I booked a two day outdoor course in Keswick so that I could bag a couple of mountains while in the area. The course was run from ‘Theatre on the Lake’ so I camped at the Derwentside campsite and put my tent right on the shore.
I arrived early afternoon so decided to get a hill close to the campsite so I wouldn’t waste anymore time in the car and chose Cat Bells to spend some time practicing navigation and abseils.
The walk up to Cat Bells is pleasant with great views over Derwent Water.
The walk up to Cat Bells is pleasant with great views over Derwent Water.
Once I was past the summit I used the top of Maiden Moor to practice some micro navigation before finding the steep ground down to Black Crags to practice abseiling.
It took me over an hour to get down to the shore of Derwent Water from here with a total of 7 abseils using my 45m rope doubled. The route finding was difficult and anchors where sparse in places. Some sections were really easy and the rope was for practice rather than safety but other sections were a real test including one vertical 5 metre face with a 2 metre overhanging gap at the bottom!
It took me over an hour to get down to the shore of Derwent Water from here with a total of 7 abseils using my 45m rope doubled. The route finding was difficult and anchors where sparse in places. Some sections were really easy and the rope was for practice rather than safety but other sections were a real test including one vertical 5 metre face with a 2 metre overhanging gap at the bottom!
Back at the tent I shared my dinner with the ducks and geese that had decided to surround my pitch!
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