For our camping trip this week we’ve opted for just a one night stay so we can spend the first day hiking up to the highest hills and maximise our chances of waking up to a cloud inversion. It’s only been 4 days since our last camping trip and to be honest we need a little more time to recover from two sleepless nights so 1 night away seemed like a good compromise. Bowness-on-Windermere was bizarrely quiet at 8:30am on a bank holiday Monday and for a short while we were the only people on-board the bus heading for Great Langdale. The sun was beaming down on us and it was the first warm day we’d had for a camping trip which was delightful. Our aim was to head high and try to camp over 700m…preferably in a quiet area without other people which will become trickier as summer quickly approaches.

Our trail soon split, the right headed up a ridge and the left followed a stream uphill. I picked the latter, hoping to find a swimming hole along the way and it was the right choice as numerous little pools were nestled beneath trickling waterfalls. We found a lovely spot for a morning dip, Craig had a peek up the path to see if there were any better options but it was hard to see so we took a refreshing plunge where we were. It was lovely and cool with a view of the valley and hills ahead of us, but just as we were packing up a family of four walked past and the kid said in a very disappointed tone “is that it?!” I was a little confused as to what he was looking for so I just said “is this what?” And he said “the plunge pool!!” Like I was thick, so I was like “well yeah this is a plunge pool, but maybe there’s another one?” And there clearly was because his dad had continued walking and we were left thinking ‘hmm, what have we missed out on?’ Well, just 100m up the path was the most idyllic pool beneath a very weak waterfall but it must’ve dropped down about 20 meters so I imagine after heavy rains it would look quite impressive. The pool was crystal clear with a lovely green tropical tinge to the water and it looked so inviting, except it now had the family frolicking in the shallows so we continued our walk.

The uphill slog was tough work and I was moving rather slowly, we stopped for lunch by a little tarn and went up a 900m peak before searching for a camp spot. I had an area in mind and it turned out to be even better than I’d expected. We found a flat grassy spot with a jaw dropping view of a mountain range. Below us were half a dozen tiny blue tarns and sheep grazing the land. It was perfect! We enjoyed a hot coffee and some brownies before erecting the tent. It’s the first time we’ve been able to pitch up and and spend the rest of the evening sitting outside in the sun instead of hiding in the tent to keep warm. There wasn’t a farts wind so we put our sleep-matts on the grass and basked in the sunshine. The only downside were the flying insects, mostly midges which swarmed us and stung our skin.

Whilst we sat and enjoyed the view the rumble of helicopters interrupted the silence. I think it was army training as 8 helicopters swung through the valley in-front of us followed by massive chinooks. They returned later on in the evening, flying really low so they were reflected in the tarn below us.

We thought we had enough water to last us the evening but we were running low and our plan of topping up our supply in the tarns failed as the water was too muddy. Craig was desperate for a herbal tea after dinner so as the sun was setting behind the mountain he went on hunt for some precious water. It paid off and he managed to seek out a mossy wall dripping with crystal clear water so he filled up and popped a chlorine tablet in it so we were sure it was safe to drink.

The evening was stunning with the sun casting a fabulous orange glow behind the peaks. The midges upped their game which was rather annoying but as soon as the sun had set they all but vanished, allowing us to safely unzip our tent. The sun doesn’t go down until 9:40pm now, which is 30 minutes extra daylight to what our family is getting in the south of England. To be honest I don’t like the long summer days, I enjoy a sunrise at 7am and sunset at 6pm but that’s just me being fussy and enjoying my sleep.

Just as we laid down to sleep I heard a rustling noise right by my head and bolted upright. The noise continued and it sounded like it was an animal, maybe a mouse, underneath our tent. We tapped the fabric to try and shoo it away and then it went silent, hooray. We had yet another sleepless night in the tent of doom due to the hard ground and restrictive sleeping bags. At 4:45am our sunrise alarm began beeping loudly, we really tried to manifest a cloud inversion right in front of our tent but we just had crisp skies and not a cloud in sight. We ran up the small hill behind us to get a view of the sun and as we reached the top a sheep was taking a long wee which gave me just enough time to take a snap of it beside the red sun.

When we got back to the tent Craig cracked onto making porridge and coffee while I zipped myself up in my sleeping bag and almost fell asleep while sitting upright. I just needed to rest my eyes a little more after eating so I reset my alarm for 6:20am and then we sipped hot coffee and packed up our gear. We had two choices for our route back to Great Langdale today. Hike the more direct route or bush-wack (there’s no bushes but walk across a path-less slope of grass and rocks) to reach the waterfalls we’d passed yesterday so we could have a morning swim in the idyllic pool. We passed a lovely tarn on the way but even at 8:30am there were 4 tents pitched up around it, I’d much rather a less scenic location to camp if it meant I wasn’t sharing it with anyone else.

We decided to pick the waterfall route which would be longer and tougher but hopefully more rewarding. It was definitely tough, the whole route was slanted which was a challenge in my sandals, especially since they kept getting wet from the bog we had to traipse through so the water mixed with the dusty mud on my feet, creating the ultimate chocolate slime and very slippery tootsies. Eventually we re-joined the actual trail and soon found ourselves at the beautiful green pool. We dove into the clear water and swam around the little pool – it was definitely worth the extra effort to get to. Then we had to speed walk back to the bus stop otherwise we’d have a two hour wait for the next ride home. We keep saying ‘next week we’ll just take it easy and not go on a camping trip’ but when we have experiences like this trip it’s hard to say no, especially when the suns shining.