Blea Tarn and Red Tarn

In my last post I mentioned two training swims that I had in Blea Tarn and Red Tarn in the Lake District.  I had the swims while on an action packed day out on Friday the 17th of September.  Me and a friend, Gareth, did a couple of walks / climbs and a couple of swims.  Here's a quick rundown of the day's events;

08:00 - We met in Lancaster Total Fitness car park for the drive up to the Lakes

09:15 - Set off walking from the head of Langdale Valley up to Blea Tarn

10:00 - Climbed / scrambled up Jack's Rake up Pavey Ark.  This was the first time I had attempted a scramble of this nature but I was guided by Gareth who is an experienced climber.  This was a bit hairy but good challenging fun.

11:30 - Swim in Blea Tarn. I had managed to persuade Gareth to come in and have a dip with me.  This was a pleasant turn of events as Gareth had had to guide me up Jack's Rake which was a little outside my comfort zone, and all of a sudden I was the experienced one guiding him into the water!  The water was peaty and cold, the reading on my watch read 5.3'C however I think my watch must not be calibrated for reading water temperatures, it was more like 10-11'C.  Gareth lasted about 5 minutes and we both swam back to shore.  While Gareth got dressed and warmed up I turned back and swam across the Tarn (~250m).  I had a little chat with some walkers on the other side and swam back.  The view from in the water was fantastic, made all the better by looking up at the face of Pavey Ark having just climbed up it.  We preceeded to walk back down to the car and had a coffee / warm up break half way down.

14:30 - Walk from Helvellyn Youth Hostel up Helvellyn via Swirral Edge descending via Striding Edge.  About two thirds of the way up Swirral Edge I got severe cramps in my upper quads, possibly due to the combination of a cold swim and lots of steep up hill walking.  Progress was slow as I had to rest my legs every 5 minutes to stop them going into spasm.  At one point I seriously considered going back down and waiting for Gareth at the tarn, I'm so glad I decided not to turn around as the view from the top was fantastic in all directions and walking down via striding edge was ace!

17:00 - Quick dip in Red Tarn.  All the way around the Helvellyn Edges, we had toyed with not having a swim in Red Tarn partly due to the cramps in my legs and partly due to time constraints and getting back home before the door slams and the dog house opens!  In the end we decided to have a quick dip and then make up time with a fast descent to the car.  I knew that if I didn't swim in what is quite frankly an iconic location, I wouldn't be satisfied until I came back and swam some time in the future, and I didn't fancy that steep walk again any time soon!  The temperature was a degree or so warmer than Blea Tarn and the water was a lot clearer.  We then proceeded to get down to the YHA from Red Tarn as fast as our legs would carry us!

All in all, an action packed day, big thanks to Gareth for being my mountain guide for the day and thanks to our respective partners for allowing us to use our valuable holiday for a boy's day out!

I'm going to try for a few more open water swims this season before it gets too cold.  Keep an eye on the blog for updates.

Dave