Up Coniston

I had so many Lake District pictures (many of them taken by my lovely father - thanks Dad!) that I couldn't even fit them into one post. So to start off with, here's an account of what was perhaps our most exciting adventure: ascending the Old Man of Coniston.

(For the record, the others did do a couple of Crazy Luke Walks taking in about 17 peaks each and lasting from dawn until dusk, but this was the most strenuous expedition we felt like undertaking with Asher. And we didn't even carry him all the way!)

As you can see, we had lovely weather: dry, with clouds that stayed just above us for the entire climb. It was warm, but not too hot (as it had been on the preceding days). We parked the car fairly high up to make our ascent easier. This is not cheating when you are carrying a baby!

We took the 'tourist track', described by Wainwright as the most boring route possible up the Old Man. But we found it really quite interesting: beautiful views, and lots of abandoned quarrying machinery to intrigue us. There was one point where these massive steel cables wound their way across the path and up the mountainside. We had to climb under them (or go around if, like Edward here, you were carrying the baby backpack). Although I would have liked to take Asher up in the sling I don't think I would have managed to carry him all the way (it was hard enough getting myself up there) - especially as he's been resisting back carries. So thanks Uncle Ned for getting the baby to the top!

How to earn Uncle Points #2

We had a few stops for Mummy Cuddles on the way up though. This was the highest altitude at which I have breastfed my baby! (Hmm, unless you count the aeroplane to Florida).

As we got to the top, Mum realised it was about 30 years since she and Dad had first climbed the Old Man together. They have a photo of the two of them at this very trigpoint.

Asher had just woken up (having missed the most exciting part of the ascent!) so he was a bit confused at first. It was also very windy on top. The result of which was that he actually stayed still in my arms and let me cuddle him! That never happens! Despite the beautiful views we didn't hang around for long - didn't want the baby to get cold. Plus, Luke had offered to buy everyone tea in the teashop if we could get back to Ambleside for 3pm. So we took a few photos...

... and raced back down! Here's a picture of Mum looking very intrepid:

And guess what? We actually made it back to Ambleside in time for tea! Luke has been making similar promises for about the last ten years and this was the first time we arrived at the stipulated destination by the specified time. Apart from that one occasion when the tearoom was closed. There's no picture of it but I had a lovely cheese scone. Thanks, Luke!