The weather was not set to be perfect which didn’t deter us at all as we were well equipped with all our winter gear should it get particularly nasty so when the 6am alarm went off we found ourselves excitedly heading north and instantly surprised at the lack of snow on the route and even less when we arrived in Glenridding for the start of our walk today.
It was dry, cold and a bit icy with a smattering of snow but dry none the less and the gale force winds that were forecast didn’t seem present at all. So off up the path we went in the direction of Sheffield Pike. 1 noticeable difference today was that I was the one carrying the route on the phone and was in charge of keeping us on the blue line. Now granted, even with a weekends navigation course under my belt, I didn’t have the best of track records at keeping us on the right track and have had a few “off piste” moments in my repertoire but today I was going to pay attention and try my best not to get us lost.
Thankfully the paths were pretty clear and the cloud cover wasn’t down enough that we couldn’t see our direction so that helped immensely and soon enough we were at quite a height with Sheffield Pike looming on our right after a snakey, icy path up to its summit. (just between you and I there were a few moments when I thought I'd gone wrong but phew! it was ok lol)
Sadly at the summit cairn the upright stone showing a date and other information had been blown over and even though the wind had gotten up and it was bitterly cold we managed to secure it with a bit of dry stone dyke type positioning and wedging it firmly in place. Firmly might be a bit optimistic but it was still standing upright when we left.
Down off Sheffield Pike and over to Heron something or other the visibility was poor but with a few checks now and then we were still following the blue line that would lead us down onto Glenridding Dodd.
The views all around were spectacular and the cloud was hanging low over the surrounding hills. It was quite a steep ridge descent down onto Glenridding Dodd and on the way we saw probably the most picturesque lonely tree that we’d ever found on our travels. I said it resembled a reindeers antlers and called it my reindeer tree which was met with great amusement. Well it does, doesn’t it???
Up and over onto Glenridding Dodd and it was a nice piece of rock and another Wainwright ticked. My 45th and again we were totally in awe of the views around us. Looking over towards High Street and the surrounding hills was a view that held our gaze for ages and ages at every stage down off the hill. The light changing every moment throwing shadows and silhouettes with dark clouds settling just above the summits waiting to descend. In the other direction we could see Red Tarn with the Helvellyn range behind it, the main peak and edges obscured by cloud but still my favourite picture of the day.
A shorter walk today than we normally were used to but even at 3pm the light was starting to fade and although it hadn’t snowed there was still little frosty flakes in the air. Not hard enough to be hail but not soft enough to be snow and light enough not to cause us any problems.
The pub soon came into view as we took our last steps off the mountain path and thoughts quickly turned to pie and lasagna, beer and wine and a cosy fire that we knew the pub had as we’d been there previously after our Helvellyn wander.
Another great walking day and 2 wainwrights ticked off my list. I wasn’t able to try out my new crampons but I’m sure they’ll be put to much use when we venture onto the Scottish hills.
