Tucked away in the remote western Lake District lies Eskdale, a quiet rural valley, home to hundreds of sheep, "Laal Ratty"s and the spectacular gateway to the 'roof' of England. It was late afternoon when I arrived at my accommodation for the next two nights. The Bower House Inn at the mouth of the valley near the village of Eskdale Green. It had been a wet and dull morning back at home, but up here the clouds were clearing & blue sky was beginning to peek through, although there was a bit of a chill in the air. I dropped my gear in the hotel room & went down for dinner. I couldn't resist the giant yorkshire pudding with locally sourced cumberland sausage, mashed potato & sauted veg - which interestingly included beetroot - served with lashings of gravy. Even better was that I washed it down with one of my favourite Lakeland ales - Loweswater Gold. And then there was chocolate brownie for dessert! Happily filled, I had a few more beverages in the...

  It's important to realise that things don't always go exactly as planned. Conditions or circumstances can change meaning your planned day (or days) out in the wilderness don't go exactly as planned. My recent birthday weekend was one such example... In the weeks leading up to my birthday, I had drawn up a route to ascend Scafell Pike - England's highest mountain - from Great Langdale. At just over 14 miles round-trip, this wasn't the shortest route up the mountain, but I was hoping to summit five new Wainwrights over two days, with a wild-camp in between. As the date drew nearer, even though it was mid-August, the weather forecast wasn't looking to promising & the idea of a wild camp was taken off the cards. It was still a walk that could be done in one day though, with an early start. I arrived at a grey & overcast Old Dungeon Ghyll National Trust Car Park just before 8 AM & got a pay-and-display ticket. As I was booting up, I heard an almight...