The weather seemed to improve as we got closer, and when we arrived, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Lots of people around, and we only just about managed to park the car!
We were toying with the idea of going up to the top of Lingmell, and then across to Scafell Pike, but in the end we decided on the more conventional tourist approach, mainly so that I could grab The Path to Death or Glory on the way up.
I did find it, but on the way down, as a 10 minute search on the way up proved fruitless, and on the way down I found it straight away...isn't that always the way?
There were some fantastic views of Wast Water on the way up.
Finally, after almost four hours of steady climbing in the heat of the midday sun, we finally made it to the summit, where 2 more caches (one Trad, England's highest physical cache, and one Virtual, the highest cache in Engalnd) awaited us, along with the incredible views across the Lake District.
It was pretty busy on the top, must have been 200 people up there, and a constant stream of people leaving and arriving, we only just about managed a photo!After a quick bite to eat and a drink, we started to make our way back down again. It's just as tough coming down, very hard on the knee joints!
Once back at the bottom, the day started to get weird. We were making a brew in the back of the Cachemobile, and a guy with his wife and two kids came up to us and asked us if we were camping at Wasdale, which obviously we weren't, and he asked us if we would give them a lift to the head of the valley so that they could get a bus back to their B&B near Keswick.
For those of you unfamiliar with Wasdale Head, it's a dead end up a 5 mile long road, and has no bus service! Apparently, some friends of theirs had told them they would meet them there and give them a lift, but they had called and let them down.
After a bit of a discussion, we decided that we could do far better than a lift to the bus stop, and as we were going to go for a bit of a drive anyway, we offered to take them back to their B&B, a journey of 15 miles in a straight line, but 43 miles on the road!
As we made our way north then east towards Keswick, somehow the conversation turned to geocaching, and the young lad, Daniel, seemed very keen, so I promised that when we got to their B&B, if there was a nearby cache, he could join me on the hunt. As luck would have it, a cache was to be found only 320ft from the car when we parked outside the B&B!
After a quick beer, Daniel and I plodded off to find the cache, and during our search his sister, Lucy, and his mother, Linda, joined in the search, and with 4 pairs of hands, the cache, HERRIES HOUSE - The Herries Chronicles, was soon found. I got Daniel to sign the log, and gave him the GC code and some brief instructions on how to join up and log the find....I have the cache on the watchlist!!!!
We returned to the bar, and said our goodbyes, but not before Mike presented us with a very nice bottle of red wine as recompense for our kindness! Nice one!!
An interesting day! At the end of it, I'd climbed the highest peak in England, found 5 caches (two more boxes filled in on the D/T grid), and met some interesting people!
I also realised whilst at Wasdale Head that I found the cache at Wasdale Head Inn last year, and forgot to log it, so that has now been rectified.
Caches found at the end of Day Two.....2128.
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