Lakeland weekend

I arrived in good time at Dunmail Raise on Saturday morning after a great drive up through the southern Dales. In Hellifield I spotted my first swallow of the spring and I saw another just before crossing the M6. The fields were full of lambs and the early morning sunlight was great

Martyn was waiting for me and we were soon in Keswick ready to recce leg 1. The weather wasn't bad in Keswick but it was bitterly cold by the time we got to the top of Skiddaw (85minutes: I was quite pleased with that and the little shortcuts I showed Martyn including Yiannis' ginnel). We bumped into a couple of friends as we were crossing the Caldew and Tom was waiting as planned on top of Blencathra to show Martyn his direct descent. I did Doddick fell and I'm fairly certain I saw two ring ouzels chasing each other part way down. I saw several wheatears near the bottom and loads more over the rest of weekend

Tom treated me and Martyn to tea in his camper and then after a change of plan gave me a lift down to Keswick. I was glad of a warm shower in the hostel and it wasn't long before I was in the Lakeland Pedlar enjoying chilli and a coffee. On Saturday evening I met Ian in the Dog and Gun and we then had a decent meal in the Royal Bengal (two of their staff had been handing out 30% off vouchers in Keswick in the afternoon!)

On Sunday after a cracking breakfast and spotting a dipper outside the YHA, I drove over to Honister to meet Ian and Becca. Becca was a bit late but it wasn't long before we set off to run over Moses Trod to Wasdale and then do our leg 4 recce

The weather of Saturday had been cold and a bit cloudy but yesterday was simply stunning. I struggled a bit after getting up Yewbarrow well inside 24hour schedule but it wasn't a day to worry about timings or schedules (especially if you've already done the BG). By the time I got to Gable I was absolutely worn out but the light on the way back to the cars was lovely and I took my time on the descent down to Honister enjoying revisiting the end of my favourite leg

With the couple of local runs we did in the week I clocked up 40miles and around 14,000ft of climb last week. My legs don't feel too bad this morning and I'm now looking forward to helping on a few attempts this summer, perhaps starting the Becca's in May