The good:
Got to the lakes in the end!! Drove up Friday night but due to the consistent rain on the last part of the M6, I once again chickened out of wildcamping, instead taking the easier option of camping at the Castlerigg Hall campsite – one of my favourites.
Friday evening saw nothing of great interest though did get a new jacket and most interesting – the annoying OMM Chest Pouch – more of that later. Anyhow, a couple of drinks whilst studing the map provided the inspriation for Saturdays new route – an extended Newlands Valley horseshoe.
An early morning saw me leave the campsite by 08:00. I walked through Keswick from the campsite, then over the base of Catbells, through Little Town to finally reach the first mountain of the day – Robinson. At the summit, I turned left over Hinescarth Edge to Dale Head. Here, once again, I turned left to Maiden Moor.
Tarn on Robinson
All in all, a great walk, and I had only a minor descent then climb to Catbells, and the stroll back to Keswick….
The bad:
Then it happened. strolling down Maiden Moor, on slightly rough ground I felt a sudden twinge in my right (bad) knee. Oh oh. Still, doesn’t hurt. I carried out, really carefully, but over the next 10 minutes, the pain started. Exactly the same pain (to a lesser degree) to my pre arthroscopy. I new I shouldn’t complete catbells, so got down to the lake side. Interestingly, I managed the 5 miles or so to Keswick with little discomfort.
Popped in to the Bank Tavern for a pint (for medicinal purposes) but it was too busy. I was shattered and the faff of standing having a cider was too much. Instead, I got a taxi back to the campsite, and tried their new restaurant – a nice garlic mushroom / lasagna washed down with some white wine. Nice.
The ugly:
Well, not actualy ugly, but the most memorable part of the walk, other than the knee, was the OMM Chest Pouch. I really like the idea of it – especially to store my Powershot G6, and some snacks. And for this, its size and shape are perfect. Using my beanie hat to wrap the camera seems to provide enough protection for simple walking. I would put the camera back in the main sack if I was on a proper scramble though.
What I disliked was the difficulty of getting the ruck sack on and off. Now, I haven’t read up about ways of using the pouch, so there might well be work arounds, but I found the easiest way to get the sack off and on was to slacken the shoulder straps to their loosest, then twist the rucksack so I am almost hugging it. From there, I can lift it over my head. Now, this is neither convenient, nor ergonomic. Lucky I had little weight in the sack. However, I did like the different storage options the pouch opens up. Especially when the clouds appeared – I could easily store my waterproof trousers in there to put on quickly if the rain did come. I think I could also get the Marmot Mica in as well, but its immediate access is of less importance when it takes 2 minutes to get the rucksack off!!!
Anyhows, I have uploaded some photos, and all that remains is for me to phone the physio and surgeon to see what I should do next with the knee…