Don\’t know what all the fuss is about. Tom and I were on the long score we expected bad weather and chose a course to suit. Basically we started on the Borrowdale race route to Esk Hause then down into Wasdale over Black Sail Pass where we encountered the first weather. A guy at a control shouted “Welcome to Waterworld” despite Pete Gorvett\’s (the course planner) description of stream source which was non too helpful we found the control half way down a stream surrounded by a million other streams. Then we had to cross the Ennerdale valley which had a couple of tricky streams. Then on to the Haystacks area where we were so confident after finding a couple of controls in the weather that we decided to risk an extra 30 pointer. This we did after a bit of trouble as we were running into the wind then we realised we would have to race to the finish. The whole valley was flooded and there were snakes of people crossing, most of the time it was just ankle/knee deep but a few places were deeper but it looked impressive. At the finish it was a bit unorganised and we couldn\’t find the finish funnel and ended a few mins late.
We found shelter in the barn and over a period of time a few more people. There were messages that we could/couldn\’t get to Borrowdale but not get out if we did. We decided to stay and see what happened. Over time staying put in a dry barn seemed a good idea and as was commented on at the time “it was a lot more social than usual”. In the morning after the hardship of a night on a concrete floor with a thin mat we walked back to Borrowdale had a \’cup of tea\’ (see photo) got the car out of the field and went to Keswick to get changed and find food. It was only then we learnt of our plight!
Richard Hakes
