Participants: Karen Kennedy, Dave Wavey, Dave Wylie, Peter Schofield, Bob Astles (for the Saturday), Robert Clarke, Al Metelko and Kevin Anderson.

My memory for this meet has faded as I didn't do the write up straight away on account of the fact that I scribbled all the names and climbs down on a piece of paper the size of a postage stamp and lost it for at least 6 months and had some difficulty deciphering it in the end... Ahem! Black spots pass before my eyes...

Anyway as far as my memory serves me we arrived at the camp-site on a Friday eve as a three; Karen, Wavey and myself and decided to avoid the numerous caravans on the main site and congregate in the field instead. We were just pitching up when a voice loomed out of the darkness "you can't camp here" and Dave Wylie's head appeared, "yes we can" we replied, and got permission the following day. Dave had camped on the hill on the main site, but decided to come down and join us the following day, when everyone else arrived including the happy campervan so we were a merry crew eager for adventure!

Saturday was sunny and actually quite hot, so we made an assault on the Castle Rock of Triermain, which proved very entertaining; routes accomplished were Slab climb (severe, Dave Wylie lead with Karen), Yew Tree, (V. Diff, Pete and Bob), Via Media (Severe, Wavey lead, and myself, then Dave W and Karen), Direct Route (Wavey lead, Pete and myself), Gazebo, (HVS, i can't recall who did this... Pete and Bob??) whilst Al and Kevin climbed an E2 that I didn't get the name of ? Eliminator, but Kevin appeared to do the Splitz on several times whilst wrestling with a loose flake, and Al needed an ice axe to get his gear out of it...!

Aahh, what fun...so back we stumbled to the campsite, but Karen and I decided our aerobic needs had not been catered for so we hiked up the road to Thirlmere where, we tested our webbed feet in Lake Thirlemere, and saved ourselves 20p each, very pleasant it was too... Then back we went for dinner in the falling darkness, large amounts of wine and oodles of blackberry and apple crumble that I made beforehand heated up in our outdoor oven, delicately fashioned by Wavey who stuck a camping stove to a roll of tin foil, and achieved the blistering temperature of 150 degrees C !! oh and copious amounts of custard...and lots of nice stars overhead, Mumble of the evening went to Wavey... "He's got a big Dong" whilst gazing at Orions belt...

The next day the weather was a little clagged in so the majority decided on a hike after suspiciously eyeing up Raven crag which was looking very Tolkien in the swirling mist, more seriously by Al and Kevin who decided against in the end, and were relieved at their decision when they gleaned later that it was hosting a party of ticks! So they headed back for more thrills on the Castle rock as Al hadn't yet had enough of hacking at Kevin's bomber gear, and lured Wavey eventually to complete Zig Zag (MVS ) and lastly, Harlot's Face (E1, Kevin and Al).

The rest of us did a big stomp up Watson's Dodd where Dave Wylie suddenly threw off his big jacket and said he was training for the next fell race, and promptly disappeared in a pale grey top into matching mist leaving us wondering if we would see him again... so we soldiered on up to Raise, halfway up which Rob Clarke uttered the quote of the morning, or was it afternoon at this stage "It's not uphill, just a different degree of flatness..." with a far-away look in his eyes which we put down to his Scottishness. Dave Wylie rejoined, his pounding feet and panting heard about 30 paces before he arrived, and we continued to Whiteside bank where we descended shouting very loudly towards the Harlot's face "TEASHOP!!!", which was not heard by either of the still climbing pair and Wavey was out of range so we consumed tea, scones and cake on their behalf at a teashop with lovely garden and wood and pottery workshops attached, wooden curtains in the loo, funky! We returned to find Wavey behind a good book. So we brewed up again and eventually departed, meeting returning Al and Kevin along the road, weary but happy so we handed them an apple crumble (emergency supplies for those allergic to blackberries) which they polished off in the green machine.

Thank you to everyone who came, I think we all enjoyed ourselves! Baked Alaska next year (Kevin suggestion) Hmmm...

PS - The only scrambling done to my knowledge was done by myself and my good friend Cath whilst in search of suitable sufficiently ripened fruits

The location for the meet is the Thirlmere area, 3 miles SE of Keswick. The campsite is Bridge End Farm at the north end of Thirlmere, turning off the A591 to Keswick heading towards the lake in a SW direction, situated on the left, Grid Ref NY 314 194 approx!

A snip at £3.50 per night, non bookable I'm afraid, with showers also a bargain at 20p a go, dogs allowed kept on a lead, etc.

I plan to be there on Fri and Sat nights plus large amounts of blackberry crumble and (hopefully) custard, perfect camping food for alpine training...

Ridge walks nearby to entice the energetic could take in High Seat (1996) to High Raise (2500), Seat Sandal (2365) to Raise (2889), stumbling gracefully over Helvellyn en route. Scrambling on Sunday Crag could provide an interesting diversion...

Crags to attract attention in the vicinity could be The Castle Rock of Triermain, which dries out quickly, routes from Diff - E5, for those with strong claws, Raven Crag for the tough and hardy, HS, VS and worse, or the more intrepid may wish to venture to crags in Borrowdale or Patterdale...

Lake Thirlmere could be a perfect venue for those with webbed feet...! All polished off with pints of falling down juice at the local watering hole, a mere 2km away, staggering home to the warmth, hopefully not wet, canvas shelters to snore loudly in anticipation of the next days excitement.

I'll be in the pub on the preceding Thurs night to organise lifts etc, or phone me at home or contact on my mobile. Hope to see you there!