Words by Tom Gale
- Atom Packs Founder
Here we go, the long awaited part 2
There was rustling around the camp from around 7am. My attempts to fix the hole in my sleeping pad had ended in failure so I resigned myself to sleeping on the ground. Other than the cold, it wasn’t that bad but I was glad to get up and move around. Winnie had spent the night completely tucked into her new sleeping bag, just her ears were visible as I got up.
It had been quite windy overnight. If it has been a while, I often find the first night in a tent quite difficult - my monkey brain not quite allowing itself to switch off. Mim had camped beside us and said she hadn't slept a wink because she was convinced we were all going to get crushed by the tree that she was camped under. Evidently she didn't feel strongly enough about it to get up and move her tent, or indeed wake us up and tell us to do the same!!
Slowly, tents were unzipped and before long our campsite was a bustle of clanging pots and hissing stoves. Brews were made, and through puffy eyes people told of their nights sleep. It was fun walking around and checking in on everyone. Rachel, who had struggled with cold on the last hike, proclaimed her new Alpkit sleeping bag to be her purchase of the year!
Camping has always been one of my favourite parts of hiking. Especially on a long trip, there’s something so lovely about carving out a little temporary home in the wild, unpacking all of your little stuffsacks until your bag is empty and your home for the night is built. When everything else on a long hike is about movement and constant change, I find stopping in one space incredibly satisfying. For this reason I tend to get up and hike out early, giving me as much chance as possible to hike the miles ahead, while still allowing maximum time for side quests, long lunches and, hopefully, an early camp and a few hours spent relaxing before sleep.
After fortifying ourselves with bacon sandwiches from the shop, we eventually hit the trail, now joined by Jen who had been unable to attend the previous day. The objective today was a mostly flat hike following the river through Langdale valley, to Elterwater and eventually Ambleside. There really wasn’t anything too challenging happening today, the easy route having been planned for one of our sewers; Glenda, who, a few months previously, had broken both of her ankles in an unfortunate incident on her stairs.
We set off down the road, immediately missing the trail that exited the campsite. Before long we joined some old “lonnings”, cumbrian tracks not quite suitable for most cars but fairly nice places to walk two or three abreast. Happy chatter was in full flow as a heavy rain squall approached, I guessed it was just a shower and decided to persevere without waterproofing. My thanks to the team that stopped to put their jackets on as, luckily it stopped within a few minutes. We’ll have no repeat of the day before, thank you!
As we neared end of Baybrown campsite, we found the most perfect swimming spot on the River Brathay. Before we knew it someone, probably Will, had stripped to his underpants and dived in head first, and soon most of the party were enjoying a dip. It was freezing. Not bad for 11am.
A short amount of drying admin and a quick frolic on a rope swing later, we were back underway. It was nice to be able to walk at leisure, stopping to skim stones, explore caves and throw balls for Winnie. Our next stop? Chesters.
Now, Chesters is at Skelwith Bridge and, if you can brave the queue, it serves some of the best vegetarian food in the north. Before long we were all munching on huge bowls of multi coloured salads, delicious bhajis and cakes the size of our heads while doing battle with what felt like two to four million wasps.
As is so often the case, the climb out of Chesters was STEEP. With tummies groaning, we slowly made our way up onto the flanks of Loughrigg.
At a crossroads, Ellie pointed the way to Loughrigg Tarn - a place she claimed to be her most favourite place to swim. Someone suggested a double swim. Would we? It would be rude not to!
Before long, we were back in the water, this time significantly warmer than the river! Amy and Mim took advantage of the open water to get some distance behind them and, before long, were just two heads bobbing on the other side of the tarn.
I took one of my favourite photos of the entire trip here, the team walking down to the tarn, colourful backpacks in tow, a couple of sheep in the foreground while the Langdale Fells loom stormily in the background. It was a wonderful ending to a great few days, journeying with this tight knit team of creatives, friends and makers, united by their shared journey and the backpacks that took them there.
We are Atom Packs, and we make backpacks in Cumbria. What a lovely thing.
