Senses working overtime

Senses working overtime – February 2013

Humans have five main senses that allow perception of the environment – sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. In theory, when we focus on our senses, and consequently focus on the current moment, we maximise our potential for happiness. Life is meant to be lived in the present, experienced for the reality that it can be. If the experience of the present is maximised by a full scale assault on all five senses, the ‘here and now’ becomes everything and life is being lived to the full. Obviously, when walking it is wise to pay close attention to what you can see and hear, but your other senses appear to be heightened as well. Walking forces your senses to work overtime, whether you want them to or not. Perhaps that’s why walking makes so many people so happy.

188 Base Brown
Height 2120 Feet
Sunday 17th February 2013
Route – Seathwaite – Sour Milk Gill – Green Gable Path – detour to Summit

A truly memorable day began with truly fantastic weather. Clear blue skies, little wind and relatively mild temperatures, resulted in the best walking conditions that we had experienced for a very long time. Parking close to Seathwaite Farm, we headed towards and then through the farm, before crossing the River Derwent and heading up on a path beside Sour milk Gill. The route was delightful. A stepped path, interspersed with a few rocky scrambles, delivered extensive views, and also allowed us the opportunity to witness a number of picturesque, tumbling cascades. The appropriately named ‘Top Waterfall’ proved to be a particularly impressive and thunderous cascade. We edged as close to the vertical torrent as we dared; spray rose high into the air, we could feel moisture on our faces; water tumbled and plummeted, emitting such a crashing roar that we could hardly hear ourselves speak; there was a freshness in the air, and you could almost smell the aroma of the highly oxygenated water. Standing, transfixed and immersed in the beauty of the moment, we concluded that this particular assault on our senses had definitely optimised our potential for happiness.

Eventually and somewhat reluctantly, we dragged ourselves away from the falls and headed along Green Gable path. After carefully negotiating some patches of ice, we avoided the steep, direct ascent of Base Brown, and walked around the back of the fell instead. From here we began our final climb to the summit. This approach was still fairly steep, and the top of the slope was almost completely blanketed by a carpet of frozen snow. However, treading cautiously we managed to reach the summit without any major problems. We were rewarded with some simply stunning views. Scafell Pike and Great Gable could be seen to the South, Helvelynto the East, Skiddaw and Blencathra to the North. What’s more, the major summits were revealed in all their winter glory. Snow-capped peaks glistened in the bright afternoon sunlight. We surveyed the scene in awed silence. I’m not sure that I have ever spent so long admiring the view from a summit, but this was the sort of day when you run out of superlatives.

Descent proved to be just as delightful as ascent. Not only we were able to enjoy all the spectacular views for a second time, we were also able to practise some glissading and some rock climbing. Glissading is the art of descending a steep snow covered slope on one’s backside in a controlled manner - we weren’t very controlled, but we did descend on our backsides. Our rock climbing was the result of a visit to Seathwaite Slabs. The ‘Slabs’ are used for rock climbing practice by novices, so we were amply qualified. We spent an exciting few minutes trying to find a route to the top. Tom was our trail blazer; he nervelessly discovered a route that Will and I managed to follow.

Heading back to the car, I remembered an epigram by Oscar Wilde – ‘To live is the rarest thing in the World – most people exist, that is all’. Well, today we had lived. We had experienced the present and
we had stored up wonderful memories for the future.