You know its time to head home ... When you've got wet balls : The Bowfell Story

A paragliding friend of mine once told me how cool it is to fly up in the clouds. He called it the White Room . Sounds pretty cool right ? Poetic even. This is not always the case.

 The location for my latest adventure was a up in the Langdales. Louis, Paddy and I planned to do a route know as the Langdale horseshoe with a cheeky extension to the highest point in England , Scafell Pike. The day started off with some epic disco tunes from Gloria Gaynor and The Jackson 5. After a short journey including some questionable driving from Paddy , we arrived in an extremely gray Lake District. Thick fog clung to the mountain quietly jeering " Your going to have a fun day with me up here". However the first mile or so was fairly easy going and the weather not far from Amazonian. Muggy , sweaty but dry. I spent the first half of the day in just a t-shirt I was so hot. 

This tropical weather faded quickly as our ascent continued. The fog got thicker with each metre gained and as we topped out of what is known as 'the band' , Mr. Wind joined the party. We made short work of a small section of flat and sped past what , that day must have been the most miserable group of high school girls ever. I did not envy those teachers. 

The thing you should know about Bow Fell is that shes a deceptive little bitch especially in the fog. You'll see what looks like the summit , there are even rocks that look like Cairns. But we weren't there yet. Yesss there it is . Nope still a fake one. Finally we reached the summit . 

Now I thought that the teachers of those girls was as bad as a day on this mountain could get. But they were nowhere near the title of worlds worst job on that day. Though commendable they took second place. The winners of worlds worst job on the mountain goes to ( drum roll please.) The two radio check point men stood at the top all day ! Congratulations ! You see, on this wet and windy day in East Cumbria several hundred ridiculously fit and equally crazy fell runners gathered for the Langdale Horseshoe Fell race. The men at the summit were a radio checkpoint and they were in it for the long haul. 

We quickly scoffed down some lunch before making an executive decision that it was time to call it a day. Once we'd planned an escape route , we were of in search of the pub. We made light work of the descent and after the best views we had seen all day and a fantastic 'legs over head' epic fail from me we got back to the car we enjoyed 8 caramel short breads and 4 maple donuts for TWO QUID !! 

Gear of the day goes to the Patagonia R1 hoodie. This piece is super lightweight, an excellent fit, and as warm as fleeces twice its weight. The hood and offside zip are awesome at keeping the heat from escaping from your head even if fully zipped up you do look like a condom crossed with a ninja. This piece is seldom going to leave my pack and I can't wait to use it in colder climates. 

We should be able to see this peak in the distance ....