The map showing our intended route (blue) and our actual route (red)
I have decided to include this walk in my blog as it made me realise i was useless at map reading. The fact that you carry a map and a compass and you look the part means nothing in the Lake District when the weather is poor and visibility is down to a few yards. Things would change when i got home.
The Golden Lion in Keswick
After the previous days fine weather and excellent walk, we were optimistic of another great days walking, Great Gable being the intended target. The omens were’t good, the weather wasn’t as clear as the day before and we had both woken feeling a bit under the weather after a great night in the pub !!! Nevertheless we got as much breakfast as we could down us and had a little wander round Keswick to blow the cobwebs away.
Map of this great town
After about half an hour we set off towards our start point, Honister slate mine. As we were driving along the side of Derwent water we had to pull over and just admire how beautiful and peaceful the lake was.
Admiring the view
Posing
After a brief stop, we set off again, arriving shortly after at the slate mine. We parked up at the national trust car park by the mine, as i am a member it meant it was free. Bonus.
A fine welcome
A sign pointing the way. What could go wrong !!!
Me and my new walking stick that i got free with my new boots. It wouldn’t last long
After our posing at the sign post we set off up a a long steep climb that should take us up to along the course of the old tramway that brought the slate down from Dubs quarry. As we got higher the mist got thicker and the visibility was very poor. In conditions like this and with poor navigating skills, it is amazing how you try and match what you can see with features on the map. We were doing this and it got us completely lost.
Trying to work out where we were.
The path was clearly visible but we weren’t sure how far on we needed to walk on it. We decided to carry on and see where it took us.
looking down a valley, which one we didn’t know..
Dubs hut
Standing outside Dubs hut
Eventually we came across Dubs quarry, we had missed our turn off that would take us to Green gable, but for some reason we didn’t go back and try and find the right path. Bizarrely we decided that we needed to head north instead of south and we started to climb what we thought was brandreth. After about half an hour of climbing we finally got to the top of our hill….
Dave’s still not sure
At the top
With visibility at next to nothing we stayed here for a while trying to work out which direction we should head. just as we set off though, another couple appeared out of the mist, and dave in his wisdom told me too ask them which direction we shoud head. It was a good job i did, After asking him the way towards Great gable, he asked me where i thought i was. Brandreth i replied, to which he replied you are nowhere near there. apparently we were on top of Fleetwith pike which is about 2.5 km away from where we were. Embarrased wasn’t the word for it. I shouted dave back and told him the good news. After a brief discussion, we decided to call it a day and head back to the slate mine. Obviously we had to ask for directions to do this and he pointed us in the direction we needed to go. I also noticed that the bloke had a gps around his neck and he said it makes the hills a lot safer and easier to navigate for him, especially in these conditions. I knew if i was to continue with my walking, i had to get one of these gps gadgets. We thanked him for his help and we set off towards home.
Dave enjoying a ride on the train
A look down the spectacular Honister pass
After about an hour we eventually found our way back to the slate mine, not before i fell into a bog, lost a glove and broke my new walking stick. So much for freebies. All in all, not a very successful days walking but we still had a good laugh (mainly at ourselves) and we still had the memory of the previous days glorious walk on Bowfell. We would be back again soon.
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