May in Ennerdale

Great to see a lot of new faces / Explorers for a weekend in the western Lakes, specifically Ennerdale one of the most wild and remote of the valleys.

That remoteness meant an arrival on site just after 2.30am but as three of the four parties were wild camping on Saturday, thankfully an early start wan't required. So while a small group of non-campers went off in search of birds, butterflies and other assorted wildlife, the three wild camping groups set off east over the tops towards the head of the valley. Two groups routed to the north side of the valley while the third decided on the south side first.

Alas one member of the southerly party sustained a significant knee injury on Haycock and despite a valiant effort to continue, the party leader quickly  called a halt and called for assistance. Thanks to Cockermouth MRT for their swift response and to Rescue 199 for the lift off the hill. The rest of the party walked off to Wasdale Head and were collected by a couple of the non-campers in the minibus. A sub-optimal day out, especially for the casualty, but if there is a silver lining it's that it was an invaluable experience in how incidents in the hills are managed – and they certainly now know how much downdraft a big helicopter can produce!

In the meantime the two northerly parties made it safely to their campsites at Innominate and Blackburn tarns where all the Explorers (and a section leader) experienced their first ever wild camp. At ~550m it was quite breezy but comfortable enough after a long day with a big pack on. 

Sunday was forecast to be hot but a bit of cloud cover and that breeze kept things tolerable for a stunning walk around the head of the valley under the Gables and Kirk Fell. After lunch at the top of Black Sail Pass, one group opted to head down to Black Sail Hut (Britain's most remote YHA) and a walk out along the valley. The other group pushed-on over Pillar and the Scott Fells before descending down the the lake (from exactly the point where the rescue had taken place the day before). Thanks to Jack and Ben for the pick-up from Bowness Knott, saving an hour's hot trudge around the lake at the end of a long couple of long, heavy days.

Monday was even hotter so we opted for an easy morning, striking camp after breakfast and driving round to Buttermere. From here most took a casual walk into the cool of Scales Force while a few others headed to Rannerdale Knotts for the Wainwright and the bluebells (sadly gone over). After a good but very hot run back down-country, we could have done without being parked on the M25 at Dartford for 1.5 hours – just 15 minutes from home! Where's that helicopter when you need it?

Thanks to all the party leaders for their skills (especially Dom for his calm and expert incident management), as well as 5th Northfleet and Culverston & Vigo Scout groups for use of their buses once again. Also to Mark T, Neil, Judy, Chris P and Jack for driving those buses there and back safely – with a special mention to Jack for delivering and returning the 5th bus for us.

23/10