Grasmere wild camp,Jan 18

So with xmas done and dusted i looked to the yrs first camp, my normal companions being Oscar and Lee,sadly Oscar cant make the hills now and Lees had a nasty bug since xmas
So it was a nice suprise to get a message from James Boulter,saying he was up for a few nights and would i like to meet up on Saturday night..we agreed an area to meet 

I was away from home early and left Grasmere just gone 7-30 am i followed James route at first and headed up the quiet Far Easdale track,the snow soon started to deepen 

It was a very steep uphill,but it was a route of my own making 

I followed the path way up then after Deer Bields crags made a sharp turn South and upwards, it was a steep ascent made harder by the knee deep snow, sadly just before gaining the ridge i hit an area of thigh deep snow...hard work was needed 

Once i got higher the clag came in for a while but then beautifuly dropped back down filling the valleys, the result was a lovely inversion

It was a very monochrome sort of day but lovely all the same a quick check on the phone and a few texts and i agreed to meet James on High Raise

Luckily for me some people met me on Coldale head and they then broke trial over to High Raise i was happy to follow there tracks over

As i waited the mist rolled over Rosset and then filled the long Langscarth valley, it was lovely to watch as i waited for James to appear,he had found deep snow too 

                                                       The beard hill master approaches 

Checking the forecast we could see that the weather was due to change with the wind swinging round to the South and increasing in strength, a mix of snow was in the mix too....Sunday morning wasnt going to be nice 

Photo credit James Boulter

So after High Riase we walked back over to Sergeant man and then made our way along towards Tarn crag,we looked at a spot id used before but it was still cathcing the wind so we pushed on a bit more 

James had said he'd had a bit of a struggle to sort a flat piece to camp on,on Friday night. So he was happy to use my shovel to sort himself out a flat pitch,but not before id had to dig out a good foot and a half of snow to get a nice level pitch for myself first

Shelters up we searched out some water and were soon walking back to camp with litres of fresh water 

Photo credit James Boulter

 

Brews were made and we settled in to our respective shelters

James choose to stay in his shelter most of the evening,not a bad decision as the wind was blowing hard and the windchill was brutal on my fingers, every time i took my mitts off to alter settings on my camera

The wind died off around 10 pm and the rest of the night was ok, but the wind arrived at 6 am ish followed an hour later by the snow and spindrift 

It was a bit harsh packing away the shelters and once were we done we soon made our way off..james wanted to bag Tarn crag and what with the strong wind spindrift and snow/clag it was a bit of a challenge

But James has a Mountain beard and is made of tuff stuff 😅 So as soon as we found the summit we left it, constantly checking our position as we avoided the crags till we made the valley bottom 

The snow was falling hard as we chatted our way down the valley and was settling well even in Grasmere village...all to soon we said goodbye and i quickly got changed and set off in the car for home...a good trip with good company ......safe travels Peter 

https://youtu.be/41Bhc_j-Xiw

TWENTY SEVENTEEN WILD CAMPS

So 2017 saw my first wild camp on the wknd of Jan 7/8 th ,with Lee and Oscar, which saw us walk from Kentmere out along the tops too High Riase,then double back a bit to camp on Kidsty pike summit

MLD Supermid 

The 2nd camp came on Jan 14/15 th ,with Lee and Oscar, we walked form Grasmere over the tops but a change in weather had us camp low down on near Dow bank 

MLD Supermid

The 3 rd didnt come till March 25/26 th,with Oscar i went  from Torver over the tops to Grey Friar, returning the same way 

The 4 th and 5 th nites followed the next wknd the 1/2 April with a trip in the Langdales, with Oscar

The 6 th nite came straight after my family holiday to Florida,so was a jet lagged walk unto Yoke with Oscar and Lee

Using the long wknd of 1 st of May saw me,Lee And Oscar do a nice 2 nite 3 day walk around Coniston Lake,taking us to 9 nites out 

The 6th of May saw the 3 of us over on the Shap fells for the night,along with some deer and a pair of hunting Tawny owls 

On to the 19 th of May and a wild camp over on the Langdales with Lee and Oscar on a very wet wknd 

The 25 th of May saw us up on the Fannichs but a reported severe weather warning saw us change our plans after the 2 nd nite..annoyingly didnt arrive, but not before we nearly melted in the 27c valley walk in !

To try and save the wknd we decided to call in on the Cairngorms on the way home.What a difference to a few days before,we set off in full rain gear and gloves brrrr.Sadly Lee and Oscar didnt get any views from Macdui but after camp we got treated to a beauty of an inversion 

The 23rd of June saw me in Wasdale for 2 nights to meet with some lads of Trek lite, wisely most of them didnt bother with going high friday

Fridays walk up was very wet, camped at the col below Haycock

Meeting up of the Trek-Lite members,on Kirk fell 

Eight of July saw me on my 16 th night on top of Red Screes with Lee and Oscar 

I met up with Darron and Lee for a walk on 15th July for a walk up from Hartsop,had a very windy camp of swirling 50 mph winds but the MLD goodness just shook it all off

The Howgills with Oscar and Lee for 2 nights came on the 4th August  

The 2 nd nite a lad of Trek lite met us for the night @343GuiltySparc,a nice evening it was too,but windy

The Best trip ive ever done, up there with TMB in 1997 and my week in Knoydart in 2015,was to the Artic circle in Northern Sweden with Lee and Matt Holland.We followed a route that we had made up and were treated Northern lights on 5 of the 8 nights out ! Nights 20-27 of the year 

The 23 rd September saw me with lee on a very wet walk along the central fells 

Seventh of Oct saw me on the Shap fells again, Lee and Oscar 

Nov 4th sees me on the Fairfield hills and the Seasons first snow fall,but with great regret only me and Lee, no more Oscar dog on the hills 

As the year rolls towards the end 11th Nov saw me and Lee on the Kentmere fells,me minus my sleeping matt !

Which leaves us with my last wild camp of the year (may just add one more yet :) this time i met Darron who was out 2 nites but i could only fit one in,the Langdales 

It was a windy day and and a very windy night but luckily the Hilly tent survived it ! ;)

So very sadly this will have been Oscars last years of wild camping and mountain walking, severe arthritus has taken a very quick holds he can only do 30 mins and two 10 minute walks, and that with 4 Tramadol and 6 Paladale tablets.Hes had a very good hill life and prob had more adventures then all of his brothers,in his litter

With a big trip to Sweden and Oscar retiring earlier, than i thought, ive not had  a bad, i have managed 32 nights out wild camping and a few more day walks in-between.Another blow to the year was the news that sadly Social hiking has decided he has to shut the site down,its been really interesting and helpful having somewhere to log all my info and walks,be great if someone else could take it over and carry it on ?


Thanks for looking and Safe travel to all those i know ...... Peter





Edit  Sneaked in one last wild camp

On the 27th i met up with Lee and we had a night between Garburn pass and Yoke summit 

Thanks for looking