Keswick woman treks Newlands Horseshoe in a 22kg vest dressed as an alpaca to fundraise roof repairs
A woman from Cumbria has hiked 11 miles through the Wainwrights dressed as an alpaca to raise money for an alpaca sanctuary.
Nicole Benson scaled six peaks on Saturday 30 September wearing a 22kg weighted vest - - the equivalent of the maximum weight that a Llama can carry while trekking.
A fundraiser has already received donations of over £3500 towards the target of £8000 needed to repair the roof at the Alpacaly Ever After base in the North Lakes.
When raining heavily, the barn floor floods making it impossible to store food and keep the alpacas safe.
Ms Benson said: "The flooring unfortunately does not have a drainage system and the barn does sit lower than the fields around it.
"As you imagine with all of the rain that we get in the Lake District, it does flood quite a lot. They do get cold in the winter with wind. We don't want them to be sat outside in the field so being in the barn is super-handy.
Ms Benson successfully trekked across The Newlands Horseshoe - an 11-mile stretch over the peaks of Robinson, Dale Head, Dalehead Tarn, High Spy, Maiden Moor and Catbells with an elevation gain of 1095m.
She added: "I thought it was only fair to do what llamas can naturally do. Llamas can naturally do about 10-12 miles of walking up and down mountains every day and they can do that whilst carrying a third of their body weight."
The funds will help create more indoor space for the Woolly Army based in Keswick and reduce food spending. It is hoped the money will also enable Ms Benson and her colleagues to offer indoor meet and greets with the alpacas.
The funds raised will also go directly towards resurfacing the barn floor and implementing new drainage systems to keep the rain outside.
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