Our First Wild Camping Trip of the Year

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Sprinkling Tarn from Wasdale Head | The Lake District


The 1st of June and what better way to end the month of May than with a wild camp, hike and a swim! We were so lucky to have such good weather for the bank holiday weekend here in the UK. I feel as though it’s been long awaited after what feels like months of cold, rainy weather. I was prepared for it, I knew I wanted to get outdoors camping the week before and after searching through Instagram and Google for a good wild camp spot, I decided on Sprinkling Tarn. Even the name sounds magical, and that it really was.

 


 

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The route

There are two quick ways you can approach Sprinkling Tarn, one being from Seathwaite or the other from Wasdale. Both are similar walking distances but it is a little more of a trek for us to get to Wasdale. But because Wasdale is my favourite place in the Lakes, we thought we’d head that way and use Wasdale as our base to park our car and then spend the following day there too. There’s plenty of parking space at Wasdale Head if you get there early enough or a little later in the afternoon when most people are back down from the fells. Do be mindful of locals and emergency services vehicles trying to get through, you will get a ticket if you park on grass verges at the Wasdale Head. From the shop, after picking up an ice cream and a couple more snacks, we headed towards Saint Olaf’s Church – England’s smallest parish church. If you have a moment to stop by and take a peek, you should. It’s really quaint! From there you can see the path that leads right through the valley between Great Gable and Great End. It’s a really nice steady route up, with amazing views ahead and behind. The first tarn you reach will be Styehead Tarn but if you’re wanting to camp I’d carry on for a further 5/10 minutes on to Sprinkling Tarn as it gets the sun a little longer and the views are much prettier.

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What we packed

We wanted to pack as light as we could, which meant only the bare necessities. Tent, roll mats, sleeping bags, torch, 3 x Summit to Eats, a JetBoil (ad), water, extra clothing, milk & teabags.

We always really enjoy the Summit to Eat freeze dried food. Usually we take the vegetable chilli with rice but this time we tried the spicy arrabiata and I took some grated cheese too. They were delicious and filling and all you have to do is add boiling water! We use a Jetboil (ad) which is easy to use, compact and brings water to the boil in 100 seconds per litre! Both are ideal for multiple day hikes and needing to pack light. We did have a water filter but Josh lost it last time he went walking, it was a little pump that filtered the water clean so you could literally drink water out of a bog if you had to. Not that I’d ever want to and hopefully ever need to but they’re a great piece of equipment if you are heading out into the hills on a hot day. This is the one we had here (ad) and will be repurchasing again.

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Next day route

The following morning we woke up early, made a brew, packed our bags, rolled up our tent and headed towards Great End. This is a nice leisurely walk from Sprinkling Tarn with amazing views of Derwent Water. Nearing the top, the terrain really changes from grass and nice paths to stones and some really big pieces of rock. You really have to be careful not to get your leg jammed because it’s leg breaking stuff if you do! We got to the top of Scafell Pike at around 9:30am. By this time there were a lot of people around, although the route we took was much quieter.

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On our way down alongside Lingmell Gill, Josh spotted a few little waterfalls and the perfect little pool for us to cool off in. It was like a little infinity pool, with the best view of Wastwater. Although it was right next to the path, it was hidden by a huge rock so everyone was just walking past whilst we enjoyed a swim in our undies. We soon dried off and were one of the first to arrive at the Wasdale Head Inn for a beer and a cider in the scorching sunshine. I was glad to be back down before lunch time and heading home before, although another night or two in the hills would have been lovely. One day we’d love to do a multi day hike/camp, perhaps get dropped off somewhere and make our way back home over the mountains and the fells.

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Well, I’m sad the weekend is over but I’m grateful for the sunshine and coming back to our own home, even if it does need a good hoover and clean. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend, fingers crossed this is the start of our summer! Speak soon, L.

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