So the first thing to say is that I had a great weekend in the Buttermere area of the Lake District, but not exactly the one I thought I was going to get.
I had planned what I thought was a great walk from Honister to Floutern tarn for Saturday, a reasonably demanding walk but nothing too difficult. I was joined by my mate and now stalwart of these little adventures Mark S.
The idea was to meet up on Friday and have a quick overnight camp on Buttermere moss, which involved a short but very steep climb past Moss Force waterfall onto the top and then pitch for the night, ready to get an early start for the main event the following day.
But that’s where it all started to go a little off course.
First off, after visiting the falls we decided to make our way up via a route of our own choosing, rather than taking the sane option of a clearly worn path. That would have been far too easy. Instead we very carefully made our way up the short and incredibly steep moss covered hillside, clinging on where we could, and leaning into the hill as we went. It probably wasn’t the sanest choice, but what’s life without a little adventure?
Eventually though, we happily hit the top and walked to the other side of the fell to where we decided to pitch up for the night.
That’s when it hit us, full in the face, with an open hand, slapping us right across the chops (well, me at least). What we thought would be a fairly breezy night that we had prepared ourselves for, in fact turned out to be a gusty battle of wills that we eventually lost (I eventually lost) due to wind speeds of up to 48 mph as measured with my natty little nemometer.
I had wanted to test out one of my tents that I hadn’t really used much, and thought this would be a good opportunity to do just that.
Unfortunately, my 7001 grade aluminium alloy tent poles couldn’t take the strain the wind was putting on them and folded like so much wet paper. A bit of an exaggeration for sure, but they did bend out of shape, and there was no way they were going to hold up for the night. So after a bit of judicious straightening with the aid of a strong knee, I packed them up along with the rest of the tent and we headed back over what was now a very dark fell, and back down the hillside (this time via the path), it was very dark after all.
Mark hilariously said that it was like taking my tent on a first date, only to get it slapped in the face as we walked into the pub without even making it to the bar.
Once down we eventually pitched up a short distance from where we had parked. made a hot meal and then settled in for what was an incredibly rainy and windy night.
After what was for me a fairly disturbed nights sleep (Mark aparently slept quite soundly), I woke early to a bright moonlit morning and thankfully no wind or rain.
A decent brew and a short walk with a trowel later, it became clear to me that I was in no condition to take on what was supposed to be a solid days walk. Unfortunately my left knee was giving me a fair amount of pain. I think it must have been the ridiculously steep climb the night before that unsettled something in my hip, and was displacing the pain to my knee. I’ve recently come to learn about such things.
Anyway, that pretty much put paid to the planned walk, so we decided to pack up and head out to Honister Slate Mine for what tuned out to be a great sausage in a bun, and a much needed coffee.
At some point during this fine morning repast we hatched a plan that took us back to Buttermere where we parked up, and then went to a pub where I treated us to lunch and a pint by way of apology for messing up the day.
So, we needed another plan, and it struck me that we could go to a little spot I’d found on a previous trip earlier in the year. It wasn’t far so we took a bimble that way to check it out as a prospect for a camp that night. Having found it more than acceptable we headed back to the vehicles to get our gear packed and then went back to what was in truth a lovely spot to pitch for a night.
Because we had got there quite early for a normal wildcamp, we knew we could just chillout and use the time to relax and simply enjoy being in such a naturally beautiful spot, and the fine weather of the day continued into the evening.
We’d perched ourselves on the edge of a small hill overlooking the lake, with a dramatic background being provided by the magnificent hills surrounding us. It was to be fair, an idylic spot.
Having set up and settled in, it was now time for a drop of the red stuff and a good meal. Well, I say good meal, but what I really mean is the MRE’s that we had with us, but as strange as it is I’ve always liked them, and this time there was pudding as well. So by any measure it was a good meal.
We chatted away into the night enjoying the changing light of the night as it drew in, and the creepy red eyes of the sheep that were watching us, until well after campers midnight, and then later as the wine and food took effect, we headed off to our respective doss bags and a good nights sleep.
However, the following morning brought about a return to the kind of weather we’d seen earlier on Friday night. As we packed away our kit and took our tents down we were being battered by strong winds again that only seemed to be getting stronger, and of course my poles got bent once again.
By the time we were packing away the last of our kit the rain had started and was joining forces with the wind to make sure that we weren’t going to stick around much longer, we were being told to leave in no uncertain terms. The walk back to our vehicles was an uncomfortable one, with icy cold rain stinging our faces all the way, but eventually we made it and were glad to be able to get changed into a set of dry clothes.
And that marked the end of what was a completely different weekend to the one planned, but it was still a good one nevertheless.
The route I had originally planned was a good one, it has some technical aspects, a mix of terrain, great views and locations, and a suitable distance to cover to get to the overnight pitch at the tarn.
However, despite a complete change to the planned itinerary, the unnecessary and violent bullying of the weather, and the failure of my tent to hold it’s own, I was in good company, and all in all we still had a good weekend.
P.S. I’m not giving up the tent, I think it’s a good tent, It’s spacious, lightweight, very easy to pitch, and I’ve ordered a new set of poles for it, plus I’ve also figured out how to modify the guy out points to provide a lot more stability in the wind.
Even if it turns out not to be storm worthy, it still handled the blustery conditions lower down, and it did so with bent poles, so with the mods and new poles it should be able to stand most conditions that I’m likely to be out in. We’ll see in time I guess.