Secret Seven

Saturday 4/5/24
To the event centre at Ennerdale and had to get kit checked (were we carrying all the mandatory clothes, compasses, kit) and select a course. We went for the Herdwick course - which turned out to be about 24k and a bit over 1,000m of ascent.

After a gentle bit of road walking, we moved onto a steepish track which, following a slight detour that EVERYONE managed to take, led to a surprisingly serious bit of scrambling - definitely both hands required. The dogs performed amazingly well on this section - just needing the occasional bunk up.

The weather was increasingly wet, misty and windy as we climbed.

The most tricky part was the descent - picking our way down damp and slippy rocks and then a nasty (and long) section of scree while the dogs tried to kill us by pulling forward. at least one of our party didn't enjoy the precipitous drops on either side. Things got better when I thought to use Luna's "Wait" command. So, she had to "wait" every two steps while I manoeuvred myself down a step.

We went up Great Borne and past Starling Dodd to Red Pike, High Stile and High Crag.

Luna excited by the Herdwick sheep. Very excited at times. If they were close, she was just very alert and aware of them. But if they were further away, she sometimes went into excited barking mode.

The final few kilometres were along the shore of Buttermere which was beautiful! I really enjoyed that part. Two of our party were two damp or hungry to appreciate it!

Finally arrived at the campsite and collected our drybags and tokens for a beer and a cake!. It had been quite challenging fitting everything in to the 55 litre/13Kg limit. We did get another 5kg bag allowance for each dog but even so...

No showers at the campsite, but portaloos, drinking water and a stall that served tea, coffee and boiling water on demand!

Put the 2nd hand tent up for the first time (apart from a quick indoor erection (as it were). All the bits were there!

Dinner was a Firepot meal - dehydrated, just add boiling water and wait 15 minutes. Pretty good! Gave the campfire chat a miss and turned in for the night.

Had to add more clothes in the night. But slept OK!