Late August 2013 and a group of 6 family and friends set off from Keswick for a 3 day backpacking/wild-camping adventure in the Lake District. We were all experienced campers and hill walkers but most of the group hadn’t been wild camping before so that added to the sense of adventure. We were hoping to do 2 overnight camps and our target for the first of these camps was at Dalehead Tarn. Late afternoon on the first day we left Keswick after stocking up on last-minute goodies and took the path to Portinscale, then onto Nichol End and joined the good track through the woods that takes you round the back of Catbells and on to Little Town. From there a good track heads up towards Dale Head past the climbing hut and once past Castle Nook splits left and the going gets a lot steeper and rougher as you follow the stream up to its source. We should have left Keswick a little earlier because by the time we reached the Dale Head area it was pitch black and even with our head torches on we couldn’t locate the Tarn where we were hoping to camp at. This was a problem because we had hoped to rendezvous there with Adnan.

Eventually we gave up looking and found a flattish grassy area and put the tents up and got the stove on. The next morning i got up early and i could see we had overshot the Tarn by a few hundred meters, so i went back down to see if i could find Adnan, i talked to two guys who had also camped there and they said he was here last night but had left very early this morning. After a hot drink and something to eat we packed the tents up and heading to the summit of Dale Head to check out the view but unfortunately it was still shrouded in mist, we then headed down to the cafe at Honister Slate Mine for a coffee. The weather was improving all the time and by the time we got there it was sunny and warm and stayed like that for the remainder of the trip. Leaving Honister we had the long hard slog up to Grey Knots then across the boggy plateau to Brandreth and onto Green Gable for a rest. We dropped down to Styhead Tarn via the loose rocky path of Aaron Slack and filled our water bottles in the fast flowing stream that runs along side it, we needed to as it was now getting very warm and when we finally got to the tarn is was great taking our shoes and socks off and refreshing our feet in the cool water. At Styhead Pass we headed east for a short while and then picked up the Corridor Route to Scafell Pike and followed the hordes making their way to England’s highest point, not only humans were attracted to this point but insects too, large black flying insects were swarming all over the place and it was good to finally get away from them on the descent down to Mickledore. Here we checked out “Fat mans agony” the rock squeeze entrance to Broadstand – a grade 3 rock scramble and a notorious accident black spot.

From Mickledore we headed west to Hollow Stones down a gully which looks intimidatingly steep from above but soon eases off to a loose rocky trail and we carefully picked our way down and after a short while we found the perfect spot for our second wild camp. Ben and Sam filled all the water bottles from a nearby stream while we put the tents up and before long we were tucking into a well deserved meal and hot drinks and all slept well. The next day was a beautiful blue sky day and after a leisurely breakfast we packed up and made our way down the rocky path to Wasdale, just before the valley we found some deep pools in the fast flowing stream and had a plunge to cool off a little which was really refreshing – as was the pint in the Wasdale Head Inn a short while later! From Wasdale Head we took the path up Mosedale and climbed up to the Black Sail Pass and picked our way down the other side to the head of Ennerdale and past the lovely Black Sail Youth Hostel which was closed due to some renovations getting done on it. Then it was a final climb up to Scarth Gap Pass before dropping down to the road at Gatesgarth on the Honister-Buttermere road and the finishing point for our trip, from here me and Andy got the bus back to Keswick to get the car and collect the others and then we had a celebratory meal in the Kings Arms Hotel at Keswick.