Getting on with my life and thinking about things.
Based in Aberdeen, Scotland.
Reached 200 within 72hrs
CLOSED at 2,017
APRES CLOSE: 2,021
And then he said, "How sweet it were
A fisher or a hunter there,
A gardener in the shade,
Still wandering with an easy mind
To build a household fire and find
A home in every glade.
What days and what sweet years! Ah me
Our life were life indeed, with thee
So pass'd in quiet bliss,
And all the while" said he "to know
That we were in a world of woe,
On such an earth as this!"
Text source: William Wordsworth "Ruth"
It wasn't Darren after all, but Lay. For Darren's health and being worried of a relapse, he'd decided to stay down in the valley at Easedale Tarn. BG and Lay were staying down there. Because of lack of mobile phone signal down in the valley, Lay had walked up to tell us.
Chatting amongst ourselves, Geoff decided to stay uphill, while the rest of us headed back down to Easedale. As he'd miss it later, I left him with a cupful of saké.
We passed back down through the weird Herdwick sheep. That lamb just looks wrong. I wouldn't have been surprised if it started bleating out "Mammee".
Back down at Easedale tarn, the tourists were away, and found pitches quite easily. Lay used a 2-skin tent; Dawn had a single skin tent; John and I both had Aktos, BG/Stef had a hooped bivvy, and Darren a tarp. I'd swapped out the OMM foam mat that I used on Friday night with the Insul-mat (far more comfortable).
Settled in, fed and watered, it was time for the gifts. Spiritburner had sent a second Bellingham/BPC buff to me weeks ago, with a note to Darren (the buff-slayer). (WD's diary)
Most folk were in bed as soon as it got dark. I think the heat had just sapped people's energy.
We set off towards Easedale Tarn, but soon left Darren in tree-shade, where he could listen to the brook babbling, and write poetry whilst awaiting a cooling breeze. Pushing on, I wasn't prepared for the amount of people heading up the well-made footpath.
I certainly wasn't prepared for "Flo" (as I named her), who walked past, lifting her flowing skirts out of the mud. Later on it turned out she was there for a photoshoot, as "Heathcliff" was already at a boulder on Easedale Tarn awaiting her. Oh, and that's Geoff taking his ease on the grass above her.
So, John, Dawn and myself pushed on to Codale Tarn, where we'd meet the others later.
What amazed me was how angular the whole region was. Down in the valley was Grasmere. Somewhere. We hadn't walked that far, and it was gone from view already. As were the majority of people.
At a rise at the eastern end of Codale Tarn, we set up pitches, and Geoff appeared, quickly putting up his tarp.
When getting water from a small waterfall in the tarn's feed-stream, Dawn and I noticed someone approaching. Darren? Then Dawn pointed out that if it was Darren, where's his pack?
Having packed my kit on Thursday, it was a simple matter of changing after work on Friday and then to drive down to Grasmere. It gave the new satnav system a workout. It coped well. Another Garmin unit that I trust. My only issue is that I can't listen to the directions and listen to music at the same time - my hearing isn't what it used to be.
Parking at the back of Dove Cottage (some dead poet lived there once)[when they were alive]{not that someone dead could 'live' anywhere}<look it up yourself if you don't know who>, and tabbed it to Alcock Tarn in the torchlight. It was bright enough that I just used the red light to pick out the path under my feet, and the sky-light was bright enough to find the path in the distance.
I found Lay's tent, and set up my pitch. The others were over there somewhere, I couldn't see them and had already decided on my pitch.
The views were stunning, and quickly my allocation of "wow" and "sheesh" were used up for the day. "Perfick" was added; it seemed appropriate. No daffodils though. And the clouds all had company.
Breaking camp, we went different ways down to Grasmere, and I tagged along with Dawn and Darren, as I could offer them a lift into Grasmere, and be directed to a better car park.
We met up at the Miller Howe cafe - as the day got hotter, it was only chucking out time that really got us moving. Darren was already worrying about a relapse, and was planning on sticking to the shade as much as possible.
R-to-L: Lay strikes a pose, John stitches his trousers, Dawn has noticed the camera, and Stef continues in his usual relaxed manner. Geoff had pushed on and would rest further up the trail.
"Wainwright's Walks" BBC2 Scotland.
Just watched Julia Bradbury climb Scafell Pike (England's highest peak), following in the footsteps of Alfred Wainwright. She chatted with Joss Naylor, and asked about his follow-up to the "70 at 70" and his epic 214 peaks in 7 days.
Further up the way, a path repair crew is encountered, and the public is given some insight into the work that goes on to make their trek easier. Well done, chaps.
Another insight given was that Julia mentioned that it would normally take 7 hours to walk, but longer with a film crew. By the end of the programme she had taken 10 hours to summit. A long day.
I would take umbrage with the comment that "it's not beautiful" - it looked gorgeous to me.
By coincidence, I'm down in the Lakes in a couple of weekends time - guess where I want to make a detour to now?
Oh, and pronunciation. She pronounced it "Skoh-fell" rather than what I was (mis)pronouncing it as "Skah-fell". I'll find out. Names are important.
Stuck in at work overworking to get things ready for the new block. At least I can look at photos like these from Sean at StridingEdge.net. And at least it's a unit on problem solving, so will be fun (by the time I get finished with it) - hmm, wonder if I can legitimately get the little darlings to plan my C2C?
I must stop using my evil laugh and grin; the lass who sits next to me at work is getting worried. Muhahaha.
Bowie's "Lets Dance" album playing through iPod/laptop combo. Scarpas on, "Keep on trekking" t-shirt under shirt, and Montane Verso over chair. Chill in the air - I must work faster, as I'm getting too comfortable in here. Got a pile of painting done last night, and have only 8 more infantry, and a mortar crew to complete; hopefully tonight. Nice to get something personal done at the weekend.
