Away with the Wasdale Fairies (and Jordan)
With the 2024 August bank holiday and an inevitably busy period approaching for our favourite national park (the Lake District of course) I’m reminded of a brilliant wild camp that myself and fellow Outdoor Licence founder Joe Light had up there around this time last year.
As with any Lake District camp plan, we always kick things off with a top tier brekky at the Freshers cafe in Ambleside followed by a satisfied waddle over to the well stocked Climbers shop to see our mate Ash (big shout out!) to pick up supplies for the trip ahead. Both great establishments and definitely well worth a visit next time you’re in Ambleside.
This time round we headed up to Wasdale on the Western side of the Lakes, planning for a relatively short and easy hike to the Fairy pools along Lingmell Beck. After the short walk and finding a couple of comfortable pitches we made the most of the cold water experience on offer with a quick plunge. Feeling on top of the world we took in the beautiful surrounding landscape before tucking into some top quality grub and a few beers under the densely star packed night sky.
As with all our wild camps a ‘leave no trace’ rule was rigidly applied along with pitching up late and leaving early in order to minimise any disturbance on our fellow outdoor enthusiasts. We often like to try out new gear on our wild camps too and this time around we gave the Jetboil Skillet (recently acquired from the climbers shop) a go. It cooked the perfect burgers thanks to its non-stick ceramic aluminium construction and even heat distribution. It felt like cooking from the kitchen at home. Weighing in at backpack friendly 0.38kg (with dimensions of 8×8 and 9×1.9 inches) it takes up a small amount of space compared to what it delivers to the table. The skillet also comes with a lightweight turner clipped into the handle which is a great addition to what turned out to be a really quality bit of kit.
