Captain's Log

New Year...Same Old...

I was in bed by 21:00 and asleep by 21:30  last night. It had been New Year’s Eve and I’d left the Cabin Boy, Kapitan and Ted sitting on the sofa to continue the end of year’s festivities. Personally, I decided it would be best for me to get a good night’s rest for today’s walk. I’d discussed the planned walk with the threesome as they’d knocked back Stella, Prosecco and McEwan’s Champion Ale. I was up at 06:30 on New Year’s day, getting ready for our agreed departure at 08:00. As I was buttering my toast, the Kapitan walked into the kitchen, hair in disarray, sleep in his eyes and scratching his left armpit. He looked down at his bare hairy feet, rather than look me in the eyes.
‘The Cabin Boy says that your team won’t be going walking with you today. The Cabin Boy says that she would be happy if you would just go off by yourself.’ announced the Kapitan.  As you can imagine, I was a little disappointed at this news, given the effort and sacrifices I’d already made with my preparations.
‘Can you tell the Cabin Boy that I’ll wait until she is in a fit state to present herself and then we’ll discuss alternative options.’ The Kapitan disappeared.  

By 10:30 the Kapitan, Cabin Boy and Ted had managed to extract themselves from bed and drag themselves to the sofa. The Cabin Boy and Ted were under a duvet and I could only see the yellow of their eyes. The Kapitan was sitting next to them, his head rocking backwards as he drifted off to sleep. It took me a good half an hour to convince them that a lovely New Year’s Day walk in the sunshine would make them all feel much better than spending the day loafing about on the sofa.
‘I suggest a quick up and down to the summit of Loughrigg.’ There was a collective groan from all three of them. Ted put a paw over his eyes. I have to say, they weren’t the most enthusiastic group I’ve ever taken for a walk. 

Loughrigg

In fact, it really was lovely outside. The sun was out, but there was a chilly wind giving a crisp nip to the air. We joined the steep, tarmac road that winds its way up to Miller Brow. A Robin chirped us a ‘Happy New Year’ as we passed. There were plenty of people going up the hill and some coming down too. I had a feeling that the summit was going to be rather busy today.

Since leaving the digs, the Kapitan had been complaining about his head hurting. I’d put this down to excesses from last night’s festivities, but by the time we reached Loughrigg’s open fell, he decided it merited further investigation. It turns out that he had a plastic laundry capsule in his hoodie and it had been pressing on his scalp. Given the size of the item, I was astounded that he’d not realised sooner. As they say: ‘Where there’s no sense, there’s no feeling.’   

We could now see a large column of people heading westwards towards Loughrigg’s summit. Some of the walkers were definitely of the pottering variety, rather than the die-hard type. A Chinese chap passed us and he was wearing some remarkable shoes. It looked like some flip-flop soles had been stuck on some chic city shoes. The perimeter of the flip-flop sole exceeded that of the city shoe by about 1cm. I wondered if the flip-flop soles were detachable. If so, what a wonderful idea! I wanted to ask for details about them, but he marched off at a much faster pace than us. 

As we approached the summit, the difficulty of our challenge became apparent. Loughrigg’s top was a mass of people; most were standing, but some were sitting on its slopes. A very strong wind greeted us as we joined the throng on the crag, making standing up an additional challenge. Arranging Ted’s Wainwrights summit photo proved very difficult. A young couple wanted a photo of their dog standing on the trig and so the hound was promptly lifted onto the pillar. The gusting wind was making the mechanics of taking the photo, making sure the dog didn’t fall off the pillar and making sure everybody was smiling, a difficult and lengthy process. I took a photo of them just to show how easy it could be achieved. Admittedly, I got one of the dog’s arse rather than its face, but I thought it was worthy of any social media feed. In some circumstances it is best not to strive for perfection. In the end, we gave up waiting for our turn at the trig. and so Ted had his photo taken standing on a rock near to the trig, with a nice view of the Langdale valley behind him. 

'Rather than going back on the same route, do you fancy extending the walk by heading over to Lake Grasmere’ I suggested to the team. It seemed a shame not to make the most of a lovely day. 
‘No’ said the Cabin Boy. When the Cabin Boy gives monosyllable answers, I knew better than to attempt to nudge the three to change their mind and so I left them to return on our outbound route whilst I headed off northwards towards Lake Grasmere. 

Lake Grasmere And The Rydal Mines

I set off towards Lake Grasmere on my tod. Or rather I didn’t, since there were just as many people coming and going from Grasmere’s direction as there had been on our ascent from Ambleside. No wonder the summit was busy. At the top of the stone steps that descend to the lake, I struggled to keep my camera steady in the strong wind. As usual, Lake Grasmere looked magnificent surrounded by the high hills and the village nestled at its northern end. I made quick work of the stone steps, purely because I wanted to get out of the strong, cold wind. By the time I reached the path that heads along the contour of the hills towards Rydal Water (Loughrigg Terrace), the wind had dropped to manageable levels. I started making my way around to the disused mines, still amazed at the number of people that had ventured out for a walk.    

The Rydal mines were just as packed as the summit of Loughrigg. I didn’t even attempt to get near the opening. There were even a couple of people that looked to be getting dangerously close to the top edge of the mine entrance. I left the chaotic ensemble and headed down to the west end of Rydal Water. Hopefully it wouldn’t be as crowded down there. 

Return

I may sound like a stuck record, but it was just as crowded near the lake. I followed the River Rothay to Pelter Bridge and then joined the masses walking along Under Loughrigg Road. It may have been busy, but it was still great to be out of the house. I was wanting to say ‘hello’ to the pigs along the lane, but they were absent. I hoped that they’d not been guests on a Christmas dinner.  

Believe it or not, it was also incredibly busy in Rothay Park. Some kids were playing football in the playground near the church. Rather than using a net, the ground’s creators had placed a wire mesh behind the goals. Every time the ball hit them, there was a loud crash that reverberated for what seemed like eternity.
‘Crikey. I bet that’s annoying to the people in the  houses that are positioned alongside the play area’ I thought. At the end of the playground, I came across a notice saying that children playing football should be mindful of the disturbance to the nearby residents when the ball hits the wire mesh. Well, that’s that problem sorted out then!  

Today’s New Year’s Day walk wasn’t the high level jaunt over Hartsop Dodd and Stoney Cove Pike I was expecting to enjoy, but it proved a satisfactory alternative. I thoroughly enjoyed those tremendous views over the Langdale Valley from Loughrigg’s summit. and those across Lake Grasmere and Rydal Water. If you are wanting solitude, then I'd recommend doing this walk on any day other than New Year’s day.