness and the general slog of the day had set in so we moved onto the second pub in the actual village it’s self. I’ll be honest my memory gets hazy surprisingly fast but I remember this, it was warm and dry and had some very good beer on. After drinking our fill and beyond we were kicked out at 1.45 and set up for what was probably a very good night’s sleep in t’ outdoors. Not that I remember it, at all…. But it didn’t rain and the weather was clear when we awoke, this was good, we could get a good walk in and I no longer owed 20p to a certain former captain. After suddenly being struck by a sudden case of common sense Carrig and me headed off down the road were he managed to charm the local landlady into cooking breakfast for them. We rejoined the rest of the club and set off to the base of Harter Fell. Everyone must have been very hung-over or still drunk as it fell to me to navigate, which I did ok at with only one or two extra bits and more bog walking than was possibly needed.
Harter Fell was summited with a bit of scrambling and then we lunched and then headed towards Green Crag which we climbed up the side as opposed to the long path round before hacking straight down to the car and home!
All in all it was a great trip even in the face of adversity thanks to Ben Lairig’s ability to Man Up, some bloody good beer and good times!
Of course this being the first trip that the new committee was fully in charge of, fate had different plans. The trip up was pretty eventfull for some of us and the long and the short of it was that one car arrived about an hour after the other. This was particularly distressing as not only had we navigated Hard-Knott pass twice with no real cause we had also missed out on seeing ‘some chavs’ do doughnuts in the car park. With the night closing in, the weather set to turn and no one actually that keen it was decided to abandon the backpacking aprt of the trip, a plan that turned out to probably be a very good idea.
Camp was set up and tinnies were drunk. 4 members of the club had decided that tents were a hassle for this kind of trip and that bivving was the way to go, this was possibly a mistake when it started to rain heavily especially as I had bet Bance twenty pence that it wouldn’t. The rain continued in the morning which really slowed everyone’s movements as well as dampening their spirits (and everything else as well)
When it became apparent that the rain just wasn’t going to stop it was decided to just ‘Man Through’ and walk
We ascended Grey Friar with not a huge amount of joy and I quickly fobbed off any suggestion of me navigating, citing the fact that the day could already be hard enough without us getting lost in the bargin as well, Great Carrs and Swirl How were bagged in short order before we stopped for what has to have been one of the quickest and most uncomfortable lunch breaks I have ever had. Be now everyone seemed to have been struck by a strong sense of ‘how much more wet can we get’ and the route continued to have tops added to it.
Brim Fell was decided on and then Coniston Old Man as it was so close before finally Dow Crag rounded out the set. As we came off down towards the tarn the weather finally took pity on us and we had a quick much more pleasant second lunch in the sun before setting off the wrong way round the tarn and back to the car.
People continued to dry out in the wind back at the cars as we settled down to eat a quick dinner, the slop that Carrig and I prepared may have filled a whole but looked like it had already been eaten more than once. After varying degrees of sustenance we headed off to the main (for me at least) event, the beer festival.
We dumped the cars by a secluded spot and then headed on to the first pub, which while it was pretty rammed had a fair selection of beers on and space outside. After a couple there the coldness and the general slog of the day had set in so we moved onto the second pub in the actual village it’s self. I’ll be honest my memory gets hazy surprisingly fast but I remember this, it was warm and dry and had some very good beer on. After drinking our fill and beyond we were kicked out at 1.45 and set up for what was probably a very good night’s sleep in t’ outdoors. Not that I remember it, at all…. But it didn’t rain and the weather was clear when we awoke, this was good, we could get a good walk in and I no longer owed 20p to a certain former captain. After suddenly being struck by a sudden case of common sense Carrig and me headed off down the road were he managed to charm the local landlady into cooking breakfast for them. We rejoined the rest of the club and set off to the base of Harter Fell. Everyone must have been very hung-over or still drunk as it fell to me to navigate, which I did ok at with only one or two extra bits and more bog walking than was possibly needed.
Harter Fell was summited with a bit of scrambling and then we lunched and then headed towards Green Crag which we climbed up the side as opposed to the long path round before hacking straight down to the car and home!
All in all it was a great trip even in the face of adversity thanks to Ben Lairig’s ability to Man Up, some bloody good beer and good times!
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