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19 Sept 2007

Buttermere and Haystacks



Well the past weekend was my first 'proper' go at camping and is it something i would do again? Yes!
Lets set the scene, the campsite was in a lovely place called Buttermere in the Lake District, the campsite can be found here Campsite. The website is lying when it says its £5 a night! it is in fact £6 as the disgruntled but still nice campsite owner told us (after waking us up to get her money!).
Was i good at putting up the tent? erm no! Lets just say i supervised while doing some double handed pump action (minds out of the gutter i was blowing up the air bed). But Aly and Chris knew what they were doing anyway.
As we got there late on Friday, there was just time to put up the tent and then adjourn to Cath and Chris's tent (seasoned campers) for soup and toast. Then off to the pub for a few pints and to survey pub menu's for tea the next night.
The site had a 'no noise' after eleven policy, so of course we made loads of noise on the way back to our tent. After several vodka's and cranberries it was time for bed on the now deflated air bed (it was crap). Before we arrived at the campsite i made Aly purchase a sleeping bag like mine, as she had only been camping with a normal sleeping bag plus her husband and as he wasn't camping with us this time i suggested she needed the extra warmth. I neglected to say don't unzip it as you will get very cold, even if you go to bed warm from vodka, i also neglected to follow this rule! So we both woke up freezing and grumpy!
After being made a fry up in Cath and Chris's tent (they have fancy camping stove), good humour was restored and it was time for hiking! The Hike started straight from the campsite so no need to get into car.

The hike we did on the Saturday can be found here full walk details But to sum it up:
It was the Haystacks from Buttermere walk.
distance :13 km/8.2 miles
time : 6.25 hours
ascent : 518m/1,700ft
grade : moderately strenuous (lies all lies!)

Cath dropped out before we even began, she is a wimp!
It was a really nice walk but hard work and i sweat buckets! As usual herds of 80 years old strode past us, along with the god damn fell runners that make you look very unfit (grrr).
This was an amazing place to walk and you can see from the photo's why everyone falls in love with it. I will be doing another post on this area soon.
When we finished the walk after being nearly blown off the fell, it was time for a shower and then the pub for tea. On the way to the pub you could definitely tell the weather had turned for the worse but it wasn't too bad. I had a lovely Cumberland Sausage and chips for my tea and was yawning before i had finished.
As i just mentioned the weather had turned a bit nasty and all through the night i thought the tent was going to blow away! At 6 am i heard noises coming from the other tent and soon discovered that their tent had collapsed on them! After laughing at them for a while, we helped them out before trying to get some more sleep. That really didn't work so it was time to pack up before the tent was blown away, it had already developed an ominous tear so it was definitely the right time to go.

You wouldn't think two nights of no sleep would be fun, but it was.


If you like my photo's visit my flickr account here Claire's Flickr

13 comments:

  1. Oh Claire, this sounds like so much work. You can stay at the Hilton and everything is done for you. You just must learn to go the hotels. You just must. Okay, glad you had a good time. Have a great day. :)

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  2. A great trip and I could visualise every moment. No pain no game.

    The last time i went camping my mates had to leave early and they literally took the tent down while I was asleep and left me in the field in my sleeping bag.

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  3. I'm tired from just reading about all this fun! :)

    The photos are great, as always!!!

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  4. Hey--I was here for wordless wednesday and spotted this on my way. It made me very nostalgic. I'm an American, but growing up I spent every summer in the Lake District. I've hiked through these trails and miss it dearly. Awesome post!

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  5. I don't know Claire, the Beaver leader goes camping and engages in doubled handed pumping action? Hmmm...


    LOL!!!!!!!

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  6. Buttermere is gorgeous. :) I have such fond memories of the Lake District.

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  7. No camping trip is complete unless a tent collapses....lol

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  8. Hey, I did a hike too, but it was up a power plant. Stairs count as a hike in my book, and my legs are sore, so you know it was a workout!! ;)

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  9. What a serious look you have on your face for this new hiking button.

    Obviously hiking is not for the faint of heart!

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  10. Love your pics AND the stories you weave that go with them too. Rarely do they not leave me with at least a smile, usually a chuckle or two!

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  11. I wish more people would document their hikes. I know it makes me want to do it more (just did an overnight hike the other weekend to catch the sun at the top of Mt. Timpanogos). Beautiful shots.

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  12. The pictures are great! Wish we have something like that in Singapore. It will definitely make hiking much more fun, not to mention the thrill of camping in a place like Buttermere. Reading your post from the start to the end, I could almost visualise myself going through all that. Thanks for sharing!

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  13. Wow brings back memories - I used to love going to Buttermere when I was younger

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