The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful.
Emma and Jordan share their story about discovering a love for The Lake District and exploring together with their dog, Captain Rogers.
The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful
It wasn’t until my girlfriend, Emma, moved up to the Lake District from Manchester that I realised the true beauty of the place. I had lived here all my life and after a quick spell of work down in Chester I was ready to embrace life once more in Cumbria and wanted Emma to come with me.
It was our puppy, Captain Rogers (@captainrogerspup) that ‘sealed the deal.’ “I’ll come up there with you if you get me a red Cocker Spaniel puppy.” She bargained. Of course, it was much more than that, and together we made the decision to plant our roots and start to grow our family in the place we both proudly call home.
Emma said to me one day “I think we should start an Instagram and call it Lost in the Lakes.” (@lostinthe_lakes). I thought it was a great name as I would be learning The Lakes for the first time too and so, we set to work on building our repertoire of adventures. We spent so much time exploring and taking pictures of the picturesque landscapes and the vast, lonely lakes of the Western Lake District – places like Wast Water and Ennerdale – that we wanted a gallery of the pictures we took and a place to store our memories. It was important for me to explore the good, the bad and the beautiful of the Lake District with Emma. I had never really explored where I lived having always taken it for granted and knowing ‘it was there when I wanted it.’ It was nice to see our world through the eyes of a ‘once tourist.’ After all, ‘the best part about getting lost is finding your way.’
It was at the top of Helvellyn I had decided to buy a skateboard. Me. A grown man of 34 decided it would be a good idea to take up skateboarding. ‘Why not?’ Emma said. We had just made the 950-metre ascent in 3ft snow, 60 mph winds, icy rain and -3 temperatures. We felt like we could do anything!
A few weeks later we were shopping in Manchester when I purchased my first skateboard. 3 hours later, I was in hospital with a ruptured patellar tendon and a repair operation imminent. We were planning a once in a lifetime trip to climb Kilimanjaro just a few days before… that was immediately put on hold as we were told the news the recovery time would be 12 months at least.
We laughed, we cried, and most importantly, we made the recovery together. Every pain staking step of the way I knew I had to get back to full fitness and up in those peaks once more. I knew that climbing mountains couldn’t just be forgotten about – we loved being outdoors and it was important to me that life resumed – back to adventures and hikes – doing what we do best.
Since the accident, I have booked an IronMan in Florida of which I document my progress on my YouTube Channel, Deload, we have climbed Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) in Norway, searched for alligators in the Everglades and hiked up many a craggy ridge to the most spectacular viewpoints all over the Lake District National Park. Now the weather is warmer, we have taken up open water swimming and immerse ourselves daily in all that this gorgeous place has to offer.
Hiking and exploring is where we feel most at home, most compelled to accomplish our dreams and goals and where our hopes come to life with endless chats about our future and planning of our next steps. The rolling hills and vast landscapes of the little corner of the world we love are much more than a beautiful, scenic landscape. They remind us to be grateful, to hustle hard and to stay humble and to always follow our dreams. Life is what you make it, and sometimes you don’t have to travel too far to see that beauty is everywhere – you just have to look for it. Sometimes is not about what we see, it’s about what we want to find.
Come and join us in our adventures on Youtube and Instagram;