The remoteness and the long drive to get to Wasdale doesn't mean that this part of the Lakes avoids the summer crowds. It's so busy in the summer holidays that parking can be difficult and the Lakes authorities have now helpfully put on a weekend bus service up the valley to encourage people to park and ride. My friend Jenni and I chose to go just before the summer holidays, and perhaps because it was still Euros season, it was a little quieter than I anticipated. We camped in the National Trust campsite at Wasdale Head which has great shower and drying facilities and pretty camping areas between the trees.
We had checked the weather and the wind was likely to be a factor in our planned 5km swim of Wast Water, so we chose the least troublesome day. This meant driving up on the Friday afternoon and swimming the length fairly late in the day. With long daylight hours, we planned to check our progress at 7pm, expecting that we should have finished a length by then. We swam it south to north, from the beach close to Wasdale Hall Youth Hostel. And because the wind was blowing sightly across the lake we decided to keep close to the roadside shore, so that we had an easy exit if needed and also were likely to get some shelter. This side of the lake also proved to have some helpful outcrops that we could sight and navigate against - heading from one point to another and having a brief rest and check-in at each.
It always surprises me how much you see when you are head down swimming front crawl. Wast Water is really clear to a reasonable depth, and I enjoy gliding over the rocks - it always feels like you are making real progress and distracts from the effort of the swim. As your body rotates to the side and you take a breath, you also glimpse the comings and goings of other swimmers, people having a picnic and children playing around the shoreline. As there is no boat traffic (just kayaks and SUPs) on Wast Water, it's a fairly peaceful swim with wide open waters to enjoy.
We finished the swim on the northern beach, and after more than two hours in the water, we had become quite cold even though the water was around 16/17 degrees. But that length of time in the water, even in wetsuits, still chills the body and something to be very aware of. People feel the cold in different ways and Jenni was far more affected than me and raced the final few hundred metres to keep her body warm and to bring the adventure to an end. A slightly unusual factor was that I have previously swum Wast Water on the screes side and not felt cold at all. This variability in the body's response to the water temperature, even in the summer season, is something to consider when planning a long swim.
We picked up the pace once we were out of the water and headed for the campsite showers, which were absolutely divine. We had parked the car on the roadside near the start, and my partner Jim, who was on a separate climbing weekend, drove us back for our pick-up. We had considered walking back, or if we had completed the swim on Saturday, using the bus service to get back to the car. However, we were glad of the lift.
In our towfloat drybags we carried:
1. Whistle and phone.
2. Head torch, turned on to create a glow.
3. Water and food.
4. Pack towel.
5. Light but warm clothing, shoes and socks.
5. Raincoat.
6. Warm hat.
In the water, we wore full wetsuits and swim socks, brightly coloured hats, ear plugs and goggles. We applied water-friendly sunscreen before we entered the water. We each had our own towfloat drybag to carry our kit.
We swam together the whole way, and kept a regular check on each other from a safety perspective.
