- 2 nights
- Eskdale Camp-site
James signed up to do the Eskdale Elevation race and we decided to make a weekend of it. I booked to stay in the lovely, but rather pricy Eskdale Campsite, mostly because it’s short walk from the start of the fell race. The minimum booking was for two nights, so we headed up after work on Friday night. Once we were all parked up, we decided to have a quick dash up the Great How. James was hoping to recce some of the route for the next day, and I was hoping to stretch my legs and catch the sunset. It was a bit of a dash to get up and back in the light, but it was lovely to have such great walking straight from the van. We cooked a quick chilli in the van and had a early night.
The next morning, Eskdale was filled with fell runners. I decided I was going to try and see James at the half way mark - at Burnmoor Tarn. Despite walking directly to the tarn and setting off an hour earlier than the runners, it was still a dash to make sure I got there in time. I made it to the tarn before the first runner had gone through, and settled down to eat my sandwiches and wait for the first runners to arrive. The only other spectator who had travelled out to the tarn was fell running legend Joss Naylor. We sat and nattered for a while, and Joss insisted I have one of his chocolate bars. Apparently club bars are essential fuel for the hills. We cheered the runners as they came past, and then made our retrospective trips back to the finish line. I opted for a longer, hillier route back to the finish, got a little lost wandering the moors and made it back to the finish after most of the runners had returned. We finished off the day with English lakes ice cream from the local corner shop, beer and chips at the Brook House inn and more chilli in the van.
The next morning we parked near Eskdale Green and did circular walk up Muncaster Fell. For a low lying hill, it had a very satisfying trig with fabulous views.