It was yet another of those hot days we'd been having since early May so we all hoped for a nice cool woodland stroll.  Unfortunately the hares were Dormouse and Speedbump so it was not to be.

On assembling at the parking spot by the National Park office we were inundated and outnumbered by a visiting group of hashers from the Winchester area and with a wide range of ages from teen to much older.  Only Scoobeedoo didn't do the trail but met us at the on inn.  As the beer stop was to be off-road, the hares had to plan a reinforcement exercise to deposit more beer at the stop spot.  Well done Dormouse!!

Off then in the direction of the Threlkeld Mining Museum and the first part of the trail climbed up through the outdoor display of historic machinery (Baldbrick even found the same model digger which his dad used to operate at the Brookhouse brickworks quarry, and of course had to be photographed by it) to the main quarry which we circumnavigated along the precipitous back wall. At the first rambo split, I got isolated at the back and took a false trail at a poorly kicked check so ended up about 20 minutes adrift, catching up with the wimps eventually at the beginning of the woods.  This meant I was available to do a bit of back-haring for the less able down a loose, slidey slope to drop down to the valley bottom. As Been Before from Winchester had a bad foot she found a long way round to come down safely.  No sign of beer yet.

The northern end of St John's in the Vale was very picturesque as we trudged across the valley bottom and up the steep bracken slopes on the west side to our eventual and very welcome stop on a knoll with a terrific view over the A66 to Blencathra. A beer stop to die for (or maybe die at!) We stayed there a good length of time as the pack had got very strung out by then. All good so far.

After the long trail before the beer stop we hoped for a short remainder, but the hares were Dormouse and Speedbump so it was not to be. In fact they were unsure about how long.  Maybe for the best anyway.  On the glorious decent from the knoll we passed a small tarn which naturally I had to immerse myself in. As I walked out into the depths and the bottom weed just got deeper and smellier I decided it was a bad job and quickly back-flapped to the shore.  At least it was cool!  Crossing the valley bottom again and another rambo split we came to the river and eventually back to the car park where, in view of the time, the hares decided we should drive straight to the on inn and have the circle there.

Plans to have a quick circle before the food was served were scuppered as the first orders came out straight away (good for the Sally!) so we had a finishing circle after the food and drink in the car park, by which time the LVH3 numbers were severely depleted.  Nevertheless, I think we honoured our guests appropriately and they showed much appreciation for the trail and for our company.  We look forward to fulfilling our invitation to go hashing around Winchester at some point in the future.

Thanks to Dormouse and Speedbump for a terrific trail in a lovely and less-frequented part of the Lakes that I had not visited before.  A perfect finish to a spiffing weekend of hash.

On on, Cyber