Hurrah, finally a good weather walking day (or so they forecast) and the alarm was set for 5am as we'd planned quite a walk for today. Parking under Harter Fell we would make our way up the valley and up onto Scafell and then over to Slightside before heading back down to the base of Harter Fell. A day which promised a nice walk in, a couple of waterfalls, a decent bit of scrambling, 2 Wainwrights, nice fluffy photogenic clouds and a nice gentle, but long, descent. Sounds like a perfect day......and it was!
We started after parking the car walking into the valley along a well trodden path. A little bit of upwardness followed by a nice flattish path then more upwardness meant we gained some initial height quite quickly.
The weather was perfect. Blue skies, fluffy clouds, a light breeze when needed and quite warm. Not what we'd expect for August but nice enough and I wasn't complaining.
On the initial walk into the valley before the main part of the climb was filled with beautiful view on all sides coupled with some ominous black clouds which suggested there was a bit of rain on the way but thankfully that never materialised and we arrived at the foot of Cam Spout where we stopped for a bite to eat.
A lovely place to stop with the falls on one side and Crinkle Crags, Bowfell and more on the other with the flat valley floor catching sun rays and shadows as the clouds moved over the sky.
After our snack it was time to make our way up the side of the waterfall and soon the well marked path had disappeared and we were left to find our own route through the rock, perfect! My fav terrain.
At the top we walked through another valley with Mickledor straight in front and a tasty gully to our left which was our route up the next part of the hill took us up to Foxes Tarn which I must admit wasn't more than a puddle at this time of year.
The next stage was simply making our way up a steep rock and shale path which sapped the energy out of you but literally was a hop skip and a jump after that up onto Scafell.
The summit of Scafell had a couple of picnickers on it but nothing compared to Scafell Pike which seemed to have hundreds of ants pouring over its summit. Popular on such a fair weather day.
After the obligatory picture taking at the summit it was off down the hillside through the rocks and over to Slightside, our next target. Here we met a nice chap who was a fell runner normally but skipped a race today because he didn't feel quite up to it but still managed an impressive round of hills starting with Pike o Blisco in Langdale over the Crinkles, Bowfell, Esk Pike, Scafell Pike, Scafell and Slightside. Then all the way back again where he was hoping to take in the Langdales. Just hearing that made me feel a bit faint and silently vowed that I really need to get a bit fitter!!!!!
Slightside was a nice top and a little bit rocky which, of course, I adore. We didn't hang around long and soon enough we were starting our descent which surprisingly wasn't that bad and apart from some significant boggy bits it was a long but gentle walk off the mountain with only a few steep rocky bits.
What a wonderful day, one of the best walks I've had in a long time. It had everything I could want from a walk and I arrived back at the car with a smile on my face. My legs were dirty, my boots were bogged but I was happy. Loved every min of it!!!
Showing posts with label Cumbria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cumbria. Show all posts
08 August 2015
02 August 2015
A misty murky wander over Wansfell
In our efforts to
get out whatever the weather in this poor excuse for a summer we had
a few hrs free on Sunday to play with and Wansfell seemed to be the
ideal target.
Not too far but
still a Wainwright tick and would provide a little bit of exercise
for the weekend.
The path started as
a wide track and wound its way round the side of the hill with views
of Windemere opening up to the left. There was no steepness to the
path and it continued, meandering round the hillside to the summit
top following a wall.
The weather was
mixed, a bit of mist, drizzle and it wasn't that warm really. Was it
really August???
The summit was quite
non descriptive with views over to Rydel Wate, up to Red Screes and
Kirkstone Pass and then back down to Windemere and beyond.
The path following the wall over to the second summit, Baystones which is the true high point of the Wainwright, was a pretty path and the wall was the star of the show, winding left and right up and down hill making some pretty patterns indeed.
The path following the wall over to the second summit, Baystones which is the true high point of the Wainwright, was a pretty path and the wall was the star of the show, winding left and right up and down hill making some pretty patterns indeed.
After reaching
Baystones we turned right to take the path back down towards the car
and were met with a 2 pretty ponies and a young foal. The foal was
too quick for me to get a non blurry picture but I got a snap of its
auntie who was happy to just stand and pose.
Soon enough we were back at the Mortal Man car park and felt it would be rude not to pop in for Sunday lunch as we'd parked here for the past hour or so. The food was good and it was a lovely place to spend another hr in the lakes before heading back to real life and the thought of Monday looming in the distance.
Soon enough we were back at the Mortal Man car park and felt it would be rude not to pop in for Sunday lunch as we'd parked here for the past hour or so. The food was good and it was a lovely place to spend another hr in the lakes before heading back to real life and the thought of Monday looming in the distance.
Another trip out and
even though the weather didn't really improve it was a lovely wander
over a nice little fell.
07 June 2015
A weekend in Wasdale Part 2
Sunday was billed to
be a better day weather wise however it looked pretty grey when we
awoke. I didn’t feel well and had been sneezing and spluttering
all night and had a pretty horrible runny nose. Not really in the
mood to get out of bed I managed to get dressed and hoped to feel
better as the day wore on. Achy and head cold symptoms were a bad
start.
Buckbarrow,
Seatallan and Middle Fell were our targets for the day and I must say
Buckbarrow and Middle Fell both looked attractive prospects and with
Seatallan tucked in behind I hoped it wouldn’t disappoint.
As with any hill
really it was a bit of a slog to begin with. As we continued upwards
it wasn’t really long before we came upon the summit of Buckbarrow.
The last part of the upwards climb was through some rocky bits and
the views were outstanding. The weather wasn’t being kind to us
with intermittent rain and there was our old friend the wind again.
The sun kept peeking through the clouds but not anywhere near us. We
could see its shadows cast upon the surrounding hills but alas no
where near us.
Cold update: I feel
rubbish, sneeze splutter, sneeze!
So after Buckbarrow
it was onwards to Seatallan and this was the first time I thought “oh
I'll just go back” I really couldn’t get a grip and my head was
throbbing but I wandered on. It didn’t seem that bad a walk up to
Seatallan that was until we lost the summit in the cloud. It closed
in and obscured views on all sides. Drizzle and a brisk breeze made
the last part of the walk up quite tedious indeed. One of those
moments we you really need to remind yourself why you do this and why
its so important. Today it wasn’t for the photography as cameras
were firmly tucked away whilst we endured the mist and drizzle.
Thankfully there was
a shelter at the summit currently occupied by a nice couple and their
dog. I offered the dog some of my Pink Lady apple which it licked
and then ignored. How very dare it!!! It really was a lovely dog
but just having a picky day.....weren't we all !
We were up and off
as soon as we'd finished our snack and heading down to the plateau
area between Seatallan and Middle Fell. It was quite steep and the
path is poorly mark but easy to see where the path meets down in the
valley below. The best bit is that the cloud was starting to lift
and we could see Middle Fell, in its entirety, for the first time
today and it was beautiful.
I wasn’t sure I
had the energy to do another climb and worse still another descent
but I waited until I had reached the plateau below and the start of
the upward path before making my mind up. Once there it was an easy
decision to make and I couldn’t let this gorgeous hill pass me by
today. That and that the ground underfoot in the valley was quite
boggy and the thought of trudging through bog to go down the valley
was really not an option. So upwards we went.
It was a lovely
rocky path up and views were opening up all around. Great Gable
stood proudly to the left with Yewbarrow in front and it just took
your breath away. The route from yesterday was ahead of us with
Waswater below and all in all it was a lovely fell.
The downwards was
tough as I'd reached my limit for the day. I was exhausted, coupled
with the fact that I hadn’t had a good nights sleep meant I felt a
bit wibbly wobbly. Nevertheless I kept going with the occasional wee
sit down and before we knew it we were back on flat land and the sun,
as like the previous day, was splitting the trees.
At the campsite
we'd arrange to keep the tent pitched during the day so we could get
an early start and the thought of having to dismantle it when we
returned wasn’t a great thought but it wasn’t too bad actually
and quite enjoyable in the sunshine.
Great weekend, great
walks, great company and looking forward to more camping weekends in
the weeks to come, love it!
06 June 2015
A weekend in Waswater Part 1
Racing to arrive
before the light fades on a Friday night so we can try out our new
tent for the weekend and Nether Wasdale was our destination. Church
Stile Farm Campsite for the weekend with 5 wainwrights thrown in for
good measure.
We arrived with
plenty of light left in order to get the tent up, not perfectly, but
not bad straight out the box and we headed for the pub for a little
refreshment.
Saturday morning we were up bright and early and not really sure what the weather had in store for us. It was a bit grim, clouds everywhere and quite windy, although we were protected in the camp-site but could see the far trees swaying.
Saturday morning we were up bright and early and not really sure what the weather had in store for us. It was a bit grim, clouds everywhere and quite windy, although we were protected in the camp-site but could see the far trees swaying.
The hills ahead of
us were our target for the day. Illgill Head and Whin Rigg then down
to Waswater for a walk back along the screes.
The route up Illgill
Head was a slog. Steepness and high found quite quickly. Looking
back we could see the strength of the wind in the waves lapping the
Cumbrian shoreline.
We met a nice lady
from Liverpool whom I thought I recognised from somewhere. She was
clearly the leader in her party as they straggled behind and all were
heading for a Beer Festival in Boot and not claiming any tops today.
The path to the top
of Illgill Head was clear enough but the wind was buffeting us all
over the place. Chris did his impression of “flying man” at the
summit and we didn’t stick around long.
Over towards Whin
Rigg there was a choice of paths and even though it was windy I chose
the path that ran along the top of the screes and rock-face. It was
thrilling. Straight down towards Waswater with the most beautiful
rock on either side.
A flat plateau then
onwards towards the next summit where there was a little shelter
which enabled us to have a quick bite with the stunning Yewbarrow ahead of us.
We knew that as soon as we
started downwards we would have lost the effect of the wind as it had
been behind us all along the tops.
A nice wall guided
us down and soon we were on the banks of Waswater and again we could
see the effect of the wind on the top of the lake. Little water
birds were darting all around as we started along the path to the
screes.
The path was fairly level but the wind was now in front of us and the buffeting never ceased. We met a few people along the path but mainly we were on our own. Upwards was scree and rock and downwards was scree and rock dipping into the lake. Chris said that the screes went down into the lake as much as it was high behind us. Very deep water.
The path was fairly level but the wind was now in front of us and the buffeting never ceased. We met a few people along the path but mainly we were on our own. Upwards was scree and rock and downwards was scree and rock dipping into the lake. Chris said that the screes went down into the lake as much as it was high behind us. Very deep water.
We were caught out
suddenly by a very sharp rainstorm which made the skipping over rocks
of the scree a little more treacherous as things became just a little
slippy. Thankfully almost as soon as the rain had come it had gone
and we were left, for the first time that day, bathed in sunlight.
This was good news as the longest bit of scree was still to come and
we hoped by the time we got there the sun would have dried most of
the rock.
We weren’t disappointed. The big scree part was dry and absolutely delightful to cross with big section of very big boulders mixed with smaller sections of smaller rocks. I loved it.
We weren’t disappointed. The big scree part was dry and absolutely delightful to cross with big section of very big boulders mixed with smaller sections of smaller rocks. I loved it.
The evening was now
turning quite pleasant weather wise and the remainder of our walk
back to the campsite was absolutely lovely with lots of little birdies flying about in the evening sun.
23 May 2015
Lowfell & Fellbarrow on a sunny day !
Another weekend and
another 2 Wainwrights to be ticked off the old list. This will make
it 137 for me and 172 for Chris, he's only got 42 to do before
completing the whole list. Quite an achievement !
Tebay visited and
scotch eggs for lunch acquired we continued north and the sky was
bluer than blue with some nice wispy clouds that would hopefully make
for some good sky pictures. We were a little later than usual
setting off so we wouldn't get the best light of the day for
photography but I'm sure we'll get something out of the day. The sun was really bright and I was amazed at how green everything suddenly looked. Spring and perhaps even a glimpse of summer was definately here.
Car parked near
Loweswater and the path was right there in front of us, up a stoney
treelined path peppered with lots of lovely wild flowers, took us to
the base of the first hill. The path continued round and we spotted
a couple of Yellowhammers and then it turned sharp left up over a
stile and rose steeply towards the right hand side of the hill. With
a combination of following a path then trudging up throught the moss
and bracken we finally made it up onto the top of the hill. This, as
with all hills was not the top but a wee false summit with plenty of
path ahead of us before we reached anything that was tickable.
The first peak was
Darling Fell with views over Crummock water then over to Buttermere
that were really breathtaking and although it wasnt a Wainwright it
was still a lovely fell.
My #summitselfie
The path down and
then up again onto the next hill was steep on both sides but not too
long so it was quite easy on the legs. The path upwards again was
like a helter skelter with 20 steps worth of steepness the a wee
plateau bit, then another steep bit again followed by another plateau
until we reached the top and again were offered the most spectacular
views. Here we stopped for a moment and had a nibble of our scotch
eggs that we'd bought earlier and just marvelled at how lucky we were
with the weather.
Onwards and upwards
again towards the last tick of the day and the steepness of the
descent and final ascent wasn’t as severe as the previous hill. It
was quite gentle by all accounts. A little bit boggy in places and a
nice clear path to lead us the way. A trig stood at the top of
Fellbarrow and we had our last nibble of the day and polished off our
scotch eggs followed by a Tunnochs tea cake. Perfect walking food.
So off we went on
the downwards path and made our way back round the hillside until we
met up with the path we'd started on earlier in the day. The sun was
stronger now and any haze from earlier had gone and it really was a
scorcher.
The little wild flowers on the path back to the car were indeed a treat.
Soon enough we were back at the road and it was now littered with cars. Everyone and their mother seemed to be in the lakes today and navigating back through Buttermere was interesting we made it and had a beautiful drive home and a lovely day to reflect on and a quick peek of the other side of Causey Pike made me chuckle. It really is one of my favs, cute little hill !
Great weather, great walk, great company, what more can a girl ask for :-) 16 May 2015
Breezy Burnbank, Blustery Blake and Gusty Gavel Fell..........
Hurrah, the weather
forecast, after being up and down all week, had finally settled on a
Saturday that was at best, variable. That'll do us so after a 6am
alarm and house exit at 6.45 we were off up the M6 towards that well
known junction 40 for Penrith. The hills today would take us past
Buttermere and start us off just behind Melbreak with 3 on the agenda
we hoped for a good days walking as well as some good pics.(fingers crossed)
The national trust
car park was easy to find and unlike most national trust facilities
there was no pay machine. So all those £1 coins I'd been collecting
all morning were of no use after all. Brilliant! The first part of
the walk was ahead of us with the initial part taking us through a
forested area which is always a treat when the sun is out and you get
it filtering through the trees casting shadows all around. The
little wild flowers are just starting to come out and the baby ferns
are all still curled up ready to spring into action later in the
year.
Once up and out of
the trees the we could see the path clearly heading up left towards
the top of the hill, well I say top, I mean the top part that I could
see. There was still a long way to go before the top of Burnbank was
reached however the walk was pleasant and good underfoot. Not much
bogginess and views back to the Solway Firth and over to Buttermere
and the surrounding hills were coming into view.
Lots of little birds
around and their chirping accompanied us for most of today’s walk
but unlike the meadow pipets of 2 wks ago we couldn’t see these
little birds quite so well, they were well hidden in the heather and
gorse.
The top of Burnbank
Fell was up and over a fence. No stile here so it was a hover over
the wire whilst balancing on 2 rocks sort of manoeuvre but we managed
it and then after the obligatory picture taking on the pile of rocks
it was back over again to follow the path up to Blake Fell.
Quite a distinctive
path and easy to follow and walk, not too steep but enough to keep
your muscles working. The most noticeable change was the wind, the
higher we got the more blustery it became and soon was very windy
indeed. Luckily at the top of Blake Fell there is a little shelter
and once hunkered down in that there was not even a breeze. Poke
your head out and it was near blown off !!!!
We ate lunch here
and I took my #summitselfie
and then we were off again to our last
hill of the day Gavel Fell. Down off Blake and then up the well
marked path to Gavel we were passed by a man laying a scent for the
trail hounds that would be on this route later in the day. It was
spooky as I'd only listened to a programme about the trail hounds of
the Lake District on Radio 4 earlier in the week and here was the
man, laying the scent of paraffin and aniseed for the dogs to follow
later, just like was mentioned in the radio programme. Pity we
wouldn't still be there when the dogs came over as I'm sure that
would be an incredible sight to see.
Gavel Fell touched
and ticked and it was time to head downwards. We followed the path
south and then took a sharp left which skirted us round the fell with
Hen Coomb on our right we were reminded of the day we were there,
back in 2012 when Chris reached his 100th Wainwright
milestone. It was a gentle path down and the path gently lead us
round and down until we were almost back at the car park, no before
we happened upon a field of sheep with one only too happy to have his
picture taken.
Great walk, great weather and 3 more boxes ticked.
I wonder what we'll do with the rest of the day???
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