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BB1222: You
Can Drink The Air
Wednesday
20th June 2012
You
can drink the air.
That
is what Mike said as we sat down to recover atop
Steel Fell.
Where
had I heard that saying before?
It
was reminiscent
of BB1203:
The Air's Like Wine
but
clearly not the same.
A
Google search didn't help that much.
I
found one scientific website with a rather strange article
explaining how When
water is scarce you can drink the air.
There
was another scientific article called In
The Future You Will Drink the Air
but we were talking about today.
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In
the arts world, there is a an avant garde
work by Nico Muhly called I
Drink The Air Before Me,
an evening length score for Stephen Petronio’s dance piece bearing the same name.
The
Daily
Telegraph
review of the dance was not exactly complimentary
although Nico Muhly's music was described
as "terrific". Judge for
yourself with the extracts at Google.
Ironically,
there was also a runner's website entitled
Don't
Drink The Air.
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However,
nothing of a literary or poetical bent could be found
so maybe Mike's observation was more or less original
after all. And appropriate. Air was what
we needed at that point.
I
remembered Steel Fell from BB0705:
Out of the Mist and into the Cloud
when Tony and I
had found it, not to mince terms,
brutal.
Looking
up Steel Fell
It
was no better a few weeks later on BB0718:
Oh No! Not Steel Fell Again?
even though the sun was shining! I really had
no desire to go that way again so I asked Stan if he
was sure that Mike could manage it, by which, of course,
I meant me and to which he replied:
Yes, I'm sure he could.
I will certainly take the
climb up Steel Fell very slowly.
If Mike's not done it before it's a
must,
so that he can point out the climb every time he passes Dunmail!
That
settled it. Like the point potential for Mike, Stan
had made a very good one.
I
was surprised that Roger also was with us as he had
specifically indicated his reluctance to go this way!
Anyway,
true to Stan's word, we took it very slowly, stopping
regularly to enjoy the view, particularly the two Lion
and the Lambs of Helm Crag.
The
Lion & the Lamb and The Lion & The Lamb
Then
it was back to heaving on the wire fence to gain traction;
850 ever steepening feet in one third of a mile!
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The
steepness
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The
struggle
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Following
a somewhat gentler climb, we eventually reached the
Steel Fell summit.
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Drink
the air?
We
were gulping it down.
So
intoxicated was I with it that for a moment
I thought there were two Rogers with us,
linking arms!
Or
was I hallucinating from all the effort?
Once
sobered up, I could see that the views were
worth the effort. A fabulous day with
very clear air quality and, as we progressed
further, most of the Lake District peaks
came clearly into view.
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The
Roger twins on Steel Fell
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Thirlmere
from Steel Fell
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Green
Burn from Steel Fell
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Greencoomb
across "The Bog"
Helvellyn
range
Bassenthwaite
and Skiddaw
From
there onwards, progress was relatively easy. We
cunningly by-passed the top of Calf Crag and settled
for lunch behind a rocky outcrop not far short of Sergeant
Man. Here more air was drunk, laced with coffee, and
supplemented by Mike's excellent Linthwaite sausages.
Comitibus
: with
sausages!
I
am not sure what happened next. Either we forgot
about Sergeant Man or we decided that time was pressing
and opted for a ridge descent along Blea Rigg, around
the mini Matterhorn of Lang Howe and down; wondering
what was the heavy aeroplane above us?
Codale
and Easedale Tarns
Stickle
Tarn, Harrison Stickle and Pavey Ark (featuring North
Rake)
What
sort of plane is this?
Grasmere
with Fairfield behind
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A
Grasmere Garden.....
Inside
the Lamb Inn
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.....
and door
At
Grasmere we were faced with a choice.
Bus
home in five minutes or bus home
in sixty five minutes?
Mindful
of the fact that the earlier bus could
be rather full, we opted for the later
one so repaired to the Lamb Inn to bide
our time.
You
might well be able to drink the air
on the fell, but down here it was much
easier to drink the beer.
Don,
Wednesday 20th June 2012
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STATISTICS:
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BB1222
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Wednesday
20th June 2012
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| Distance
in miles:
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8.7
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| Height
climbed in feet:
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2,410
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| Wainwrights:
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Steel
Fell, Blea Rigg
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| Other
Features:
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-
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| Comitibus:
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Don,
Mike, Roger B, Stan
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BOOTboys
routes are put online in gpx format which
should work with most mapping software. You can follow
our route in detail by downloading bb1222.
To
see which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing
see
Which
Wainwright When?
For the latest totals of the mileages and heights see: BB Log.
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