Two different Boreks, two weeks in a row, in two different places. This week it was the turn of my sister Helen to join the fun and keep me company on the five hour drive to the Lake District

We had visited the Lakes together last year on what was to be Helen’s first time up there, and were both keep to get back as soon as possible. It’s by far the most beautiful part of England I have visted to date and I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed my time up there.

Things were off to an amusing start when we decided to leave the motorway and nip into the beautiful town of Preston to what Google had assured us was a great-looking Mexican restaurant with plenty of vegan options, a far more appealing prospect than motorway service food. Long story short, we arrive, and the place looks like it hasn’t been open for weeks. A homeless person is sleeping outside the entrance. We wander up and down Preston high street. It isn’t looking good. (by ‘it’ I mean both the high street itself and the food options.) We end up in KFC eating what we could have found in the services anyway. In the timeless wisdom of D:ream… Things can only get better.

To begin with, it’s looking like things might not get so much better after all. We arrive at the hostel, get to bed, and wake up to some heavy rain and thick cloud. After a quick stop in Ambleside to grab some noodles and a new camping stove (I may write something nerdy on the benefits of gas vs alcohol soon) We arrived at the beginning of our walk expecting the worst and possibly to cut it short. spending nearly 10 hours up high in the hills in bad weather may have been foolish.

Fortunately, old Brian Cox was right all along, and things did (only)get better. On ascending into the cloud we got up above the worst of the rain and enjoyed a surprisingly calm and eerie stillness. We hiked up to Pike of Blisco, along past Crinkle Crags to Bowfell and Esk Pike, and down via Angle Tarn and Rossett Pike. The visibility was poor for most of the day until reaching the top of Esk Pike, where the cloud cleared and we were blessed with a breathtaking view out over Great End and Scafell Pike. Similar to last week’s walk with Sofie, I think it’s better to get a view of the ‘Celebrity hilltop’ from a distance than to be on it.

For anybody interested in the route we took you can find it here, I’d highly recommend it. Watch out for the ‘Bad Step’ on Crinkle Crags, we avoided it due to the poor visibility and wet rock, and there is an easy alternate route to the eastern side.

Day two of our weekend consisted of an easy stroll around Grizedale forest, mostly on fire roads and easy paths, before hitting the road for the long drive back south. It may seem like a long way to drive for two days activities but provided you plan well and are up for spending all day out and about I think its thoroughly worth it.

Freinds who read this may have noticed that I’ve been doing much more walking lately, and spending a good number of nights away in the tent. This is building towards my summer plans, part of which consist of spending one heck of a lot of time on my feet. fortunately there will be a several hundred mile bike ride in between to break things up. More on that later. ✌️