Thankfully the long Easter weekend was blessed with a brilliant sunny forecast, perfect for our visiting nephew, Laurence, and his girlfriend, Megan, to see some of the best the Lake District has to offer…
Friday: Climbing – Black Crag, Wrynose
We were expecting the drive from Oxford to the Lakes on a bank holiday Friday to be tough for Laurence and Megan. It was … it took them over seven hours! Pretty tough going, but Friday’s weather was brilliant, so Laetitia and I enjoyed the day climbing at Black Crag, Wrynose. π
Saturday: Scrambling and the Old Man of Coniston
A brilliant forecast was in place for Saturday, so our plan was to give Megan her first experience of scrambling and go on to the top of a major Lakeland summit. The Old Man of Coniston was chosen as we hoped that with the fine weather we’d be able to see the Isle of Man, Laurence’s home, far away in the Irish Sea from the top.
While Megan’s training for a half-marathon event she had coming up meant she was easily able to keep on my heals going up the Old Man, she had a bit of a challenge on the descent. Descending towards Goat’s Water the sole of one of her boots completely separated from the upper. Those folk at Merrell don’t use very good glue! Both upper and sole looked like new, and there was little evidence of any glue where it should have been in between. π― Anyhow, she soldiered on walking the whole way back round to the Walna Scar car park effectively with only a sock on one foot. π
Sunday: Open Water Swimming at Gurnal Dubs
One of the “wishes” whilst visiting the Lakes was to swim in a Lakes lake! Well, the weather was now turning a little so Gurnal Dubs was chosen. This also had the advantage of being accessible with zero driving…
An afternoon trip around the shops in Ambleside gave Laurence the chance to grab a new rucksack with the benefit of a little discount from one of our mates. π
And to finish the final evening of the visit, a trip to Hawkshead Brewery. Not quite the legendary mega-session Laurence had some years ago at the Eagle and Child… When we caught up with him then he was on his seventh pint!
Monday: Tarn Hows
The weather finally gave out on us and with a little rain and a cold wind we settled on a picturesque mini-walk around Tarn Hows giving just enough adventure for the day. It also ensured the journey home started a bit later in the day to hopefully avoid the masses and a repeat of the seven hour journey up from Oxford.
