Welcome cone-ection with ice cream van
Our Lady of Lourdes Hiking Club members always look forward to their annual walk in the Lake District.
This year’s excursions were exceptional – perfect weather for hiking with no rain and just enough breeze to keep everyone cool.
Starting at Seatoller, a hamlet some nine miles south of Keswick, the walkers split into two groups.
One consisted of a dozen along a low-level track roughly following the west bank of the River Derwent while the other of two dozen hikers went high to the west of and approximately parallel to those around 500 metres below them.
The high-level walk, rapidly climbing to 600m within the first three kilometres, took hikers to High Spy Cairn; skirting the edge of craggy Maiden Moor before reaching Cat Bells (451m).
Although the top was shrouded in mist, the hill’s slopes commanded fine views over Keswick’s Derwent Water and surrounding peaks.
An unexpected meeting with an ice-cream van near the end boosted local commerce, and gave hikers the strength to go on, when a large order for cones was submitted.
The ice cream-deprived low- level hikers enjoyed a fantastic walk along bouldery paths and rough tracks with occasional welcome tree cover.
A via ferrata or handhold chain link attached to a rock face on the riverbank at an early stage of the walk provided a small challenge but was fairly redundant due to the paucity of water in the river this summer.
Both groups arrived in a very busy Keswick within about 25 minutes of each other and after a change, disappeared to various locations in the town for refreshments or fish suppers.
After an enjoyable day, few stayed awake all the way home to East Kilbride.
Call (01355) 222464 or visit www.ololhikingclub.co.uk for further information on the club’s itinerary and activities.
Anyone wishing to give hillwalking a try will be made very welcome.