The Last Practise

This was to be our last practise trip ahead of the TGO Challenge in a couple of weeks time, a last chance to fine tune some kit and get the legs ready for some ascents. We headed for a favourite area of the Lake District which we’ve visited many times before, in various states of fitness. We’d get a good idea as to how fit we now were and it was also a chance to get the camp routine polished and good to go.




Friday 20th April

I?d arranged to pick Mick up at 08:00 but I was sat on the M62 for half an hour which meant I was running late, a quick coffee at his and we were away. We made our usual stop at Maccy D’s drive-thru and topped up the carbs and protein on double sausage and egg McMuffins and hash browns with another large pot of coffee for the road.
I’d gradually busted the zip lock seal on my large aLoksak bag on the past few trips so we called off at Castlebergs on the way through Settle and I treated myself to a nice new orange Haglofs map case, it goes well with the new shoes, honest.

A couple of hours later we were parked up at Haweswater and getting our packs sorted, poles out and stuffing our faces with last minute junk food.



And we’re off, the sun is shining and the we’re feeling good, looking back to the car



Our route up towards Harter Fell via Gatesgarth Pass

A quick rise in elevation really got the legs warmed up





Blea Water to our right as we climb towards High Street



A glimpse down into Kentmere, our planned stop for Saturday night



And the route we’ll be taking to get there tomorrow



Weather closing in from the north, it turned out to be hail which was painful but not soggy



We reached our camp site at Angle Tarn around four hours after we left the car, at this point it was chucking it down.



I quickly got the Trailstar up so we could shelter from the rain, ten seconds later it stopped and the sun was back out.

Drying the wet shells



Some pics around camp















A nice sunset to finish a great day

Saturday 21st April


It was a fairly chilly night and I’d woken a few times to cold shoulders when my doss bag had slipped down, I thought Mick would’ve struggled in his Softie bag and I awoke to hearing effin’ and blindin’ coming from his direction. Let’s just say he’s not too impressed with the Snugpak rating on his bag, fine for most of the year but when the temps are in the low single figures it’s just not enough. All good experience though and it’s useful to know these things before we head off to Scotland for the biggy.
As Mick was awake and not too happy we decided to get up and get warm, a few coffees and some snacks and we were sorted, there’d been some rain overnight but it was a lovely morning, cold but clear. We packed up in good time and were on the trail before 08:00.

Looking back to camp, just behind the knobbly bit, top right of piccy



Our route retraced part of yesterday back up onto High Street and round to the Beacon near Thornthwaite Crag, by the time we reached here the weather had turned and we tried to shelter behind the high wall but the rain was coming straight down in stair rods. The clouds dropped right on top of us and we couldn’t see much further than 50 yards, after we’d had soup and a rest the cloud lifted and we were on our way again.

Finally able to see the first section of our route



Froswick, Ill Bell and Yoke



Windermere to our south west

The ridge route was fairly steady, the climb up to Ill Bell in the driving hail was hard work though, the path coming within a few feet of a 450m drop to the left, Mick looking cold on top of Ill Bell



Great views though



After dodging a couple more wintery showers we dropped down off the summit and into the sunshine once again, our next hill, Yoke



Looking down into Kentmere, looking for a suitable camp site in the process



The last section along the valley bottom turned out to be more of a slog than we first thought, the first place we thought about stopping wasn’t great so we pushed on up towards the dam. Turning a corner we came across a perfect pitch, four inches of soft moss on top of well drained slate, that’ll do nicely.
The evening was pretty wet and miserable, we huddled under the Trailstar for most of it, drinking coffee and working our way through the remaining food we had left.
A bit of a schoolboy error on my part on Thursday when I packed, I’d forgotten to pack my Sealskinz socks so had no means of getting my feet warm and dry unless I stopped in the shelter for the night. After we’d setup camp and had some food I took off the wet shoes and socks and gave my feet some TLC, lots of foot powder applied and then into my HeatHolders then into my doss bag. Ten minutes later my feet were toasty, by the time I had to go out later to water the plants my socks and shoes had more or less dried out, cracking.
After a long day with lots of ascent we called it a night around 21:30, the rain had stopped briefly so Mick went to sort his tent out and retire for the night.

Sunday 22nd April


It was much warmer on Saturday night, it was a combination of a drop in altitude and also there was plenty of cloud cover, we’d both slept much better getting a good ten hours in. I was up around 08:00 and I had to drop the kids off at the pool, as we didn’t have to rush to be away I left Mick to sleep in while I took some pics around camp.









After we’d both packed up at a leisurely pace we headed off up the trail and bound for the car and home, looking back to camp



Up the hill



We missed our next path so ended up doing a bit of heather bashing/bog jumping, hard work on tired legs, yours truly looking whacked

Our route up, heading for the dip on the right at Nan Bield Pass



Great view back down



Reaching Small Water we stopped for a brew, just an excuse not to go home really





Over the last wee hill and we get a glimpse of the car, happy days

Nice trip report fella... and best of luck for the TGO. Those Trailstars do look roomy.

Good luck on the challenge!

Looks like a great trip, thanks for sharing again.

Mind sharing your kit list? Interested in seeing your choices

Thanks chaps

Kit list here benp1 ..

http://shewiesworld.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/tgo-challenge-2012-kit.html

Have a good challenge Shewie.

Had a look at your gear post. well laid out info.

If it was me (based on last year):
. (I was a solo walker and often high)


More food. nicer stuff for lunch and decent breakfast s. On day 4 I was tired and a bit down. and found that food improved morale and performance once I increased my rations

Spare gloves Buffalo mitts or something

Buff
I think most people I saw had more stuff than that. the ULers more down.
Better insulation . When socialising in cairngorm camps I needed Primaloft and Down sometimes!

filter - in Scotlands hills? I dont get the mentality that skimps on nice food and clothes to be UL then takes unnecessary gadgets ( I'm not UL- jusr L)

horses for courses. youll have a great time!

Nice report Shewie, best wishes for the TGO

Not taking the Cuben then

Hey Mole, you're the second person this week to suggest leaving the filter at home, I just think for the 244g it's worth it for the peace of mind.

Are you also suggesting that I don't have enough clothes? I just can't see me needing much more than base layers, Primaloft and fleece?

All good stuff thanks

Some Micropur tabs would knock off 241g....

Standing around on a (admittedly Scottish) fine evening with Mike last summer I had all my layers on (including a MB UL down jacket) and was still chilly - then again if you don't anticipate standing around...

Did you pre filter before using the Micropur tabs Ed?

How do you manage when you're lower down, our route isn't exactly high

I hardly ever use the tabs unless it's a pond in Scotland; I tend to go for 'side streams' that look 'right' (not very scientific I know - but it's worked for 35 years)...

My only available pre-filter would be a buff...or similar.

Nice report BTW.

Didn't see your water holder but if you have a bladder then IIRC drink safe systems inline filter weighs about 70g-ish. Perhaps that would be better. Used to be less than £40 too. I've had the runs on a week long trip and it isn't really that nice. Still, I always have immodium just in case.

nice trip report. Brings back memories of my trips in that area. Like the promontary on angle tarn. Mates once got kicked off it by a load of geese. I often see geese up there. Bloody noisy birds at times.

Love the trailstar. If only money allowed.... I suspect from the number of photos that had it in you like it too!!

Good luck with the TGOC. I want to try it one year. Until then I'll have my usual week up in Scotland. Just over 1 month away and I'll be in the hills. Solo too. When is it? Isn't it in a week or two??

I've used the Drinksafe system in a gravity filter bag, but it's excruciatingly slow, not too bad for base camping but no good on the move for me. I'm not a bladder user preferring to carry a 750ml plastic bottle for drinking, I use a 1L Source Liquitainer for camp water.

The geese were there on Friday, it was quite funny watching them sneak up and then kick the living poop out of one another.

Yup lots of photos of my Trailstar, twelve months after getting it I still think it's damn sexy, plus there's not much else to photo after you've done the hills and water

Enjoyed that Shewie thanks, and probably one of the best kit lists i've seen.