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Just a quick write up which gives me an excuse to put some pics up, including a couple I took of 2 early rising fell runners which I said I'd post on here!
I'd been keeping an eye on the weather and with the impending high pressure and a hankering to give my new Nordisk Svalbard tent a proper outing decided to shoot up to the Lakes Friday afternoon. My target was Skiddaw, not sure why I chose it...sort of jumped out at me when I was on OS maps online. I left my car in one of the official car parks in Keswick and paid handsomely to park it overnight but no harm in putting some money back in the economy. The walk up with my 40lb pack (lot of fluids for drinking and cooking!) was slow going but worth it - the views were already worth it by the time I was half way up.
I had the usual solo wild camp reticence of 'will I find a decent spot to pitch tent/will it get too windy/will the boogey man get me\oh no I forgot my p*ss bottle etc' but it was all outweighed by the excitement of getting out in the hills again after such a rubbish spring. The views from the summit were just what the doctor ordered as well
I dropped off the top to a plateau showing on the map as 831m which looked a likely spot and indeed it was a perfect little campsite for me and my tent, and probably a few more, for future reference.
http://yorkshireflyfishing.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/IMG_4330.jpgTea was some noodles washed down with a miniature bottle of red followed by a chill out session in the tent with an Arthur C Clarke novel. I then had an evening stroll to take in the spectacular sunset
Once darkness had (eventually) set in I configured myself to be in my sleeping bag with head out the door gazing upwards at the stars which were out despite a bit of light pollution and scudding cloud. The wine, along with a good chunk of hip flask contents and some appropriate background music on my iPhone kept me in this position for an inordinate amount of time but it was a truly awesome spectacle. Several times I saw satellites flashing as they briefly caught the sun's rays.
In the morning I discovered I had 1% battery left from yesterday's carry and thought 'I bet there is a cloud inversion and I can't take any pictures. I got out of my tent and saw that there was indeed a cloud inversion but thankfully that 1% did me proud!!
I began to realise that I had been somehow blessed this weekend! After packing up and beginning the trek back down 2 fell runners came past and we exchanged greetings. As they began to descend I shouted at them to stop. They probably thought I was a crank but they were making for a good picture against the inversion and I figured it would be good if I could get them to them without interrupting their run, so here they are as promised gents, hope you see this!
Bob
