Letterbarrow run

A micro-break in the Lakes to introduce the children to the concept of budget hosteling (family camping trips expired in Pembrokeshire in 2011 - Kate said she would never camp again and she was true to her word). It had rained all day, so after soggy trips to Sizergh and Hill Top we settled in to the Hawkshead YHA on the shores of Esthwaite Water (the 7th English YHA I've visited in the last few years). I stretched my legs with a brisk run up the miniature local fell, Letterbarrow, which was an excellent 37 minute up-and-down blast through the village and out on the High Wray road. The last few hundred metres joins the open fell with minimal visibility, thick mist and constant light rain. At the summit, famed for its views over Windermere, thick clag. Next day, a lovely morning walk round an uncharacteristically empty Tarn Hows with a tiny glimpse of sunshine towards the end: the cloud base just failed to clear Coniston Old Man and Wetherlam.