autumn 2012 - 4-Seasons.de

86
Travel
Our boys are at home in the big city of Hamburg and know
the street jungle by heart. How will they feel in the English
hiking paradise? How will the 13-year-old twins handle an
overdose of landscape? Nature instead of notebook for a whole
week? Parents need to bring an overdose of optimism on the way.
Always. After all, the Lake District is not only all about romantic
lakes and pathways but also full of action and adventure. So a via
ferrata is on our schedule for the last day, remote but promising.
Our first tour brims over with superlatives: We are on England’s
highest mountain (Scafell Pike at 978 metres) above England’s
deepest lake (Wastwater, 139 meter deep) with England’s most
beautiful view. Wasdale Hall Youth Hostel is our base camp, a
19th century country residence located directly on the lake with a
big saloon and a house bar – complete with country house flair. No
mobile phone connection though, sorry boys. When we arrive, Wastwater
is shining in the golden evening sun. The next morning
does not disappoint us as this is what you have to expect at the
end of April in North England: five degrees (at least above zero),
grey sky. And the weather forecast keeps on promising more bad
weather to come.
Thanks to the weather we do not choose the highest mountain and
are back in time for lunch. We put on our rain jackets. »Do I have
to?« Franz looks at us as if we want to punish him. Some things
just cannot get into a teenager’s head. The young man has not
reckoned with his mother. We do not want to spoil our break because
of a sick 13-year old. Luis only needs a piercing look to put
on his cap. There we go.
Off to an enchanted lake, Greendale Tarn. There is only one lake in
the Lake District that is actually called »Lake«. All the others are
designated »Mere«, »Water« and »Tarn«. The track along the
course of a stream is steep and washed out. On top, there is only a
mountain lake between bright green but swampy fields. Nothing
else. No tree. No bush. No sign. A foretaste of what is to come.
The boys are as hungry as wolves when we descend from Greendale
Tarn. Of course, it starts raining. It is bucking down, it is raining
cats and dogs – there are enough English phrases for their seemingly
one and only weather. The hikers that arrive at the pub Wasdale
Head Inn just a little bit later got the full bucket of it. They are
wet to the skin and put their jackets near the chimney. The view on
top of the mountain into the valley was limited to two metres, and
rain was mixed with snow, just as promised. Luis and Franz look at
the photographs of George and Ashley Abrahams on the pub’s
walls: two mountaineers that wear hobnailed boots and tweed jackets
on the peak of the »Napes Needles«. Wasdale Head Inn has
been a meeting point for climbing pioneers from all over England
for more than 100 years. Some are still here, laid to rest in St.
Olaf’s Church cemetery next to the pub. Climbers that have underestimated
the mountains around the Lake District or who just had
bad luck. Back in the youth hostel, a dozen soaked and dirty hiking
boots are standing in the hallway. We put ours next to them. The
boys changed their minds about the totally-uncool hiking boots as
they did not get any blisters and came back with dry feet.
The Lake District has been a National Park for 60 years, the biggest
one in England with its 2,292 square kilometres. Traditionally,
it is a region based on farming and mining. Nowadays, their
main source of income is tourism. A quarter of the National Park
belongs to the National Trust, a British association that more than
100 years ago devoted itself to preserving the wonderful natural
landscapes and the cultural assets. The Trust lets more than 90
farms around the lakes on lease, including the farm of >
They are kids of the big city. How will the 13 year old
twins handle an overdose of landscape?
Luis tries to fit in
with the blue colour
of the lake.
Travel 87
Living like a Lord in the youth hostel and
like a lonely explorer up in the mountains.