A round of applause followed the two minutes silence and one by one the crowd started to slowly disband each disappearing back into the cloud. We go back over to Andrew and Tracey and catch up some more before shivers started to set in and standing around chatting just wasn't a option, we all needed to make our way back or in our case, continue with the walk. By now Rod and Karl were a few steps away and after rejoining them Rod asked was it wise to continue, by now we had been standing in the wind and rain for nigh on half an hour and in that time, if anymore possible we weren't just wet on the outside but on the inside too, I for one knew my base layers were damp which shouldn't be possible given I'm wearing a waterproof jacket but damp they were. It took what felt like minutes to digest what Rod was asking because I had prepared my mind to continue on with the walk so much so my head was mentally at Swirl How summit. Rod and Karl stared back all of us knowing the answer, none of us man enough to say it first, we agreed unanimously that we wouldn't gain anything except possible hypothermia if we continued, aye good call Rod, lets head back.
There was no one around when we left the Memorial but I could just about make out Andrew and Tracey as they started to make their way back to Little Langdale before they disappeared into the cloud. By now the wind and rain was driving down hitting us from every angle, Rod, feeling concerned for his camera wrapped a carrier bag around the case which prompted me to check mine, my trustworthy Nikon was coping fine for now although its waterproof case was feeling slightly damp on the inside. Ascending Grey Friar again Karl broke the silence and over the wind and rain spoke about competing in the Lakeland 50 next year with his son and Rod and I stopped to listen, I quite fancy the Lakeland 50 myself although I fear any long distance walking for me now is behind me due to my foot injury. The Matterhorn Rock was passed but this time we couldn't see it due to the thickening of the cloud and we dropped off the summit pathless which caused me to check our position "abit further right lads" and soon we picked up the path again.
Slowly but surely we lost height and with nothing to fix on we relied solely on the path beneath our feet before Rod spotted Seathwaite Tarn below through a clearing in the cloud, by now the rain fell like vertical rods, typical Lakeland rain and damn right miserable. The cloud by now was lingering just above the waters surface and we crossed the Dam wall in single file just as we had earlier. Although it was still bucketing down the wind had eased and we were able to talk again this time on how moving we all felt todays service was more so, the recording of the Last Post heard over a howling wind, it was enough to make the hairs on your arms stick up if they weren't soaked through to the skin. We started our descent towards Walna Scar as the cloud started to break up first over the Duddon Valley revealing chinks of blue sky in the distance highlighting Harter Fell and Wallowbarrow Head towards the west, we all made a move for our cameras but on removing mine I found a small pool of water in the bottom of my camera case which resulted in my camera lens fogging up so I attempted to take some half hearted shots using my camera on my mobile phone but my fingers were so cold after being submerged in wet gloves I gave up which leads me to say that nothing is waterproof despite what the packaging might say.
The cloud continued to break revealing more blue sky and with it came sunshine. By the time we had arrived back at the cars it looked like a different day altogether but our soaking gear and shivering bones told us different, a small price to pay for the freedom that many of us take for granted. |