Rough Camping,Blencathra

10th July 2009

This was our second attempt at rough camping this summer  after failing miserably at the first attempt in The Ennerdale Valley surly Blencathra wouldn’t let us down & having my son Owen with us this time there wasn’t a choice.

The only time Myself & Ste could get the same weekends off was this weekend, So the plan was to leave Wigan straight from work at 5.00pm with bags already packed & straight up the M6 through the Friday evening traffic which in this case wasn’t to bad at all. We made good time roughly about 2hrs give or take 10 minutes & then on to the A66 to Scales.

 

Wainwright Guidebook

The Northern Fells

 

 

Overview
Ascent: 868Mtrs  2847Ft
Wainwrights: 1 Blencathra
Weather: Warm Clear Skies
Parking: Roadside Parking, Near Scales Farm
Area: Northern
Miles:  
Walking With: Stephen Harrison & Owen Sharkey
Ordnance Survey: OL5
Time Taken:  
Route:  
 

Map and Photo Gallery

 
 

 

Its a Beautiful warm evening as we start our climb from Scales.


 
 

 

Owen my son making light work of the Bracken.


 

Myself & Ste.


 

Looking over Mousthwaite Comb with Great Mell Fell in the distance.


 

Our first sight of Sharp Edge as the sun slowly disappears. In the sunlight here it may as well be noon as it feels that warm, But as soon as we hit the shadows you definitely felt the cold.


 
 

 

Just a few minutes from Scales Tarn it look like the National Trust are doing some repair work to the path .


 

Owen here enjoying every minute.


 

What a way to spend your Friday evening, These two guys passed us on the way up..Brilliant!


 

Ste doing the reckey on the best place to pitch up. A bit of a contrast here as you can see the waves are wiping on on the tarn. On first sight on Scales Tarn from the path I’m sure a lot of you can remember a flat piece of ground over looking the Tarn, Well that was going to be the spot to pitch up but tonight the wind would of hit us directly & with us having Owen here too the best thing to do was to look for a pitch out the wind.


 
 

 

I don’t think we could of chosen a better spot.


 

Now we were all settled I wanted to get to the summit to take some pictures before the sun went down.


 
 

 

It took me a while to spot the tent, Didn’t realise we wasn’t alone – tread carefully.


 
 

 

I’d been taking so many photos Id forgotten the time & it did take me a good five mins or so to find the path again. You can just make out Sharp Edge out here.


 

10.21pm on a Friday evening…I wouldn’t swap this for the world.


 

I’d made the mistake of leaving my camera in the tent with us & in the morning it had condensation all over it (wont make that mistake again) Time for a quick stroll around the Scales Tarn to stretch my legs.


 

If only you could freeze time.




 

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