For the August bank holiday we headed to the Newlands valley (Stair) to avoid the crowds in the Lakes. Good turnout for the trip – 15 of us present at some point over the weekend.
Saturday – Simon & myself walked from the hut up towards the head of Newlands Valley to climb Direct route with bolt finish (allegedly S **) on waterfall buttress and then grey slab (VS 4b **) on grey buttress. The first route wasn't worth any stars (damp/wet, mossy & vegetated) second one was though (clean, solid rock, variety of moves).
Mike & Rob set off just before us and were a little further up the valley on Miners crag – words from Rob. "Miners Grooves, horrible approach pitch, pretty good P2 & P3, Jezebel , terrible P1 and start or P2, with 10m of good climbing and Tahulah – great clean climb on good rock ! I actually quite liked the crag (remote, quiet, easy to get to, sunny after 11) but the starts of these ** routes are wet, mossy, sh!te. I will certainly be more circumspect about belaying well out of fall line with this sort of route.. obvious in retrospect but maybe a reminder for others". I hope Rob's foot improves soon!
Meanwhile Natalie and Russ went for the classis of Troutdale pinnacle on black crag 
followed by Little Chamonix at Shepherds- somehow managing to time things right and avoid queuing. Peri, Adam and Andrew also went to black crag in the hope it would be dry enough to do The Shroud and The 
Mortician. Arriving there they found The Shroud was absolutely soaking. The Mortician looked as if it might be dry after the first pitch so we started up that, but bailed when they found the second pitch was a river. So like everyone else on the crag they defaulted to Troutdale Pinnacle which was lovely. "A really enjoyable day out even if we had to change our plans". Annie and Donal went for a mountain bike ride around Blencathra and Skiddaw – which they seemed to enjoy a lot. Dave D having reclaimed his car keys from M&S (don't ask!) 
arrived at the hut after a walk up Helvellyn (apparently that's where the crowds were). Unfortunately Saturday turned out to be by far the best day. Sunday and Mon am were wet. There were 2 walking groups up Newlands valley on Sunday – taking in Cat bells and the ridge along Newland valley. Natalie extended the walk somewhat by running back to Keswick and meeting Emma for a session at the wall. Meanwhile Simon, myself and Alan took part in the 3rd race of the Kong mini-mountain marathon series, which started 
off from the outskirts of Ambleside – cloud was down in places, windy in places and rather wet, especially when wading through bracken – all good fun. Monday am most people left decided to leave the Lakes as it was still wet. But some stopped somewhere en route for a bit of exercise – Annie did a walk from Arnside, Donal cycled round Dalby forest, Natalie, Russ and Mike went bouldering sans mat at Roundhill, Simon & I stayed in the Lakes for a trip to Leighton Moss. C3 and Karl were heading to the Keswick show – but opted for Netflix instead.
followed by Little Chamonix at Shepherds- somehow managing to time things right and avoid queuing. Peri, Adam and Andrew also went to black crag in the hope it would be dry enough to do The Shroud and The 
Mortician. Arriving there they found The Shroud was absolutely soaking. The Mortician looked as if it might be dry after the first pitch so we started up that, but bailed when they found the second pitch was a river. So like everyone else on the crag they defaulted to Troutdale Pinnacle which was lovely. "A really enjoyable day out even if we had to change our plans". Annie and Donal went for a mountain bike ride around Blencathra and Skiddaw – which they seemed to enjoy a lot. Dave D having reclaimed his car keys from M&S (don't ask!) 
arrived at the hut after a walk up Helvellyn (apparently that's where the crowds were). Unfortunately Saturday turned out to be by far the best day. Sunday and Mon am were wet. There were 2 walking groups up Newlands valley on Sunday – taking in Cat bells and the ridge along Newland valley. Natalie extended the walk somewhat by running back to Keswick and meeting Emma for a session at the wall. Meanwhile Simon, myself and Alan took part in the 3rd race of the Kong mini-mountain marathon series, which started 
off from the outskirts of Ambleside – cloud was down in places, windy in places and rather wet, especially when wading through bracken – all good fun. Monday am most people left decided to leave the Lakes as it was still wet. But some stopped somewhere en route for a bit of exercise – Annie did a walk from Arnside, Donal cycled round Dalby forest, Natalie, Russ and Mike went bouldering sans mat at Roundhill, Simon & I stayed in the Lakes for a trip to Leighton Moss. C3 and Karl were heading to the Keswick show – but opted for Netflix instead.Good weekend – despite the weather, good curries and cake.