A Day out above Grassmere
Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 10:10 amThe is my 1st blog, please feel free to gloss over the following paragraph as i just wanted to explain how & why i came to get involved in fell walking.
My 1st walk with the trailmasher came about purely by chance, as some of you are followers of the great man you will of read many of his accounts, I was one of the "likely lads" on the "sleepover at blacksail parts 1&2"
I walked the blacksail adventure for charity, and because of this i never thought walking up and down fells would be my thing! Ooh how wrong i was!
As soon as i had recovered i was pestering the trailmasher to do another one such was my enthusiasm, however there was a twist! my 13 year old daughter "E" & my 21 year old son "C" decided they wanted to do a walk with me, I think this came about as i still after a couple of weeks had never shut up about my 2 days up in the fells!
So as good as his word an email was delivered to me outlining a route that was steady in nature for all of us as mere novices to achieve, 10 miles with a 3 summits and no scrambling!
The day began with a 5am wake up call as we had to be on the road for 6 to meet up with our leader a little nearer our destination, the kids were obviously a little bleary eyed especially C who didn't return home from work until 1am! well done son.
We meet up with Trailmasher at 07:30, a quick chat about the day and a coffee, and we were on our way.
Arriving at Grassmere and parking on the main road the weather is fine, however rain is forecast a little later on.
And off we go! a steady walk up the back of the village and we're soon on the grassy ascent to Silver How. A couple of RAF fighter jets whistle through the valley as we are about half way up, an amazing sight! We have a few little stops to take breath but mainly to take in the magnificent views1
A little while later & we've reached our 1st summit the kids "top out first" followed by the 2 oldies! the young uns look a little over awed by the views and the height & distance we achieve.
On we plod towards Bleag Rigg the time is about 11:15 when Mother Nature decides to get in on the act Grrrr! the rain starts to fall followed by a significant increase in the wind speed, so its all stop on with the wet gear,and take the opportunity to have a sandwich, After a short break we carry on towards our next port of call with the weather steadily deteriorating, after a little while longer we arrive on Blea Rigg again topped out 1st by the young brigade who by now despite the inclement conditions seem to be loving the experience! ( result i'm thinking to myself!)
The weather shows no sign of abetting so as we stride on towards Sgt Man Trailmasher asks whether we want to carry on as we are at the point where we can start a descent back towards Grassmere, Im easy either way but can't stop staring at the Sgt thinking i want to have you! however the decision is made for us "old" uns when the young brigade decide lets do it! and as we have plenty of time due to making good progress all morning we set off for the big 1 of the day, about a mile away sitting loud & proud above the others in the distance.
As we set off for the summit the weather turns a little bit, the rain stops & the wind eases (looks like a good decision now) after about an hour we reach the last summit of the day, yes you've guessed it the briskness of youth once again tops out 1st (damn them pesky kids!) Up on the top there's time for photo's and a well done moment for all the party! i'm feeling very proud of the both of them what a great day!, A few others make the way to the summit from Rays as we chat to them it turns out they are doing an Outward Bound expedition, there 1st question being is this Sgt Man? mmm a bit more practise required me thinks, Anyway time to start the descent back to civilisation.
Almost immediately E has a little slip on the now wet rocks, she's fine but has banged her toes a little, up she gets and on we go, Im soon realising this is not an easy descent, its pretty steep and with the weather once again having a go at us the rocks,stones and scree are slippy. Im a little concerned and hold hands with E on the way down the trickier parts, and this is how i gave myself my username! i was constantly on my backside for the first part of the walk down trying to look after E ha ha.
With the weather continually battering us on our descent the young uns lost a little heart as their gear was good but not top of the range, however the mood is lifted a little as we walk past Easedale tarn & beck, a beautiful little lake with flows down into the beck with wonderful little waterfalls and plenty of white water rushing down the hill, no doubt aided by the heavy rain! An hour or so later and we arrive back at Grassmere outside the Miller Howe cafe whoop whoop!
In we go looking like drowned rats, the lad working gave a funny look but said nothing! we take off our waterproofs, the kids want Hot Chocolate, tralmasher and myself plump for Latte's and E gets a chocolate brownie reward cake! well deserved aswell!
We head off back to Trailmashers home where the lovely E has prepared us all dinner which was demolished without haste! and off we go after the goodbyes & thank you's back home, all in all a brilliant day, the kids were very tired but not disheartened and i can't wait to go go again!!
My 1st walk with the trailmasher came about purely by chance, as some of you are followers of the great man you will of read many of his accounts, I was one of the "likely lads" on the "sleepover at blacksail parts 1&2"
I walked the blacksail adventure for charity, and because of this i never thought walking up and down fells would be my thing! Ooh how wrong i was!
As soon as i had recovered i was pestering the trailmasher to do another one such was my enthusiasm, however there was a twist! my 13 year old daughter "E" & my 21 year old son "C" decided they wanted to do a walk with me, I think this came about as i still after a couple of weeks had never shut up about my 2 days up in the fells!
So as good as his word an email was delivered to me outlining a route that was steady in nature for all of us as mere novices to achieve, 10 miles with a 3 summits and no scrambling!
The day began with a 5am wake up call as we had to be on the road for 6 to meet up with our leader a little nearer our destination, the kids were obviously a little bleary eyed especially C who didn't return home from work until 1am! well done son.
We meet up with Trailmasher at 07:30, a quick chat about the day and a coffee, and we were on our way.
Arriving at Grassmere and parking on the main road the weather is fine, however rain is forecast a little later on.
And off we go! a steady walk up the back of the village and we're soon on the grassy ascent to Silver How. A couple of RAF fighter jets whistle through the valley as we are about half way up, an amazing sight! We have a few little stops to take breath but mainly to take in the magnificent views1
A little while later & we've reached our 1st summit the kids "top out first" followed by the 2 oldies! the young uns look a little over awed by the views and the height & distance we achieve.
On we plod towards Bleag Rigg the time is about 11:15 when Mother Nature decides to get in on the act Grrrr! the rain starts to fall followed by a significant increase in the wind speed, so its all stop on with the wet gear,and take the opportunity to have a sandwich, After a short break we carry on towards our next port of call with the weather steadily deteriorating, after a little while longer we arrive on Blea Rigg again topped out 1st by the young brigade who by now despite the inclement conditions seem to be loving the experience! ( result i'm thinking to myself!)
The weather shows no sign of abetting so as we stride on towards Sgt Man Trailmasher asks whether we want to carry on as we are at the point where we can start a descent back towards Grassmere, Im easy either way but can't stop staring at the Sgt thinking i want to have you! however the decision is made for us "old" uns when the young brigade decide lets do it! and as we have plenty of time due to making good progress all morning we set off for the big 1 of the day, about a mile away sitting loud & proud above the others in the distance.
As we set off for the summit the weather turns a little bit, the rain stops & the wind eases (looks like a good decision now) after about an hour we reach the last summit of the day, yes you've guessed it the briskness of youth once again tops out 1st (damn them pesky kids!) Up on the top there's time for photo's and a well done moment for all the party! i'm feeling very proud of the both of them what a great day!, A few others make the way to the summit from Rays as we chat to them it turns out they are doing an Outward Bound expedition, there 1st question being is this Sgt Man? mmm a bit more practise required me thinks, Anyway time to start the descent back to civilisation.
Almost immediately E has a little slip on the now wet rocks, she's fine but has banged her toes a little, up she gets and on we go, Im soon realising this is not an easy descent, its pretty steep and with the weather once again having a go at us the rocks,stones and scree are slippy. Im a little concerned and hold hands with E on the way down the trickier parts, and this is how i gave myself my username! i was constantly on my backside for the first part of the walk down trying to look after E ha ha.
With the weather continually battering us on our descent the young uns lost a little heart as their gear was good but not top of the range, however the mood is lifted a little as we walk past Easedale tarn & beck, a beautiful little lake with flows down into the beck with wonderful little waterfalls and plenty of white water rushing down the hill, no doubt aided by the heavy rain! An hour or so later and we arrive back at Grassmere outside the Miller Howe cafe whoop whoop!
In we go looking like drowned rats, the lad working gave a funny look but said nothing! we take off our waterproofs, the kids want Hot Chocolate, tralmasher and myself plump for Latte's and E gets a chocolate brownie reward cake! well deserved aswell!
We head off back to Trailmashers home where the lovely E has prepared us all dinner which was demolished without haste! and off we go after the goodbyes & thank you's back home, all in all a brilliant day, the kids were very tired but not disheartened and i can't wait to go go again!!
and all credit to the 'young 'uns' with not a single moan out of 'em all day 
