Gosforth to Seathwaite Pt.3

I slept really well, it had been quite a warm night so i slept between my Neo-Air and sleeping bag. It was 8.00am and all was calm. I checked the weather and although there was some low hill fog to the East and a bit grey it was certainly the best morning so far.
The walk from Hollins campsite in Eskdale to Seathwaite in the Duddon Valley is not a lengthy walk so decided to lie in until 9.00am and then hopefully the hill fog would have lifted, giving me some good views.

The campsite has a few picnic benches scattered about so it was good to have a seat while having my bag of Muesli and pan of green tea.
Glimpses of the sun breaking through gave me hope of a good day and it was pleasant that the tent was dry. No condensation at all.

Packing up at a leisurely pace and checking my pitch for anything missed i set off to reception to buy a drink for the walk and i was away for 10.15am. (another early afternoon start Mike.)

My route today would take me passed St. Catherines church and along the River Esk as far as Doctor bridge. Leaving the river here to pass Penny hill Farm and then take the rising path to the West of Harter Fell. Over the watershed between Eskdale and Dunnerdale i would pass Grassguards and take the good track over to High Wallowbarrow. Crossing the stream by the stepping stones if the water was not too high and then through the lovely deciduous woodlands and into Seathwaite.

St. Catherines church at Boot dates back to the 12th century and is well worth a look round the interesting features and the unique gravestone carvings.

I spent about 15 minutes here and then i was alongside the River Esk which was flowing rapidly and was quite high due to the rains of the previous days.
It's a pleasant walk along the banks and i met quite a few day walkers.  To the north there is a fine aspect of  Great Barrow.

At Penny Farm there is a sign telling you to take the permitted path to avoid the farm yard which i did and after a short distance the path turns up hill. It's quite easy to miss this turn off as the path onward to Hardknott is more prominent.
As i gained height quickly, i could see Hardknott and the Upper Esk valley was starting to clear of mist. Maybe i would get some views after all.
The path up to Harter is quite steep in places but the views were improving. I stood and watched the hill fog drifting up and over Bowfell and i thought that if i stayed here a few minutes it might clear enough to get a photo and thankfully it did.

The view lasted for about 2 minutes and i thought about the people who would be on Bowfell at that moment having a view at last.
As the path levelled out just prior to the fence line i noticed one or two nice wild camp spots and marked them on the map for future reference.
Crossing the stile onto Harter Fell the path was decidedly boggy and a few detours had to be made to avoid the morass.

I know this area well, so it was no surprise to find the path being boggy, but it was atrocious.  Especially the area which the Forestry have cleared and has now deteriorated. It was a slippery obstacle course.
This route is a bridleway and it wasn't that long ago that horses used this regularly but it isn't possible to get horses over it now.
I mentioned this to a member of the Fell Race committee upon arrival in Seathwaite as it is part of the Duddon Fell Race route. Something needs to be done about the path.
So having bog trotted for an hour i came to Grassguards where another diversion path is made to avoid the yard. The 3 dogs here are really vicious and snarl at you the whole way round. Hope they never get out.
The route from Grassguards to Wallowbarrow is a fine route with great views up and down Dunnerdale and across to Grey Friar, Swirl How and the Coniston ridge.

Dropping steeply down to Wallowbarrow farm i met the only walkers of the day. (that's on the route as i did meet a few folk along the River Esk)  A couple out for a day walk up Harter Fell and an elderly backpacker with an ancient cotton Karrimor rucksack. Good on him.
Taking a left turn through the farm gate the track curves away through the woods to what is known locally as the RAF bridge but i was going to go over the stepping stones a little further round. I had a good look at them and considered that it was ok to cross.

Once over i followed the river round to Waters Meet, this is where the River Duddon meets Tarn Beck. It's a great place to swim on a summers day, but not today. There is another stepping stones crossing point here but they are rarely used nowadays and today they were well under water, so i used the bridge 100yds up stream.

Once over the bridge and through the gate, turn left on the road and the Newfield Inn is found. I called in for a Cumberland Sausage baguette and a coffee before calling on friends Alan and Tina at the Croft.
They very kindly invited me to stay for Supper tomorrow and the next day prior to Sheila picking me up.

Alan told me that the walk planned for tomorrow with the "Last of the summer wine walkers" may now not happen as the weather forecast was poor. But a few phone calls at 9.00am tomorrow would sort it out one way or the other.
We arranged to meet up later for a beer and i was off to Turner Hall farm to get the tent up and have a shower. It was quiet on the site with only 4 tents as far as i could see and my pitch had good views up the valley and of Dow crag and Grey Friar.

It has been another lovely walk apart from the boggy path across the watershed. I had only slipped 3 times, but it had stayed dry and it had been quite warm. Very enjoyable route all said and done.

Gosforth to Seathwaite Pt.2

Last evening after having my dehydrated Spagbol from Expedition foods. I dodged the rain showers and headed for the Screes Inn for a beer or 2. There were a few local faces in that i recognised and it wasn't long before getting into a conversation.
The Wasdale Head Hotel micro brewery has now moved to Egremont after Robinsons who have taken over the WHH didn't want it. Why are Robinsons moving into deep lakeland i wonder.
The guys or one of the guys who ran the micro brewery is at this minute taking over the Horse and Groom in Gosforth. That will be a pleasant change as the pub has done nothing for ages and is known locally as the Horse and GLOOM.
It was good craich in there and it passed the evening well. I waited again for a break in the heavy showers and then headed back. I didn't make it back before the torrent started again.

Once in my sleeping bag i was dead to the world until 1.00am when i was wakened by very heavy rain and the wind had picked up. I lay there listening to the heavy drops echoing off the flysheet and realising that sooner or later, now that i was awake, i would have to pay a call of nature.

I didn't sleep too well and and at 7.15am i stuck my head out of the door. It was a little brighter than yesterday but still raining lightly. My route over to Eskdale was coming into view as the hill fog drifted over the shoulder of Whin Rigg.

I knew that my way to Eskdale was going to be a boggy walk with all the rain of the previous 24hrs. so i wasn't full of enthusiasm.
I had my Muesli and the sky was starting to clear from the west, showing some patches of blue. The rain had stopped and my enthusiasm was improving. The sun came out and steam was coming off the farm roof as the water evaporated. It's looking good i thought.

After 20 minutes of drying out the tent as much as i could i packed up and was away for 10.00am.

Just as i got to the crossroads between Wasdale Lake and Nether Wasdale i passed an American backpacker. He had the biggest rucksack that i had seen in years, his rollmat was bigger than my entire baggage. He had spent the night at wasdale YHA and was heading for Whitehaven via Gosforth where he could catch a bus.

Onwards i plodded and half way up through Latterbarrow Forest i startled about 50 Pheasants. The noise  they made as they scattered in all directions was just incredible.

On leaving the forestry the path up to Irton fell was very boggy as i knew it would be but i managed to get through it without going knee deep.
I stopped for a breather part way up and looked back. The weather was very quickly improving and it was good to see Wastwater although it would be disappearing from view very shortly as i made my way higher.

Once the shoulder of the fell side is attained i looked for the gate which leads into Miterdale forest. It looked very dark and foreboding. The path was knee deep in places as i could see from the footprints of others that had preceded me.
I moved into the rows of trees trying hard to avoid the pine needles and the peat bogs. The ground proved to be much firmer here so i negotiated my way through without any problems.

In around half an hour i crossed the bridge at the River Mite which was running fast and quite high.

Another 10 minutes and i was at the road side in Eskdale Green. Their is a small car park, a shop and a Loo at EG so i decided i would have lunch. I got some water from the tap in the Loo and used my Super Delios water filter for the first time on this trip. I had brought 2 small meths stoves, one i had made and the other was the Gram Weenie i purchased from Mark in Australia, i wanted to try them both out.

I will do a gear round up and upload the photo's at the end of the walk for anyone interested.

Post lunch i packed up and headed off back up the track i had just come down but veered off behind the Outward Bound Centre for Fell End. It was now a lovely day and quite warm as i marched on through some very long, wet grass and ferns.
This was a track i had been meaning to take for some time but i had never done it before. I took the NE track around Fell End and the views up Miterdale and across to Muncaster were very nice with some clear breaks in the cloud.
After crossing a stile the path splits NE and SE, i took the SE path towards Hollinghead Crag. Where the path on the map takes a North turn, i missed it, and continued on a very good path following the wall (which isn't on the map) which eventually meets Blea Tarn. It wasn't long before i realised that i had gone wrong but decided to carry on this route and take an alternate path to visit Blind Tarn and Siney Tarn.

I decided that Blea Tarn being the largest of the tarns is probably the most popular and thats why a short cut path has appeared. But why such a significant path has not made it onto the latest OS map is odd.

I was a little surprised at what a large sheet of water Blea Tarn is and it's an ideal spot to wild camp but don't tell anyone. It's also surrounded by some minor summits which makes it quite imposing. I will come back here again soon.
From Blea Tarn the path continues NE up BleaTarn Hill and onwards for about a mile or so to meet the track heading S to Boot village and Hollins Campsite. I had already decided i was going to stay here after Robin AKA blogpackinglight had reported that i should try it.

Today had been a surprisingly lovely day, not a particularly long walk but interesting with plenty of up's and downs supported by splendid views all round.

Entering reception at Hollins i was taken back by the high standards. It had a good shop with wines and beers and plenty of spare camping gear. It was good to see that they stocked all types of fuel too as this can be an issue for backpackers sometimes.
I paid my £7 something and had a look at the showers. Just as good as you can wish for and spotlessly clean. I was impressed.

The chap in reception said i could pitch wherever i liked so off i went for a look round. I was therefore surprised to see just how much standing water was around and also there was quite a few large areas of bare earth where tents had been pitched for too long and killed the grass. These areas were now muddy messes.
I paddled through some water near to the water taps area and headed for the only sloping area on the site. I found a dryish spot and pitched.
There was only a few people about. 3 tents and a couple of motor homes/trailer tents.

It is a lovely site but they need to improve the ground drainage a good deal. Quite surprising when you consider just how much money has been spent on superb facilities that they seem to have ignored this important part.

My evening meal was Real Turmat beef stew and excellent it was too.
I had a quick pint in the bar at Brook House but there was no conversation and no atmosphere so i left. The food looked delicious though and the beer was good with a number of choices.
I walked up to the Boot Inn which used to be called the Burnmoor and found a much better atmosphere where the staff were very chatty. Especially as the Eskdale show was pending. The beer was a bit pricey though i thought.

I turned in at around 10.30pm and it was dry and calm. Hopefully tomorrow will be just as good.

Gosforth to Seathwaite, Duddon in 3 parts.

It's strange being away from the keyboard for so long, you miss so much of what is happening and things move fast in the blogasphere.
I have just found out about Alan Slomans injury. We both hope he is progressing and wish him well. I know what he is going through. I once was climbing a wooden stile with a fishing basket when i slipped and landed leg first onto a double barbed wire fence. It wasn't a pretty sight. I now have a 3" (75cm) scar on my calf. Why is barbed wire used so much? Is it to keep animals in or out or is it for humans to injure themselves on. It's a kind of keep out or else message i know, but we cannot put it on house fences can we.
Anyway enough of that.

Sunday the 19th September was the planned start day for my walk to Seathwaite in the Duddon valley from Gosforth in West Cumbria. In mileage it's no great adventure, in fact i had done it before in less than a day and a half. But the plan was to meet up with friends on tuesday evening and plan a day walk for Wednesday.

I looked out of the house window at 8.00am and it was dark and raining hard. One of those days when you just want to get back in bed and pull up the duvet.
Anyway i was going to go so i made breakfast and final kit checks and i was away for 10.15am. It was still raining as i shut the front door and headed for Wellington bridge.

My route was to follow the River Bleng to the head of the valley, go over the watershed between Seatallon and Haycock, drop down to Nether Beck and camp somewhere along Wastwater.
I knew the river would be high and i was not wrong. It was flowing at a good rate of knots. As i climbed steadily up the forestry path the visibility and the rain was getting worse and i knew that my planned route would have to be changed.

As i approached the open moorland the visibility was very poor, i hadn't met any other people and all i had was the company of some very sad looking sheep. The path was getting more like a river with every stride. Thankfully my Goretex socks were working well.

The view (or rather no view) over to Haycock.

I decided to backtrack out of the mist and leg breaking old forestry land and take a right (SSE) at the head of Blengforest and make my way down to Harrow head via the Windsor farm track. From there i would go through Gill and head for the campsite at Nether Wasdale. 

The track was now a beck as i made slow and wet progress.

As i approached windsor farm the track was very slippery and the usually tiny beck was in full flow. I carefully picked my way down to the road and turned left.

I took the footpath passing Gill farm and headed for Gill Wood on a good path. As i turned around the mist had started to lift a little on Buckbarrow and one of the many new rivulets appeared into view.

As i reached Church Stile camp site it was obvious that not many people were braving the weather. There was only 2 tents on site as i checked in. I paid my £7 and headed off to the Screes pub for a coffee prior to erecting the tent and having a shower.

I picked my spot carefully as the site was quite boggy in places and lots of standing water. 

I had been trying out a new 230gr GoLite brolley today and i must say that it had done me proud. It had kept a lot of the heavy rain off me and my pack and it never once tried to turn inside out. I was pleased to find that my Icebreaker Merino top was only damp. My brolley was a nice shade of green and not Chrome as the link depicts.

I got my sleeping gear sorted and got my cooking gear set up ready. The rain was diminishing so i decided to go for a stroll down to Wastwater to pass another hour.

Roll on tomorrow.

Ravenglass

Now back in Gosforth after my 4 days walking and gear testing in the lakeland hills. I need to write up the walk but it will have to wait a little while. Today, Sheila and I are taking Dorothy, (Sheila's mum for a walk along the Cumbrian coastal path starting at Ravenglass.

The day looks really nice, sunny but a bit of a cold breeze, it should stay dry though which will be a bonus.
I have no end plan, it just depends how far she wants to walk. We will see. I will post later.

The great lightweight gear myth

Earlier last year i started to make  serious inroads into lightweight backpacking gear after many years of not really taking it too seriously.

How i carried some of the stupid weights of the past, only my now knackered back can tell you.

Without a shadow of a doubt it is the right way to proceed though and this post is just a wake up call for me if nobody else. 

After reading numerous recent lightweight gear reviews of the benefits of going the Titanium way, and as an engineer i agreed with the reviews, i fell into the trap. 

Looking on the web I cringed at the prices, anything from £15 - £25 just for a mug! 

I took the plunge and bought a Titanium mug from Lifeventure for £15 and saying to myself "if you want to make inroads into pack weight you have to pay for it". I know this or i thought i did.

It arrived, wonderful, gosh, isn't it light we all said!

Into the backpacking gear it went and out went the old mugs into the reserve store. I was a happy bunny, until today.

 I was putting some gear back into the loft. From one of the bags my old polypropylene cup fell out. It brought back many memories. It has certainly travelled around the world and has completed thousands of miles. It still looked in good nick.

When i picked it up i realised it was quite lightweight. How can this be, it's 20 yrs old. 

I decided to weigh the 2 cups just because i could and lo and behold here are the results.

The Titanium cup

The Polypropylene cup

Titanium mug 60 gr.            Polypropylene mug 57 gr,  

What! how can this be, the Titanium mug should be lighter surely. 

So the moral of this post is:- be aware before parting with your hard earned cash exactly what you are getting. I wasted £30 because i bought 2 mugs thinking they would be lighter.

 The original poly cups are still available today from dozens of places at a cost of between £1- £2. We got swept away on the Euphoria, YOU don't have to be, just check first.

On the benefit side, if you want to use the Titanium cup as a cooking pot then weight wise you win hands down, but that's not what we wanted them for.  On the down side they are not that good to drink from because they hold the heat and you can burn your lips if you are unaware. The poly cups do a better job of doing what they were made for, being Mugs. (oh sorry the mugs me!)

Upcoming walk

This Thursday will see Sheila and i off to pick Dorothy up from Gosforth Cumbria and Sheila is bringing her back to Manchester on saturday to Shop!
I will be staying on and have planned a walk which will lead me to Seathwaite in the Duddon valley for Tuesday night.
Wednesday i will hopefully join up with some friends who are better known as The last of the summer wine walkers.
I have no idea what walk they have in mind but it will be fun.

My trek from Gosforth to Seathwaite will not be direct or the shortest route, but to be honest it all depends on the weather what route i actually will take. Currently its not looking to good.
Anyway if it's as bad as it is right now i may call in at Hollins campsite in Eskdale and give it a whirl. I will decide on saturday afternoon when i know the forecast.
I believe you have to book a pitch beforehand.

I have a couple of stoves i want to test out and also the Super Delios water filter which i have tried but not in too much anger. So i will see how that goes.

I have packed my rucksack and it weighs 8.5kg all up. Including food for 3 days, the complete Odyssee tent which i usually share with Sheila, with it weighing around 1.8kg, 2 lightweight stoves and fuel which is meths.
I must post a kit list one day.

Sheila will pick me up on Friday, and then we will both carry on walking for a further 3 days. No route has yet been decided at this time. Again it will depend if this low weather system still prevails.

Boris? Is that you?

I was reading Mike Knipes blog about his pet spider going missing when i saw this beut trying to open the beer chiller!
It must have been 150-175mm across.
I was going to smack it with my slipper but decided it might smack me back so i left it.

It drank 3 pints of Black Sheep, burped and did a runner.  Is it yours Mike?
Last seen heading for the M62 with a dog in tow.

The all in one?

I came upon this today whilst looking at some sites and thought i would share it on my blog. A Jacket, sleeping bag and bivi bag, All In One.
I'm not suggesting that it's good/bad or indifferent or that it's a recommendation to buy one.
I just thought it's good thinking outside the box. A bit different. See what you think.
http://jakpak.com/privacyinfo.aspx

Meths stove

Above is a short video i have done of my new homemade meths stove. It's the first video i have made and put on the blog. It's a trial run really, so it's not too good and there is no commentary.

I am very pleased with the stove in operation, although not tried yet outdoors the results are certainly where i want them to be. It boiled 430ml of water in just under 4 minutes.

I will post more on it shortly.

The Bank holiday weekend.

It's taken me some time to resolve a computer problem, so it's only now that i have been able to upload any photo's from last weekend.
We went to Sheila's mums in Cumbria as usual and as it turned out it was Bank Holiday. Nothing is more annoying than sat in a car sweltering on Bank Holidays. We decided to go on Thursday night and come back on Tuesday and hopefully miss the most of the traffic.
We usually go over Birker fell to Eskdale and then onto Gosforth but the bridge on Birker was under repair and so we went over Corney fell.
Just as we summited, the most fantastic sunset came into view.

We stopped the car and watched the sun go down. Some more photo's can be viewed here.

Friday morning we decided to take Dorothy (Sheila's mum) for a walk as it was such a fine day. I had to pick a relatively flat route so that the moaning about hills was kept to a minimum.
We drove to Brotherilkeld and parked at the bottom of Hardknot pass and walked up to Lingcove bridge for a picnic.
The views to Bowfell and the upper Esk were tremendous and it gave me a chance to try out different settings on the new camera.

More photo's are here of the walk.
We expected this route to be quite busy but we only saw about 10 people all day. Quite a surprise.
On arrival at Lingcove bridge we stopped for lunch and it gave me a chance to try out the new water filter. It worked fine and it's so much easier to use than the Travel Tap.

Lingcove bridge is where the routes split. If you want Bowfell or hardknot you carry straight on with the beck on your left, without crossing the bridge. For Scafell and the upper Esk you go over the bridge and follow the path leading to the Great Moss.
Unfortunately this point was our terminus and we had to head back. The weather was good and it had been a very pleasant day.

Saturday was shopping day and we headed for Whitehaven which is Dorothy's nearest town. I quite like the place with it's good waterfront, nice cafe's and friendly folk.

We had booked a table at the Scree's Inn at Nether Wasdale for evening meal and we all agreed that the standards had improvement with the new landlord and landlady.
Post dinner we set off for Wastwater and a gentle stroll along the shore. If we hurried up we could catch the sun just before it set.
Upon our arrival the colours on the lake and on the screes were a joy to behold. The views up the lake never cease to amaze me, however many times i look at it.

I was so pleased that i had remembered to bring the camera along. I would have been annoyed with myself if i had missed taking these pictures.
After driving back to Gosforth we walked over to the Gosforth Hall Inn for a beer and a chat. We found out that tomorrow a band called Stouchie and a blues guitarist called Christian Sharp were going to be playing from 5 onwards. Sounds like a good time so we called our friends in Seathwaite and they decided to come over for the music and a meal.

Sunday again was glorious, so we set off for Ravenglass and a walk along the coastal path.

Ravenglass photo's

There was also an antiques fair on in Ravenglass so in we went and came out about £40 lighter.
 Back at Dorothy's Sheila and i went for a run. Nothing spectacular, apart from the scenery. Only about 6 miles. Dorothy decided to sit this one out.
Then off to listen to the music at Gosforth Hall. Tina and Alan from Seathwaite arrived within a few minutes of us and we had a really good night. The music was great and the food as good as ever. I didn't take the camera this time so no pic's of the band. Sorry.

Monday we decided to go to the country fair which was being held at Bootle. It was such a hot day. The good weather just makes events of this kind and also ensures that you can get your car out of the field at the end of it.

From here we thought with it being so nice that we would go to the sea shore for a stroll at Eskmeals. From this site, the military use it for gunnery practice and on occasions you cannot go past. We were ok on this occasion and we had a pleasant hour beachcombing.

Pictures of the fair and Eskmeals are here

We were thinking how lucky those people were that managed to get into the high mountains this weekend. There had been an odd shower overnight but the hill tops looked stunning all weekend.
If only.............

Anyway it's back home now and a new stove to make! More later.

A walk in the park

Yesterday turned out a better day weather wise than had been forecast. I kept looking out expecting rain but it just kept getting brighter.
Having a couple of hours to spare i decided to go for a walk into my local park. Tandle hill country park.

It's a nice place to stroll through, with many deciduous trees, mostly Beech and the ground is a mixture of sand and peat. There are fixed walks along tarmac paths which end up at the needle monument to the war dead of Royton. Good views can be had across to the Roaches, Winter Hill, Blackstone edge, Jodrell bank, Derbyshire and more.
Or, you can do as i do and that is just to wander through the trees and grasses on no paths at all.

At weekends and Bank Holidays there is a small cafe open and it's very good.
Here are some photo's i took.

I think this is Field Penny Cress.

On my up to the park i came across this big lad who wasn't too happy to be photographed.

And then further up the lane i came across the Phantom Raspberry pickers.

A fallen Beech

Did he just move?

Speckled Wood butterfly

Puff balls

A furry monster

The Fly Agaric

The war Memorial to the Men of Royton.

Some of the fungi photo's have no descriptions. That is not a mistake, it's because i don't know what they are called. Any help appreciated as always.