December 2005 - Lake Ennerdale in Winter

Two trips occurred in December. The first was with Raymond E in the Lake District. I have a hike around Ennerdale Water (54 31.516N,3 23.546W, if you have not Googled Earth'd yet, you have to!) in the Lake District which has provided a great training ground for testing kit, navigation and physical capabilities. At the apex, it is also possible to include Scarfel Pike and hence the trip can be up to 3 or 4 days in length. It is mostly deserted and offers a great variety of peaks, valleys, ridges and of course stunning views of the lakes (incl. Buttermere). It was bitterly cold being the middle of winter and even though we had clear skies, it was quite a shock for Raymond having just arrived for the warm Cape!

The second trip (1 night) was in the Peak district and only a couple of days later. I had some extra energy to burn off, so Raymond and Dave drove me to Edale (beginning of the Pennine Way). I was rearranging my kit after they had dropped me off when I noticed that I was missing my tent poles. My objective was to do some GPS navigating, so I just decided to walk all night instead of pitching a camp. But as I got further into the walk (and it was already early evening) the weather really got bad. I could only see about 3 feet and for anyone who has been to the peak district, this does not help much due to the undulating terrain. The dense mist just defused my head torches beam. Anyway I stuck to my guns and in complete faith just followed my GPS readings. Not the easiest to have added due to the pouring rain and wet map. A good couple of lessons – get Gromit to check the equipment and it was fabulous GPS training. Believe in the technology – it’s not wrong.