We headed north to stay with my parents over the long Easter weekend and decided to throw in a 2-day hike and wild camp in the Lake District, mainly to test out the new lightweight hiking gear that we had bought for our big South West Coast Path trip in the summer.
The weather was amazing for this time of year. We stupidly forgot to take any sunscreen, thinking 'as if it will be needed in Cumbria at the beginning of April?!?' We were wrong. The sun blazed both days and i finished the walk with a red face. Great!
Gill did not fancy a walk which involved going up a very steep hill and then spending two days up on the bare fells, so I was kind to her on this occasion and mixed in some pretty lakes and easy going tracks in and around Grasmere, Rydal Water, Elterwater and the Langdale valley. With such glorious conditions, we couldn't help but stop at two pubs on the first day; the Brittania Inn at Elterwater and Stickle Barn in Great Langdale. After finishing the second pint, we climbed the steep track up to Stickle Tarn and had the place to ourselves for the night. It was cool getting setup in the evening and cold overnight. Gill's new lightweight sleeping bag was not warm enough and she resorted to thermals, clothes, sleeping bag liner, new sleeping bag and my old sleeping bag, and still wasn't warm enough!
Sunday morning was stunning. The sun came over the hill and warmed us up nicely. No wind made for a truly perfect experience. We had a bit of easter egg, breakfast, coffee (made with the new minipresso machine), and then packed up and headed up onto the tops. The ground was very boggy for most of the day. You would think that the very tops would be dry, but oh no! It was not the nicest hiking terrain. But we did have a cloud inversion to look down on, which was brilliant, and after a hard slog we got to the end and my parents kindly picked us up from the Kings Head pub on Thirlmere - 3 very knackered hikers ready for beer, a shower and a lazy evening. Good little trip!
By Darrell Grundy - visited on 3 April 2015