Day 1 - Sunday, 13th May 2018 - Getting There And Settling In
Finally, the weather was dry and warm and
perfect for a short escape to the Lake District. After umm-ing and ahh-ing
about whether or not to stay in a B&B, give a Youth Hostel a try, or camp,
I saw the weather forecast and plumped for camping. I couldn't have chosen better weather!
After a fairly straightforward, if boring, drive along the M62 then the M6, I arrived at Baysbrown Farm Campsite to be greeted by a sign telling me they were out grafting and to pitch my tent where I liked and come back to pay/get my ticket after 6pm.
So I did:
After getting my tent pitched and all creature comforts inside, I pootled off
back to the farmhouse to announce my arrival and pay my dues - £18 for 2
nights. It was about now I realised I'd camped about as far away as you
can get from the loo/shower block/water tap. Undeterred, I decided all those trips to the
loo/shower/water tap would get recorded on ViewRanger and be counted as part of
my Walk 365 Miles Challenge. It's 0.3 miles to the loo/shower/tap ...
just sayin' 
With hindsight, this perhaps wasn't the best
place to choose as I was near to a gate on the Cumbria Way which also led into
the Sheep Mums To Be field (more on that later!)
Upon my return I decided to go for a little walk to the village (Chapel Stile). A lovely stroll in the evening sunshine. I even heard my first Cuckoo of the year
 |
| Hump-backed bridge leading onto the campsite |
 |
| Lovely leafy lane leading back from the village |
 |
| Signpost OCD |
 |
| A path through the farm's woodland alongside the beck |
I returned to my tent and got the kettle on.
The Cuckoo was still at it and I enjoyed my cuppa as I watched the sun starting to set over Lingmoor Fell and Pavey Ark. I watched the baby lambs having a mad half hour in the surrounding fields and listened to their anxious Mums bleating "be careful, mind how you go, play nicely now" with the lambs bleating "you worry too much Mum, this is fuuuuuun" in reply.
This evening's meal was potato waffles, burger and beans rounded off with a snack pot of rice pudding. And a cup of tea of course.
Realising there was absolutely NO lighting on site, I decided to stroll up to the water tap and top up my water supplies before it got dark. I got chatting to a chap I'd spoken to earlier who had competed in the cycle race which had been going on earlier that day. He was feeling much better than he'd felt earlier on now he'd had his shower, a meal and was now enjoying a well deserved glass of wine. Simple pleasures
Realising there was absolutely NO lighting on site, I decided to stroll up to the water tap and top up my water supplies before it got dark. I got chatting to a chap I'd spoken to earlier who had competed in the cycle race which had been going on earlier that day. He was feeling much better than he'd felt earlier on now he'd had his shower, a meal and was now enjoying a well deserved glass of wine. Simple pleasures
 |
| Dusk setting in over the Langdale Pikes |
 |
| View up the Langdale Valley at night! |
Not wanting to get changed with a light on in my
tent, I used the opportunity of the "I can see in the not quite dark
yet" night vision to get changed and just sit. Outside. In the
dark. Because I could.
I felt the damp night air on my face.
I noticed the air was dead calm, no wind at all. I heard the distant,
muted murmur of voices from the only other tent in the field. I heard the
beck gurgling and babbling away nearby. The occasional bleat of a
lamb. The hoot of an owl. And, of course, the "something"
rustling in the undergrowth near my tent 
I truly don't know what time I went to bed but, as usual, I struggled to get to sleep. I don't know why but I always seem to struggle to sleep my first night in the tent. I do know that, despite me having a hot water bottle, I was cold. The inside of the tent never seemed to get truly dark/black.
Day 2 - Monday, 14th May 2018 - A Wansfell Circuit
I must have dropped off at some point as I was
awoken with a start by the sound of the farmer vroooming up on his quad bike
thing and clanging his way through the gate
. It wasn't quite daylight by the looks of
things so I settled down back to sleep again. Only to be woken up what
seemed like seconds later by the Cuckoo 
Finally, the alarm clock on my phone went
off. God damn it, I forgot to switch my work alarm off 
. After wrestling my way out of my sleeping bag
and scrabbling around for my phone which, naturally, wasn't in my sleeping
area, I was well and truly awake. And so, no doubt, was half the campsite by
now thanks to me 
Finally, the alarm clock on my phone went
off. God damn it, I forgot to switch my work alarm off . After wrestling my way out of my sleeping bag
and scrabbling around for my phone which, naturally, wasn't in my sleeping
area, I was well and truly awake. And so, no doubt, was half the campsite by
now thanks to me
I sat a while watching a Buzzard being dive-bombed by Seagulls over Lingmoor Fell whilst his partner in crime raided the nests left empty on the crags. Teamwork eh?
 |
| Goooood morning! |
The
Cuckoo was in full flow by now 
After
getting my rucksack packed I set off for Troutbeck - a small hamlet some 7
miles away. You may wonder why I didn't camp nearer my walk. Lack of
reasonably priced campsites and an abundance of expensive B&Bs
mainly. I still can't bring myself to stay in a Youth Hostel for some
reason, which would have been a good compromise.
What a
glorious day. Not a cloud in the sky and a gentle breeze wafting
about.
 |
| Troutbeck Church |
The wildflowers in the hedgerows were putting on a lovely display today.
Eventually, I reached the "main road"
in the village. A quiet country lane by anyone else's standards!
It was from here that the gradient would increase dramatically as I headed up Nanny Lane (track). Ooof, it was steep!
Once again, I started to doubt my fitness. I started to wonder what the hell I was doing - attempting to climb a hill this steep after months of local flatness. I won't lie, I stopped MANY times on my way up to get my breath, whilst spritley retirees overtook me.
I'm sure I would have heard the Cuckoo earlier had it not been for the blood racing round inside my eardrums, drowning out almost everything else
I
slowed my pace and shortened my stride and simply plodded up, breathing
heavily, yes, but not gasping. And do you know what? I walked for longer
without stopping at this pace. I pondered on the reasons why folks
(myself included) feel compelled to "do" a hill in one go. Once the gradient eased - only slightly mindst - I decided it was time for a photo:
 |
| Looking along Nanny Lane with views of the disused quarry (in the trees) on Sour Howes |
More relentless uphill-ness finally saw me
emerging at the gate onto Wansfell. Only, I wasn't going through there, I
was continuing up the walled green lane to the 3 small lumps on the horizon -
Baystones.
 |
| Heading up the doubled walled lane ahead |
As you can see from the above picture, there's
still more up to go - much more!
Eventually the track stops at a locked gate and I inwardly groaned at the size of the ladder stile to my left - about 7 steps on it
Up and over I went and followed the wall for a while before deciding that I really needed to be heading left and up and there was no avoiding it if I wanted to get to the top of those prominent 3 lumps "up there". I found a sheep trod which seemed to be heading in generally the direction I wanted to go in. Them 3 lumps didn't seem to be getting any nearer though.
I decided to stop for a while. After all, I had all day and what exactly was the rush anyway? But my oh my, when I turned round ....
 |
| An almost full-length view of Windermere |
This was the
first time in daylight hours since I've been here that I couldn't hear a
Cuckoo.
After a short rest I tackled the remaining few metres to the cairn at the top of the Baystones end of Wansfell 
 |
| Looking towards Windermere with Wansfell Pike at the end of an undulating ridge |
 |
| Great Gable sticking up on the horizon, with Rydal Water bottom left |
 |
| Looking north to Broad End and Stoney Cove Pike (I think) |
The views
from this unassuming little top were absolutely stunning
A couple of pano vids (won't upload all in one go so I've had to snip it in two).
Part 1:
A couple of pano vids (won't upload all in one go so I've had to snip it in two).
Part 1:
Part 2:
After a
well deserved cheese and onion pastie and a good, long ole rest perched on a
conveniently bottom-shaped rock with footrests, I trotted off down the hill
following a path which eventually met up with the wall - which I was to follow
all the way to Wansfell Pike.
Up and
down the path went. I found this somehow easier. Perhaps it's
because my legs got a chance for recovery between each up bit. Perhaps it was that cheese and onion pastie. Who knows?
There's a
short, final almost hands-on clamber up to to top of Wansfell Pike and you are
greeted with an almost full-length view of Windermere:
 |
| Windermere from Wansfell Pike |
It was
here I decided to find a sheltered craggy bit to sit and enjoy a cuppa and a sausage roll.
 |
| Brew With A View |
Given
that it was a baking hot day, I was quite surprised to see a chap appear
dressed in pretty much full winter gear. He must have been absolutely
mafting. The gear looked pretty new though - including the boots - so
perhaps he was just starting out on his walking addiction and hadn't yet
realised you don't have to wear all your gear at all times. Bluddi good
effort to him for walking up this little fell in that lot in this heat
though.
After
another leisurely rest stop it was time to head down.
....
Aaaand this is where I *may* have made a *slight* navigational
misjudgment. You see, another chap, wearing wellybobs this time, appeared
whilst I was there and trotted off down the side of the Pike.
"Aha" I thought. "That must be the path off here" I
thought. And made a mental note. Now, what I *should* have done
was, used my map and compass and have that tell me where I should actually have
gone. But no. I simply trotted off down the hillside, following in
his footsteps. Great. I could see a clear path lower down that I
was obviously going to join up with at some point. And indeed I did. Shame
it wasn't the path I should have been on 
. Nope. This path ultimately leads to an enormously boggy
area and peters out. It's even marked on the map as such - heading due
west down the fell and stopping for "no reason". Aye. That's the path I was on.
The
bizarre thing was, because I could see the disused quarry and stand of trees
(with the Cuckoo in) straight ahead on the opposite fell, I *assumed* I was on
the right path because it was heading in the right direction. Well, now
look here. What kind of fool doesn't look at their map and check their
direction once in a while? The kind of fool writing this. That's
who 
The path
kept appearing and disappearing as it meandered between the craggly bits and I
*sort of got an inkling* that I might not be where I thought I was.
Here's a nice picture of a gnarly, stunted tree that you wouldn't see if you
was on the right path 
:
: |
| Wonderful gnarly old tree |
By now, I
decided to actually look at my map - you know, that bit of paper with squiggly
lines on it that helps you walk in the hills.
By now I
was convinced I wasn't where I thought I was or should have been.
Decision
time. Did I carry on heading downhill and handrail the double wall I
could see below until I reached the Ambleside via Wansfell gate I'd rested at
earlier in the day? Or, did I continue downhill in the opposite direction
and hope I could get through/over/around the wall somehow a little further
down.
I played
it safe, even though this meant a little bit of a longer walk, and decided on
the known gate option.
What I
didn't bank on was the wall before the wall I wanted to handrail. Doh 
But
before that I reached the boggy bit. All I'm going to say is, once your
feet get wet, you stop caring about your feet getting any wetter, and I ended up
happily splishing my way through the boggy area and realising that the guy in
the wellybobs must have been local
The plus
side to this is I got to the wall I didn't want to be at much quicker, and
noticed a path crossed through it, so I aimed for that. THEN I aimed for
my double wall and handrailed it to the Wansfell/Ambleside gate.
To say I
was relieved to get to that gate is an understatement and I had another sit on
the stone stile to take stock of the route I'd just taken.
I'm not sure
if I panicked a bit when I realised I wasn't where I wanted to be. I'm
not sure I did the right thing by aiming for a wall and just winging it.
Perhaps in bad visibility I might have done things differently.
Ultimately, I knew roughly where I was and that I was on the correct side of
the fell and heading in generally the right direction, on open access land, so
you could argue that I didn't *go wrong* at all - I was just exploring the
fell. Yes, I like that thought 
It has
made me realise that I need to practice my hill nav skills a lot more.
Today I was lucky. Today, the weather was perfect. Another time,
the weather might change and I might not have that visibility and I need to
know I have the hill skills to deal with that. Of course, I could use GPS and,
no doubt, had I really got truly stuck/panicked today, I would have checked
ViewRanger to give me a spot-check of exactly where I was. Perhaps the
fact that I didn't shows that, deep down, I wasn't *overly* concerned.
Anyway, I
digress. Now, safely back on Nanny Lane it was simply a case of retracing
my steps down the steeeeeeep track - it's no easier on the legs going down it!
 |
| Grass is greener on this side of the fence eh? |
That
Cuckoo was at it again and I used it's rhythmic "cuck-oo" to set my pace.
On
reaching the road again I got chatting to a farmer who's land I was walking
through - he was enjoying watching his flock with a cig and a cuppa in the
afternoon sunshine. I let him know that a couple of his sheep were on the
track and not in the field and his reply was "Aye, they do that. So
long as their babbys are with em they'll be right". He then went on
to tell me where the path back down to the Church was. Maybe he saw my
unorthodox descent of Wansfell and thought I needed all the help I could
get
 |
| Well set into a wall near the bridleway |
I
dutifully followed farmer's instructions and headed down a bridleway flanked by
wild garlic.
Oooh, it smelled lovely.
Finally, I reached my car. Phew! Off came the soggy shoes
and socks and on went the nice dry croc type shoes and I set off back to the
campsite.
I'm almost hesitant to put my track recording here but, here it is.
First things first.. Cuppa. Perfik.
After a wonderful shower I cooked my Spag Bol and cracked open my mini
bottle of wine and watched the sun setting, yet again, over Lingmoor and Pavey
Ark. Simple pleasures
And still the Cuckoo sings!
Eventually, total silence descended on the site. My
"neighbours" had packed up and gone at some point during the day,
leaving me and my tent as the only things in the field. This is about as
near to wild-camping as I'll ever get.
I had no trouble getting to sleep tonight...
Day 3 - Tuesday, 15th May 2018 - Packing up and heading home
...until....
I awoke with a start to the sound of grunting and heavy breathing just
outside my tent. You know when your blood runs cold? 
I laid there
trying to think of a plan of action. Could I beat him to death with a
toilet roll?
I laid there
trying to think of a plan of action. Could I beat him to death with a
toilet roll?
... and then I heard a sort of plaintive squeak-bleat and strange,
almost crooning noise. It wasn't a dirty old man as I had feared, but a
sheep giving birth.
And sure enough, when I did get up, there was a wobbly black lamb and a very
protective Mum near the hedge. Awwww.
I had to be packed up and off site by 12 noon so I had a leisurely cuppa, dried down the dew off the tent and opened it up to air it out whilst I pottered about packing things away.
The weather was still absolutely scorching and the tent took no time at all to dry off and air out, meaning I wouldn't have to be draping it over my washing line when I got home.
Eventually, my car was all packed up and I did a quick scout round my pitch to make sure I'd left nothing before setting off for the long and boring drive home.
What a wonderful few days in the Langdale Valley. Stunning scenery. Gorgeous weather. Fabulous walk. I'm sure my "good camping weather luck" will run out at some point and my tent will be tested but here's hoping my next camping adventure will a dry, warm and sunny one.
The Cuckoo still hadn't found a mate
Thanks for reading 