Friday afternoon... the normal dash up the A5 and the M6, confounding the speed-cameras and cursing at selfish drivers who persist in sitting in the middle or third lane doing 65 when the inside lane is devoid of traffic... why do they get irate when I go past them on their left? They are the ones that have the problem - just drive in the correct lane, you eejuts!
To be fair, the drive up was much better that usual, there were no roadworks, no hold-ups for accidents, no detours. Stopped off at the services for some grub, texted the others but only got an answer from John, who was in Kendal. I arranged to pick him up at Windermere railway station, so it was back to the tarmac and foot down to get to him asap.
When I got there, John had been joined by Geoff. Their kit was bundled in the back, handshakes were exchanged all round and off to Grasmere we went.
We dumped the car for a while next to the now-defunct Tourist Information Centre while we went off to get some bits of gear. While snacking again at the Miller Howe Cafe, Darren and Dawn arrived, more handshakes ensued then we were off to start the trudge up to Alcock Tarn.
As forecast, the weather has hot, sunny and settled, so the walk up was a sweaty affair, but it was worth it. We sat about for a while next to the tarn, waiting for the evening so that we could get pitched. After all was sorted, we spent the evening shooting the breeze, taking on carbs and wielding cameras. Some of the sadder attendees were caught doing some covert blogging!
The others retired early, but I stayed up to enjoy the scenery and the changing light. Lay arrived as the light was failing, after he had set up we both stood watch until about 11pm waiting for Duncan, but he was running a bit late so we retired. An hour later, Duncan arrived, but being a lazy git I stayed put in the big red slug, watching stars and satellites in a totally clear night sky for a long, long time. I managed to get an hour of sleep before the daylight returned.
Great Rigg from Alcock Tarn
Dusk over Grasmere
Jaggedy rocks
A lonely tree
Stay tuned for the next instalment - featuring the bit where BG goes up while the others slope off down to the cafe for breakfast!
