Issue #10 The Miscellaneous Adventures Digest

A wintery weekend wander

We hope the last week has treated you well? It’s been cold with a few snow flurries here and the mountains have been looking glorious all week, tempting us up high in search of snowy scenes. The forecast looked good for Saturday; dry all day with sunny spells but continuing cold with a keen northerly breeze. We made a plan to tackle Middle Fell and Greendale Tarn in Wasdale, a hike that we thought Benji would be capable of but one that took us high enough to feel like we were properly in the mountains.

At 582m Middle Fell is one of the smaller Wainrights but is challenging enough for a six year old, especially in winter conditions, so we took extra pains to make sure we were fully loaded with snacks, warm drinks and extra layers. This is actually not the first time we have attempted Greendale Tarn with Benji: Shortly after we moved and super keen to explore the local hills, we started off up the path on a cold and windy day with wet snow in the air but we were ill prepared and didn’t get far before Benji was in tears with freezing, wet hands and tired legs, probably wondering why the hell his parents had dragged him away from the gently rolling hills and woods of Sussex. For a while Benji considered the hike to the tarn his nemesis and it wasn’t until the summer that we successfully persuaded him to give it another go. He happily and easily conquered this particular nemesis (there are now new ones!) in August, but we stopped short of extending the hike by heading up to the summit of Middle Fell for fear of pushing our luck. Hiking with a six year throws up constant parenting challenges and I have no idea if we’re getting it right or not; it’s a balance between making sure he has an amazingly fun time and pushing him a little to go further and higher. We never want him to resent our time out in the wild though we should probably be preparing ourselves for that eventuality just in case…

So with all that in the backs of our minds, off we marched up the steep slope towards the top. The lower part of the hike was mostly snow free but as we climbed higher we were soon crunching our way through icy snow and the rocky path became harder to find. It seems to be standard at the start of our walks that Benji is a little daunted by the prospect of having to make it to the top of something or needing to walk for a certain distance, but once we’re through that (snacks help) he seems to forget all about it and will happily walk for many hours. A quick pancake and hot chocolate stop and we were back on our way.

As the snow cover increased and the terrain became more rugged, it started to feel like a proper little adventure; the surrounding mountains all capped in white, our feet sinking into soft powdery snow and the promise of the top not that far off. After a few false summits we spotted the cairn to which Benji led the way, proudly claiming his victory. The view was glorious from the top, the snow deep enough for snowball fights and making snow angels so we stayed to play a while before heading down towards the tarn.

The way down was a little testing in places; the rocks were slippery with ice and the route was hard to pick out in the snow but the frozen tarn soon came into view. After a quick, cold and windy lunch stop, the cascading beck guided us down the boulder strewn path through the valley between Middle Fell and Seatallan until we could see the van in miniature waiting for us at the bottom.

It had been a good hike, the snow transforming what could have been a bit of a trudge into something much more fun filled and adventurous. Seeing Benji have fun in the wild always fills us with joy, we are proud of what he can achieve and perhaps even a touch proud of ourselves for raising an adventurous soul.

Well, here’s hoping you have been able to squeeze in some small adventures and here’s to a good week ahead…

Andrew, Emma and Benji

x