'Case for the defence M'Lord'.
. It wasn't me that chose a twelve miler the previous day and I certainly didn't have pint or two of Sharp Edge. It wasn't me that was early in the pub on Tuesday night and I can barely recall force feeding anyone. (actually I can barely recall anything!). I have made the following notes though.
We were rubbish at the pub quiz
There is a limit to what beer goggles can achieve
and most importantly - never drive over Hardknott Pass with even a semblance of a hangover remaining.
The only saving grace was looking at Pearsy sat on a rock at the start of the walk. It was a sorry site but I knew there and then that we weren't legging it round, can't wait to see the picture Micky took.
And so some pictures and a slightly different route.
The first and easiest crossing of the day, always have the camera handy just in case someone has a slip
It really is one of the most stunning places I've ever walked
Pearsy makes one last desperate attempt to find a pulse
So beautiful the paparazzi scramble for the best shot
I quite like this one looking up Lingcove Beck
We followed this to Lingcove Bridge where some sort of Shenanigans was taking place, I think Peter was saying 'honestly jump it'll be a great picture'
From here into the Great Moss as I rounded the corner into the amphitheatre I had one of those 'how come no-one told me about this before' moments. It would be a great walk out even if you decided not to tackle any of the surrounding hills.
The really Great Moss
Excellent shortcut boys
After a spot of lunch we headed towards Cam Spout in search of a safe-ish river crossing
This is the point where things started to get a bit disjointed, Micky and Pearsy opted for a long weir crossing which ultimately proved to be a much short route.
Meanwhile Peter and me headed up stream in search of a leaping point. We found one eventually but were about 10 minutes behind as we started the steep climb up How Beck to Mickledoor. Now in retrospect Peter may have mentioned something like 'if we are climbing that bleedin mountain it's got to be up Foxes Tarn route.
Somehow me and Micky ended up about 20 yards short of Mickledoor just as the rain started ( I may have forgotten to check the map at any point as I concentrated on the top of the hill - again!) still I've got a lovely photo back down the valley
Having spotted the other two making their way up towards Scafell we had a choice, own up to our (probably my) error and head back down to climb back up or go for the other option. We looked long and hard at Broad Stand and decided that wasn't really an option. Which left one choice.....Lord's Rake.
. A quick chat which went along the lines of 'you feeling lucky punk!' And we decided to go for it. I'm pretty sure you'll all know the score so here are a bunch of pictures.
It's not very wide!
And it is quite steep - Micky gave me a head start to avoid rockfall
he's on there somewhere
Don't even look up if you can help it
Micky clambers to one side
Even out of focus that's a happy face. I'm not at all sure about 'THAT CRACK' though on the bottom of the stone.
Now I went around the side but Micky cut through, giving a good tug on the stone - just to make sure....
From here on in the weather took a turn for the worse and we decided to head for the top quickly to see if we could find our errant pals. According to a couple of chaps in the shelter we'd missed them by about 10 minutes so we headed off towards Slight Side hoping to catch up. The wind had certainly strengthened and then we had hailstones and the temperature must have fallen by about 10 degrees.
Through the mist with the aid of GPS we headed onto Slight Side and clambered onto the top, completely without the aid of the GPS I managed to take us off on the wrong route. The black moss made it an interesting descent through the crags - sorry Micky.
Fortunately the cloud started to break and we caught a glimpse of our pals and set off after them in earnest.
At one point it looked like we could keep the high ground and head them off at the pass - and planned jumping out on them or throwing rocks
. They beat us to the pass by about 30 seconds though
, from here it was a nice amble down and back to the car. An unexpected and fantastic day out with some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery in England. Oh and a top tip, it's always best to be half a pint behind.
