One down, three to go…
On my way up to the Lakes, I stopped by Newcastle to visit a good friend who have always given me the courage to change and morph, stamped a bit of confidence in me to carry on being who I am and do what I want to do. Part of my journey through life wouldn’t have been a happy one if it’s not for the honest ‘out of the box’ conversations with him and this is no different. Our upbringing were very different, night and day different, and with our open-mindedness and curiosity with the diversity of life…the conversation was intriguing and inspiring. I left with a grateful heart and lots of good things to think about.
Leaving Newcastle, I head up to a familiar ground to stay for the night. I spent a night there with George (the van, I know what some of you are thinking) before and it was much easier to drive the winding mountainous road with Ferdi. On a good day on Kirkstone Pass, the view is amazing through the valley towards Windermere but the visibility is often poor. I consider myself lucky when the weather and sky was clear when I arrived.
After a peaceful restful night, I was ready for Helvelyn. This time, I went up via Striding Edge and came back down on Swirral Edge. With walking poles and wet gear ready for the ever changing weather, I went up on a steady pace and made sure that I enjoyed the experience. It started to drizzle and the visibility started to drop when I was approaching Striding Edge, it was decision time. One of the hikers I met on the way up said there’s nothing to see and the two women, who were about to venture up decided to turn away and head down to the tarn, not wanting to risk it on wet rocks especially when the visibility was poor at that point.
So near yet so far but I’ve been blessed this year with the weather and there’s no harm in trying, right? If the weather is too adverse, I can always turn back and if it holds up I’ll have a great day on the Edge. It turned out that I haven’t used up my blessings and I was greeted with clear sky and relatively dry rocks by the time I got up Striding Edge. I couldn’t believe it and kept looking at the cloud all the way up and when I came down on Swirral Edge, hoping and praying that the weather stayed that way. I was elated and a happy bunny, nothing could have wiped that silly smile off my face.
Staying in the van is great but I know I’m not built to sleep in Ferdi for days on end. If I ever want to do full time van life, I’ll need something like George and this is highly unlikely anytime in the future. My body will be telling me ‘I’m too old for this!’ 😂 unless I’m force to do it, I will keep to my part time van life for now thank you very much!
A nice dinner followed by a night on a solid comfy bed, it’s time for a bit of walking to get the legs going again, just to stop them being too stiff after a long day walk the day before. The moor around Nether Wasdale was just a bit better than Kinder for navigation, I was glad but still ever so slightly apprehensive walking through them. I was happy to be out of the moor to walk towards Wast Water to head back and chill out before another long walk the next day.
By the time I head out for my next walk, I’ve already clocked nearly 60km that week and my legs were really feeling it. I took my time, enjoying the view and watching the movements of the clouds while I went up the steep slope. The movement and density of clouds wasn’t great and it looked like I might get rained on heavily with gust of maybe 40mph, it’ll be like getting a slap from the sky. While keeping an eye on the clouds, I was looking out for places I could shelter if the weather turns and thankfully, it looked like it’ll be a quick turnaround.
Before the rain came and the peak was clouded over, I stopped to put on my waterproofs and get myself settled on a small little spot around a few rocks on Whin Rigg and waited. I sighed of relieve when the clouds did clear out and the rain stopped after a short while. I took the opportunity to walk as quickly as I could while the sky was nice and clear, to Illgil Head then turn down towards Burnmoor Tarn and guess what…another MOOR!!!
I was tired and I knew that I couldn’t sustain trying to navigate around the moor and walked a good pace, so I took out my phone and use the OS app to get me through to Miterdale Forest. Even with the help of the app, the moor is a walking nightmare after the rain with either too many or no signs of paths to take. I was thankful by the time I got down the valley to cross over to the forest to head back, even though it was an uphill walk and for the first time, I had to get the cows to move away from the gate (seriously terrifying).
“Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.”
— Andy Rooney
The forest was rejuvenating, the trees were old and felt ancient. I lingered in the forest longer than I expected and had to hasten to get back before dusk. The last thing I want is to try to walk through paths overgrown with vegetations in the dark. I was consciously making a mental note to myself, ‘no more long walks for the next few days’. This is crucial for me since this is how I usually get myself excited then hurt myself in one way or another and unable to complete what I needed to do. Pace, Sharon, pace!
For the rest of the trip in the Lakes, it’s all about chilling out and enjoying the Lakes with no objective to complete apart from rest. It was good timing as well, the rain that I’ve been able to run away from for the last week finally caught up. It was the light constant rain I knew will stay for the next couple of days at least. I took a drive around Eksdale area to check out the best place to spend the next couple of nights before heading out to Ireland. A very nice lady told me that I could take a look at Hardknott Pass and it should be ok if it’s just me especially in the wet weather. I found a nice spot where I spent two nights, arrive late and leave early. This is where I saw loads of cars passing that looked like they were racing or touring cars with numbers and Scottish flags on them. I couldn’t find anything online on it, so I just enjoyed watching them pass.
A gentle walk around Coniston was relaxing, visited The Ruskin Museum and went into a lovely shop, Bottled & Brewed, bought a few small bottles of moonshine (they tasted amazing..don’t worry, just a couple of sips) for brother-in-law for my visit in Oct/Nov and a nice bottle of gin for a friend in Ireland.
I spent the whole next day in Muncaster Castle, the rain was light and the place was filled with a little mystic with the mist coming and going. The bird sanctuary was well kept. They introduced the baby owl that just arrived then the flight of a variety of birds of prey. The castle itself was full of history and I do love the large fireplace that they kept burning, so warm and peaceful on a wet cold day.
On the last day at the Lakes, I went to my breakfast spot next to Wast Water, drove past Shirin on her morning run and we chatted for a bit before we part way (we’re supposed to meet up later at YHA). It was nice to have breakfast with a view and with a grateful heart that everything had gone well so far on the road trip. Half way through, it’s time to meet friends to catch up then went on my merry way to the next destination. Shirin, Billy and I had a short chat, and I met the kids before they went on their own adventure on Wast Water…paddle boarding. I would have loved to join them but it’s time to head over to Scotland to have an early night to catch an early ferry from Cairnryan to Larne.
On to my next adventure…
Reflect-Action > Reflection 
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