Lakes Trip
Date: 1st-3rd December 2017
Accommodation: Hawse End Cottage YHA, Portinscale, Keswick
Attendees: Maggie (organiser), Alan, Claire, Keyna, Marion, Jill, Martin, Bruce, Gary, Mark C, Pete, Andrea, Iona, Clair.
Some of us headed north on Thursday evening to avoid the Friday traffic and so we could do a walk on Friday. We awoke to a lovely clear and sunny day and Maggie, Alan, Claire, Jill and Gary headed up from Latrigg to do Skiddaw (931m). The ground was frozen and we were soon walking in snow, when we finally reached the top it was bitterly cold but the views were wonderful! Mark set off with us but not for long, as he ran, and completed both Skiddaw and Blencathra (23km plus 1480m ascent)!
After settling in at the YHA Maggie cooked a meal for those who had arrived early and waited for everyone else to arrive enjoying cheese and port kindly provided by Mark.
On Saturday we set off from the hostel and headed up to Cat Bells with good views of Derwent Water, and carried on to High Sky and Dale Head (753m). Unfortunately the clouds didn’t clear so visibility was not too good. After lunch Clair headed back down into the valley. Marion and Maggie decided to head down from Hindscarth and ended up doing a lot of sliding down damp rocks. Martin, Andrea and Iona bagged Hindscarth (727m) and then went back to pick up the trail to do Robinson (737m) which Alan, Claire, Jill, Gary and Keyna did. Mark and Pete went trail running and did an amazing 37km, although it did include a bacon butty stop at the Honister Pass café, tea/buns at the Black Sail hut and cake in Buttermere! We all arrived back in the dark and mulled wine and minced pies were thoroughly enjoyed by all. This was followed by two great curry dishes cooked by Marion and Gary. We also celebrated National Romania day with Andrea and Iona with some interesting liquor!
On Sunday the weather looked good so Alan, Claire, Maggie, and Marion did Blencathra, while Mark went off running again but only 22km and 980m ascent! Some of the group went on a ‘Lakeside’ walk from the YHA led by Bruce while others headed back home.
It was a great weekend and it was good to welcome to Clair and Iona on their first NMC trip. Do look at Marks brilliant video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSPxcix4NV4&  Thank you Mark!
Maggie
