Its the Easter holidays. Its the Lake District. Plenty of people walking the fells and plenty of rain should not be too difficult to find............
An hour or so had passed, i'd wandered up the Band, around the Climbers Traverse and up and onto Bowfell. It was just after 11 and no sign of any fell walkers, in fact no sign of anyone. The forecast band of rain in the South of the park had not materialised, it was warm and humid.
Although I spend alot of time in the hills, once in a while it is good to spend some time observing what people are upto - you get much better first hand information on what people like to do, what they like to wear and so on. One of my main objectives had been to see what hardshell gear people wear, how many use or carry waterproof trousers etc. With no sign of moisture in the air, and none having fallen for the past week, it was looking like an increasingly futile exercise.
So where was everyone? Scafell Pike i thought, Englands highest mountain, surely there would be bands of people, from all walks of life, wandering up and down. Luckily I was not disappointed, as I passed Esk Hause, the crowds emerged.
A quick foray over to Scafell via Broad Stand* and it was back down towards Angle Tarn and Mickleden, a last chance to observe some of the day trippers wandering along the valley before heading home, my head afresh with thoughts and observations.
*no foot path exists between Scafell Pike and Scafell via Broad Stand. It is a difficult scamble / moderate rock climb!
