Lakes, Kentmere Horseshoe - extravaganza, part 2

see you lot arent blessed with good weather  still plan to camp on/near thornthwaite crag summit saturday night ?

hi im going to park at kentmere church in the morning and walk towards you over shipman knots kentmere pike etc and stop at harter fell ..ill be with my trusty choc lab ..forcast is looking better now for saturday ......

nice to meet yous even if it was a bit later than planed  hope you have a great sunset/rise tomorrow..if i hadnt already been right round the horse shoe i would have come back up again...another time

thats why i asked how far you were going wud have walked back to Yoke  for a camp   never minds another time maybe

Just been dropped at my door by Milly and Maria. Glenn was last seen hurtling down the M6 in search of a KFC. Brilliant overnight on Yoke, but lousy weather this afternoon on the way to Mardale. Videos to follow after a hearty meal!

good to hear paddy will video link be on here ?  another time perhaps  can i ask was that an umbrella i spied or tripod if the first can i ask which one and how you find it ?

Paddy Dillon wrote (see)

Just been dropped at my door by Milly and Maria. Glenn was last seen hurtling down the M6 in search of a KFC.

His Sat Nav has them all located on it
Gutted I couldnt join you

Hope to meet Paddy and Pete soon

Here's my report, since I made my way there independently of the others...

I got buses to Shap, where the weather was truly lousy, so I retired to a cafe for coffee and teacakes. Coast to Coast Walkers were also holed up there at Noon. Set off to Keld and Tailbert, then over to Swindale. The paths were like rivers and the rivers were in full flow. The waterfalls further up the dale were more impressive than I've ever seen them, but because of the rain I didn't stop for pictures. I reached Mosedale Cottage around 4.30pm, and was glad to get out of the rain. First job was to get everything hanging and drip-drying, stake my claim to bed-space, cook a hearty meal, then wait for the others to arrive.

The hours passed... and I waited... and waited... and waited. OK, so they said they might be 'late'. There wasn't much point going outside to see if they were coming, as the mist cut out any chance of spotting them. When it got dark, I lit candles and placed them around the windows to guide the weary travellers home. I waited... and waited... and waited. In the end, after 11pm, I decided they'd probably cancelled, gone to stay in a nice hotel, got horribly lost, or worse... camped outside! No sooner had I wriggled into my sleeping bag than they arrived... Milly, Maria and Glenn. Maria brought wood and got a blazing fire going... and my bedtime was postponed until 2am!

Saturday morning and the weather was hardly much better. We sloshed up the boggy moor, over the pass and down to the head of Longsleddale. Climbed over Harter Fell, hid behind a wall for lunch on Kentmere Pike, then were amazed to find it turned into a lovely sunny day from Shipman Knott onwards. We passed through Kentmere, met Peter and Oscar on the way uphill. Peter had been looking for us all day, but clearly our paths hadn't crossed. We still intended camping on Thornthwaite Crag at that time, but it was slow-going up Yoke, so we camped just short of the summit instead. It was a clear, but very cold evening.

Sunday morning was glorious, but by the time we'd packed up and reached Thornthwaite Crag, the rain and mist caught up with us again. We had that all the way over High Street and Mardale Ill Bell, then just got rained on all the way down to Haweswater. Now that I'm back home, the weather is lovely!

Thanks to Milly for organising, and for the lift home. Thanks to Maria for the firewood, which brought the bothy to life. Thanks to Glenn for being such a good sport while having his kit choice endlessly reviewed by the others!

PS... Views on Saturday night stretched from the Lakes to Lancashire and as far as North Wales. Views on Sunday morning stretched as far as the Isle of Man, Cheviots and Southern Uplands.

Well I don't know where the leather chairs came from, certainly weren't there the last time I was in the cottage, 18 months ago.

Today was spent on Great and Little Whernside with the intention of carrying on to Buckden Pike unfortunately the weather was against us so we Binned Buckden and went Gill scrambling up Strans Gill, interesting hmmm, rope was only needed once

Paddy Dillon wrote (see)

Maria brought wood and got a blazing fire going... and my bedtime was postponed until 2am!

 

Maria and a fire - NO!! Never!!! Not Maria forget pyromania when you have pyromaria

and an early night for a change then !!!

Great video and write up Paddy.

OMG i don't sound like that do I?! I don't have an accent!! 

Well I'm nice and clean again, and shortly off to bed.... great weekend peeps! 

peter dixon 2 wrote (see)

good to hear paddy will video link be on here ?  another time perhaps  can i ask was that an umbrella i spied or tripod if the first can i ask which one and how you find it ?

Peter... It was a Senz umbrella... handy to have in wind and rain because it's more stable than normal umbrellas.