Day 6, Patterdale to Shap
This blogspot has been moved to my own personal domain.
I have been finding this app quite tedious to use and so decided to give up on it
and move everything to a new place.
Back on the trail for another leg, this time I have a walking buddy. It's a sixteen mile stretch, but we are going to attempt eight Wainwrights also. So the first marker for this stretch shows Angle Tarn which is two miles, easy you might think, but all uphill and both of us carrying heavy packs as we were planning on a wild camp. Before arriving at Angle Tarn though we decided to detour and climb Angletarn Pike, our first Wainwright of the day. If we manage all eight Wainwrights today, it will take our total tally to 100 out of the 214.
The wind was a bit frisky today, pretty much all day too.
Interesting bench on the path up, I bet Queen Victoria never rested here.
Angletarn Pike 567m, looking down over Angle Tarn. The Tarn itself was very busy, we were staggered to see how many people were there. We chatted to a gentleman who had completed the Coast to Coast Walk three times! He gave us some good advice about avoiding the descent off Kidsty Pike and going via High Raise and Low Raise instead. We heeded this advice and it made perfect sense for us with our Wainwright bagging in mind.
Angle Taen was beautiful and occupied by some very lively geese. It was a perfect spot to stop and have some refreshments and a bit of a rest.
We continued along the official C2C path for a short time and then off we went again to Brock Crags 561m which gave fabulous views over Hartsop Village and Brother's Water.
Back on the path again for a mile or so before having a serious discussion about whether we were going to have a crack at The Nab 576m. This involved a substantial detour from the trail for us, but we knew if we didn't get it today, it was going to be difficult to bag it another day because it was out in its own somewhat. So off we went, it was a bit of a trek. We decided to drop our bags somewhere safe as we would be returning along the same route. We met a nice couple from Whitehaven here who were heading in the same direction so we all trooped off together, and because we were chatting so much, it made short work of it. 
The customary pile of stones marking the summit was rather underwhelming!
Next followed an extremely steep climb up Rest Dodd 696m. The wind was gusting here and I had to really push down hard on my walking poles to stay upright. Look at the contours in this, and imagine that with an 11kg backpack and a gusting wind. The top red marker shows the Nab, then across the deer forest and up the side of Rest Dodd, bottom red marker. The blue trail is the Coast to Coast path.
We made it!
Back onto the path again and onto The Knott 739m which overlooked Haweswater.
This was very close to the C2C path although we approached it coming down off Rest Dodd. Both of us were tired of the wind now, especially since the forecast had indicated it would have died down by mid afternoon. We hopped behind a dry stone wall for some respite from it and had a snack and a drink. We rested a while here, enjoying the peace and quiet, but looking at the next hill to be climbed. It looked like hard work, and it was in parts.
Next followed a much easier Rampsgill Head and Kidsty Pike, then onto High Raise, the last one for the day. High Raise was our 100th Wainwright, we felt pretty chuffed at this point. Our Wainwright journey started two years ago and was what got me interested in doing the C2C.
All the hills for the day ticked off, we were able now to concentrate on getting down to lower ground and a water source and get pitched up for the night. We were so lucky to see a herd of five deer and stood quietly watching them for a while. A bit further on two larger herds ran up from a distance and crossed to the side of us. It was amazing to see. No photos, we just enjoyed the moment.Finally we reached an ideal spot to pitch for the night, just before the light started to fade. We were both worn out after a fabulous day's hike, it was a good feeling. Mark cooked and I put the tent up. Saturday night without beer seemed odd, but Mark had bought a small bottle of vodka and some coke as a surprise! No wonder his bag was so heavy 😄
