On Saturday before we got the bus to Grasmere we called in to Mrs F's Fine Food Emporium in Keswick for coffee. Mrs F's were supportive of the Zip Off campaign so we wanted to thank them and give them some custom, along with the other businesses who were against the zip wire. Keswick Boot Company have also been supportive of Zip Off. Mrs F's is a lovely coffee shop, full of mismatched furniture and decorated with old trinkets, an Aladdin's cave! We had some coffee then went for our bus. We will go again next week and treat ourselves to some cake
We also liked the lovely sign on the door that said everyone was welcome.
http://mrsfskeswick.co.uk/I wasn't feeling well, I've had a virus all week and have been coughing for England. Once at Grasmere we started going up Stone Arthur, it was after 12 by the time we started walking. I couldn't breathe properly going up and I kept on stopping, my lungs felt like they were on fire.
On the ascent of Stone Arthur
We stopped for our lunch below the summit failing to find somewhere out of the bitter wind. We didn't stop for long and once on the summit the wind was stronger.
Beefy on Stone Arthur's summit
Hazy view westward from Stone Arthur
Heron Pike from Stone Arthur
We'd planned to go over Great Rigg, Heron Pike and Nab Scar before finding a pitch but I had nothing left in me. Time was getting on too, I had been really slow on the way up. We climbed up the ridge toward Great Rigg for a while trying to find a pitch out of the wind. We ended up dropping down to Brackenwife Knotts below Stone Arthur before we found somewhere.
MSR pitched below Stone Arthur
Seat Sandal, Grisedale Hause and Fairfield
The MSR with Helm Crag seen behind
The views were still very hazy westward. We got some water to filter from a nearby stream and had our tea. It was freezing in the wind so we were in the tent in our sleeping bags by 5!
Grasmere from our pitch
The MSR with Stone Arthur's summit seen above
The sun set
It wasn't a great sunset the sun was too bright until it went behind Harrison Stickle
We got a bit of an orange glow
We had some wine and got in our bags again. The weather was set to drop overnight to minus 2 or 3 so we'd come prepared for the cold. Day 1 was Grasmere Swan Hotel - Stone Arthur - Rigg Crags - Brackenwife Knotts. 5.6km with 501m ascent
Frost on the MSR in the morning
It had been really cold overnight, we were both warm enough in our bags, except for my feet which were cold. I had put 3 pairs of socks on as well
Helm Crag in the morning sun
We started to feel the cold while we had our breakfast, it was too cold for it to be enjoyable for me. We packed our stuff away saying we would wait for warmer weather before we came out camping again. When we say warmer, we mean at least plus 3
Toward the Coniston Fells
I felt really poorly with the virus so we didn't do a long walk. We dropped down Brackenwife Knotts to Grasmere and we walked to White Moss to get the bus. Day 2 was Brackenwife Knotts - Mill Bridge - Grasmere - Pennyrock Wood - White Moss 7.5km with 30m ascent. I'm still feeling dreadful I don't think the freezing air in my lungs helped very much
