In the Footsteps of Chris Bonnington

The next day Chelmer took Rocco and Patrick sailing. In true Swallows and Amazons style they sailed down to Wild Cat island and put ashore for a barbecue. Yorkie and I thought it was a bit windy for sailing, and we didn't fancy getting wet, so we thought we'd resume a sport we first tried out earlier this year in Ireland.


Do you remember us tackling a cliff face not far from the Giants Causeway? This time we went climbing in the Lake District's Duddon Valley. This climb might not have taken us quite so high, but it was a much more vertical ascent. There was no way we could do much leaning into the rock face on this climb.

Once again we were free climbing with no ropes. This might seem foolhardy (and we wouldn't advise anyone to try this at home) but you must remember that bears have special 'sure grip' paws and we alway follow the 3 points of contact at any one time rule.

Despite no ropes, we did have a secret weapon which gave us a helping paw. You might see what it was if you look very closely at our close up photo.


The stripey thing that is holding Yorkie safe and looks a bit like a tarantula leg, is actually our minder's gorilla pod flexible camera tripod. You've got to admit that bears never suffer from a lack of ingenuity. Who else would have thought of using a camera tripod as a climbing aid?

Lots of love the Bears Unlimited free climbers xxx