Dodgey Knee

All in all, three days were lost, and at the worst possible time – right at the start of the holiday! A few thoughts were aired as to the cause of Mike’s misfortune; everybody ate and drank the same things and David and Keith were fine. The most likely culprit seemed to be either the ‘spring’ water at the start of Ennerdale Water or the inadvertent ingestion of some hillside ‘raisins’ In an effort to get back into the swing of things, a bus trip to Stonethwaite and a pint at The Langstrath pub saw our intrepid trio climb above Borrowdale on an excursion to Watendlath Moore.

Cottage in Borrowdale

Across Borrowdale from edge of Watendlath Moor

The plan was to wander towards the bottom of Thirlmere, for an attempt at Hevellyn and Striding Edge. Then maybe take St Sunday Crag back the day after. From wherever we we end up, there was a vague idea to then catch a bus to the Dales and walk some more.

The decision to climb rather than stay at the campsite at Stonethwaite had some unfortunate consequences. The first of which meant the planned rendezvous with a friend of Mikes, Tony Twyman, (who had come up to watch a marathon) at the valley campsite couldn’t go ahead - a rendezvous that Mike didn’t expect to keep anyway due to the three day holdup, but which indeed would have happened because his mate had stayed longer than he thought.

The second will become apparent as the story unfolds...

A stiff climb up a well made path (Keith met one of the guys who made it (he made it when he was in the army) on the way up).

We entered a rather boggy moor where finding a campsite proved rather a challenge. We finally picked a delightful spot in a small beallach amongst the heather on Great Crag (440m), just as the clouds closed in and it started to rain a little. A leisurely dinner, washed down with some beer Keith had bought at Keswick. Mike thought carrying heavy beer bottles was not a good idea but they went down rather well and on reflection they were a good idea. The rain picked up and we had an early night.

The rain picked up some more. As did the wind. Ho hum...

Listening to the rain