Celebrations on Hen Combe and a wander over Mellbreak

After the outstanding walk of yesterday and our fun in the snow todays walk would be less icy but still had the makings of being a lot of fun.  Mellbreak and Hen Coombe were the targets for the day with Hen Coombe being Chris's 100'th Wainwright.  Quite an achievement and something to celebrate for sure.

Rising early, sandwiches made and we ventured out along Crummock Water again to find our start point at the base of Mellbreak, no birds of pray this time sadly!  We parked near a phone box, next to a van not realising our early morning chatter had woke the sleeping occupants of the van.  Well they should have been up anyway so not to miss the beautiful frosty morning.  Sky clear and bright and thick frost carpeting the surrounding area.

Mellbreak stood proudly in front of us and as we made our way up the snakey path we could hear what sounded like a hunting horn.  Was there a hunt on today.  We hoped so as getting pictures of that on such a clear day would be a bonus.  Further down the path we met a young lad with the hunting horn and he explained that the hunt was yesterday and that 5 dogs had failed to come back so he was out, early doors, in the hope of calling them home.  Throughout the whole day we never saw any sign of them and hopefully they made it back safely.

Mellbreak hits you hard with steepness almost from the get go and it was brilliant.  The scree slope that takes you up the first part of the climb was thick with frost and it was hard to get a foothold as with almost every step the scree slipped you back.  It was draining on the legs and lactic acid was soon flowing.  We could see over to the hills from yesterday's walk and the snow was still sitting like a little bobble hat on the tops.  The sun was streaming down Crummock Water and the stillness of the morning made for good reflections on the glass like top.

Once through the scree section of the ascent it was a rocky zig zag path that wound its way round the last section of the mountain bringing us out on the top where there was quite a nice cairn.  This wasnt the true summit as Mellbreak was monkey nut shaped and its Southern hump was the true summit.  As nice as this was we still had a way to go to reach the top.

Down the spine of the hill, following the path and then back up again to play hunt the top.  Many little hillocks and rock piles could have been the summit and it took almost engineering and surveying skills to determine which little raised bit actually was the true summit but we found it and had the obligatory pics taken there.  This was 99 Wainwrights for Chris and only 1 to go, eeeeeek exciting!!!

Stopping here for first lunch we were soon joined by a young lad who stopped quite near us.  2 others came over the horizon and seemed to not quite know what little hump was the true top after a few shouts of left a bit, no right a bit, back a bit, the young lad beside us realised he'd not stepped on the top and left his stuff to wander back over so that he could stand on the true summit.   His bag, his flask and his tangerine sat there on the rocks waiting for him to return and for a moment we thought it would be funny to move his tangerine to the top of a little pile of rocks and then thought against it.  So we carried on down the path that would take us hopefully to the next target Hen Coombe.

Down the very steep grassy path, yes it was THAT steep we met a young lad and man at the bottom who had stopped for lunch.  The young lad was from London and had come up for the weekend to walk with his Dad. We stopped to chat to them for a bit then left them to their sandwiches which attracted some very curious sheep sniffing out whatever was on the lunch menu today.  I hope it wasnt mutton eeek!

Continuing down the path we could see Hen Coombe to our right but the path kept steering us away from that direction.  Every now and again we'd question whether we were on the right path but according to the GPS we were spot on.  Perhaps the detour would provide us with some visual delight that we'd have missed otherwise or alternatively it would provide us with a deep, boggy, reed ridden, hard trudging relentless and energy sapping field of torture.  Guess which one it provided us with???

Its hard when you're in a situation you know you must endure and there is no escape but to continue onwards with the knowledge that it will, at some point, end.  It ended at the base of Hen Coombe.  An hour of mental and physical blah! Not a part of the walk that I enjoyed and here we were at the base of Hen Coombe having had all the energy sapped out of us and we decide not to wander round the side on the gentle curving path but to head straight up the flank of the hill.  So up we went.  1 step after another and just kept going like that until we practially reached the top.  I'm so much better ON piste than OFF lol.  As soon as we met that little path again vitality flooded back into my legs.....strange!

So here it was.  The 100th Wainwright for Chris directly ahead.  A small pile of stones marked the spot and I stayed back to take the celebratory pics of this moment.  He stood, arms stretched out like Cristo Redentor in Rio and I was just thrilled to be part of this.  For me, it was my 40th, I'm lagging 60 behind but my century will come one day.

Time to descend for the final time today and behind us the sky was darkening as the forecast cloud cover was moving over.  It was mottled cloud and the sky threw some beautiful shapes at us.  The light was fading even though it was only mid afternoon and the walk down off Hen Coombe was quite pleasant.  Following the path down it brought us to a river.  Chris went further down a bit to take a picture of the flowing water and I took the opportunity to skip across the rocks without an audience which I did sucessfully, phew!   Unfortunately Chris wasnt as lucky and stepped on a particularly slimy and slippy rock and found himself almost in the river.  Only a foot this time and again the camera was saved but he had a rather wet trouser leg but fortunately that was all.  This walking on water lark isn't really working out lol.

Before we knew it we were back on the snake path where we'd seen the boy with the bugle earlier today and the car was just mins away.  One last look back to Mellbreak and we were back at the car and thinking that perhaps that fabulous sky would be over Haystacks at the moment.  So as quickly as we could we high tailed it along towards Honister Pass to see if we could catch Haystacks in a glorious moment.  Unfortunately we didnt make it and consoled ourselves with popping into Keswick for a bite to eat before heading home.

The end of another brilliant weekend.  I couldnt think of any place I'd rather be or be with on my weekends now.  Life has a wonderful way to giving you exactly what you need, just when you need it most.  Here's hoping for more clear, bright, sunny, frosty, snowy, fun weekends to come. 

5 Wainwrights a buzzard, wag sandwiches and laughing in the snow.....

Grasmoor was the name of our walk for the day and as well as Grasmoor we'd tackle Whiteside, Hopegill Head, Wandope and Whiteless Pike, just missing out on Rannerdale Knotts due to the light fading fast. It was a full day of superb hills and little did we know just how superb they'd be with a dusting of the precious white stuff.

An early start from home got us to Buttermere and over to Crummock Water for about 9.00am, after a quick stop at Tebay services for water and other bits and bobs.  Before we reached our parking space we thought we'd hit the jackpot by spotting a little bird of pray on a post by the roadside but by the time I'd reversed (albeit slowly) it had flown away so we never knew what it was, sparrowhawk or kestrel.  About 10 mins later along the road a massive bird swooped in front of the car, big and bulky with the markings like an owl but the head of something much more fierce.  It was a buzzard (after investigation) and was the most majestic thing I'd ever seen.  Just a shame we only saw it for a moment.

By 9.30 we were ready to head off up our first target of the day, Whiteside.  The climb up was steep (but not too bad lol) almost from the get go and our attention was constantly being dragged to the right where the tops of the route for later in the day could easily be seen covered in gorgeous snow.  Behind us was Mellbreak, looking all orangy in the morning sun and we knew that tomorrow we'd be tackling that first and it did indeed look inviting.

On up Whiteside there was no respite in the rocky path up.  The occasional rocky scrambly bit but mostly a zig zaggy path taking you straight up the mountain side.  Before long we were at the snow line and everything seemed to get a bit icier.  Pools of water frozen in time kept us alert as we really had to be careful where we put our feet for one wee mistep on ice and we'd be off back down the mountain the quick way.

Up onto the top and it was a glorious view that met us.  Way over to the West we could see all the way to Scotland over the fields of wind turbines and to the East and North was the route we'd be following today.

Keen to get on with the walk and get ourselves amongst the snow proper we practically skipped down off the summit making our way over to the path that would take us up to Hopegill Head.  The surprise that met us was a tasty little ridge before the final steeper path to the summit.  Under normal circumstances we'd have been able to tackle this ridge without hesitation but today, each footfall was met with sheet ice and made it extremely precarious indeed.  At one point it was hands AND feet work and I do believe I slid down a bit on my backside........you just have to do what you have to do, excellent fun.

Through the ridge section and it was sunglasses ON time.  The glare from the carpet of snow that met us from all angles meant it definitely was sunglasses time.  The view of the summit of Hopegill Head looked as if a coach had just pulled in, there were people coming at it from all angles and it looked busy up that at the cairn.  We didnt hang around long there but instead, took a few mins to admire the view then scuppered off down to a quieter bit and those who had wee grippery things for their boots put them on and those who didnt resorted to descending the hill on the mat that they sat on for lunch stops........I can testify that the sliding mat option was indeed the most fun way of descending a hill.

At the bottom, we settled on a bit of rock with snowy hill flanks on all sides and had first lunch of the day.  Having bought our bread, ham and relish in Marks and Spencers instead of the usual local grocery store our sandwiches really were a higher standard than we were used to and did everything but raise our pinky fingers when tucking into our lunch hehe!  After lunch we had a very spiritual moment when a bit of walking on water took place.......would it crack, after a few intrepid footsteps no one got wet lol.

Lunch over we set back on the path again up towards the base of Grasmoor skirting round the side of Eel Crag that we were on the previous weekend.  Everything covered in snow and quite deep in some places with previous footsteps showing the depth of snow that had drifted into the valley however it now had a thick icy top to it making it quite difficult to penetrate.  Wandering up and through the valley we soon could see Wandope in front of us, Eel Crag to the left and the impressive Grasmoor to the right.  The path up Grasmoor looked white, icy, quite steep and without the extra benefit of having grippers I knew that it would be tricky.  However I used the foot holes of a previous walker and tried as much as I could to stick to them and the rocky bits that protruded through the ice and hard packed snow.

Once near the top it flattened out a bit but we soon realised that we were only a few mtrs from quite an edge that fell into the valley below.  1 false step and there would be nothing stopping me from slipping off the edge. With that thought in mind we started to make our way more towards the middle of the plateau to continue our journey over to the summit.  Was it the small poor looking cairn or was it the shelter that was the summit.  Either way, we tagged both and after a few pictures were taken we headed off towards the path downwards again.

2 main thoughts at this point 1. The dark clouds coming in from the West and 2.  The steep icy incline that we'd just come up had to be descended.  The clouds didnt bother me as much as the descent and I had earlier said that I'd probably be better coming down on my backside but that would be too dangerous as there would be nothing to stop me and I would have no control as it was so very slippy and icy.  So we reached an agreement that we would link up and together we'd take it step by step down the slope.  I knew I had to stick to the broken up bits as that would give me more grip and almost as soon as we set off down I stepped on a glassy slick bit and toppled backwards.  Luckily that was that last tumble for me and the rest of the descent occurred without incident.  It was good having the help and reassurance of someone there with you, guiding you and supporting you and before long we were on the last bit and running down the last 20 mtrs or so to the base. At the bottom I couldnt stop laughing and that was really the theme for the whole day.  Laugher and fun!

Wandope was the next target and it was still very icy underfoot as we headed towards the 4th Summit of the day.  Not much of a climb up to the top but again the views were impressive stretching right over the Scafells, East over to Helvellyn and back towards Grasmoor and the route we'd just been on.

Everything was pretty tame now, slippy and slidy wise, compared to what we'd just encountered coming off Grasmoor but it was still fun to pretend it was slippy and scary and I did this quite often teasing of course......however that came to an abrupt halt when I found my lovely hat whisked from my head and thrown across the snow.......ok, I'll behave, if I must lol.

We're now descending out of the snowline and down towards Whiteless Pike, what we assume to be the 2nd last Wainwright of the day however we can see the sun starting to set behind the hills ahead and wonder now if we'll have enough sunlight to complete our walk.  Whiteless pike is a rocky affair with a summit coming to a point and then a sharp descent off the other side. It was around here we stopped for second lunch, finishing off the "by royal appointment" sandwiches and having a few more nuts and fruit etc.  The views over to the Scafells was incredible with Great Gable standing proudly in front glowing gently in the evening sun.

Down off Whiteless Pike it was apparent quite quickly that in the fading light we'd not make our last target of the day and Rannerdale Knotts would have to wait for another day.  It was still very frosty and icy in the shadow of the valley and as we were walking along the path Chris decided he could indeed walk on water and stepped on a frozen bit of the path.  It was sheet ice and within seconds he was on his back, his camera slung around his neck strangling him and thankfully the cracking noise I heard was the ice and not anything else.  No injuries thank goodness but a moment that did take your breath away!

Following a path that would take us back to the road and up to where we'd parked the car we followed the route down over the road and down to the waters edge.  A beautiful setting but in the fading light we'd no time to mess around and had to hustle back up along the treeline back to the road where we found the car just as darkness started to settle in.

An amazing day, outstanding weather, fantastic hills and superb company.  A day filled with laughter and memories made that will last a long long time.

Roll on tomorrow with more big hills and a celebration !

Eagles, Sargeants, Waterfalls and Flapjacks

After an outstanding walk yesterday it was hard to see how today's walk could top it but it did in more ways than one.  Up and out early there was a slight drizzle in the air which made for very damp conditions and the cloud was sitting quite low on the surrounding hills however Eagle Crag and Sargeant Crag was our targets for the day and a little bit of dampness didn't sway us at all so off we went.

The initial walk took us by a river, in a few different directions at first (lol) and then onto the track that would lead us to the base of Eagle Crag.  The river was fast flowing and there were a few canoeists parked up ready to tackle the water.

We could hear it before we saw it.  Looking for a bridge to cross the river to keep us on the path we could hear a roaring sound that meant only 1 thing.  Waterfall.  Not just the one waterfall but a series of many different falls all flowing into the river from 3 different sources.  Cascading over rocks and creating a spectacular visual.  Not one to miss an opportunity we did spend some time down by the water making our way through different levels of the falls taking many many pictures in the hope that one would capture the stunning sight before us.  The sound, the water pounding down the rocks was the only sound around for miles.  No other people, just us and the falls.  Brilliant stuff!

Our attention was then turned behind us to the lovely rockface of Eagle Crag and following the river again on the other side we made our way along to where a wall showed us the way up the steep and sometimes boggy slope that was the initial climb.  It really was quite steep but nothing more than we'd encountered before on previous hills so it was just one foot in front of the other and keep plodding on.

The cloud was starting to lift at it was getting a bit brighter.  We reached the rocky bit and it was a nice bit of scramble through the stones and rocks.  I do like the whole problem solving excercise when faced with a bit of rock like this.  Where do you put your feet?  Is there something to hold on to to pull yourself up?  3 points of contact at all times and before we knew it we were up and through that piece of rock and I wanted to do it all again. Luckily there were more rocky bits to come both up and down so we had that to look forward to.

Just before the summit we were skirting round the edge and there was a nice little banked, shelved like area which seemed perfect for first lunch.  It was a bit damp and as per usual I didnt put anything down to sit on and got a wet backside, ewwwh.  Not only that but we seemed to be sitting in the course of a little stream running down behind us and could feel little drips on our head so hoods up.  The view made up for everything as it was spectactular looking down into the valley.  Good job we had the view because the sandwiches were rubbish lol, dry and horrid bread........

Up and moving quickly again we made our way round and up the last bit of rocky incline before the summit.  It was a strange summit and had a rock which was like the baby version of Bowfell's great slab.  It had a strange green hue to it which must have been caused by the lichen, in fact a lot of the views today had strange colours in them and not easily captured by camera.  The edge of the flat rock summit was a great picture spot with its pinnically edge just perfect for that mountain shot.

Sargeants Crag was clearly visible as our next target and the weather was on the change.  The temperature had dropped and the clouds had lifted so that we could see clearly over far away fells and hills.  The sun was shining somewhere and we could see a hill in the distance all lit up but above us it still remained grey and overcast.

Another great craggy walk up to the top of Sargeants Crag following a path through the rocks and soon we were on the summit where the wind had again gathered some strength.  We only spent a moment actually on the top before deciding which route we'd take down.  Would we go down the path we'd planned that would take us back to the path where the waterfalls were earlier in the day or could we find an alternative route off the back down into another valley that had its own selection of waterfalls further down that we'd not seen yet.

A quick reccy down to see what lay beyond the initial descent and there really wasnt much to see.  Going off piste can sometimes be fun but when you have no idea whats ahead or how the terrain is then sometimes its better to stick to your original plan.  The map told us that it would be steep and didnt indicate any sheer drops but with the weather closing in and time potentially against us it was decided that we clamber back up the hill and reroute ourselves on the original path.

Up and over the side of Sargeant Crags again and down over the other side we kept following the path until we met up with the river.  This river was one of many flowing down the hillside and meeting up with the big river which in turn provided us with some brilliant waterfalls on the way down the hillside.  This has to be my favorite descent of any hill.  A rocky and sometimes steep path with the most beautiful waterfalls right at the side distracting you completely from the descent.  Many many more picture moments and we were only halted by the changing light meaning it was probably going to be dark quite soon.

Leaving the waterfalls behind and spotting a gap in the hills we noticed whiteness on top of a hill that we'd seen earlier in the day and realised that it had snowed whilst we were coming down.  I can't wait till we're walking in the snow and the landscape has been altered completely by frost and deep and beautiful snow.

It was these thoughts that stayed with us as the daylight frittered away and before we knew it we were back at the car.  The last light of the day fading fast and we headed for Keswick where I was assured there was a brilliant fish and chip shop.  Not having had fish for about 34 years or perhaps longer, mainly because I was sure there were bones in the fish, I was really keen to have it tonight, it just seemed right.  So assured that there would be no bones I jumped right in and it was cod and chips x 2 ........... oh lordy how scrumptious it was and Keswick does indeed have a great little fish and chip shop.  A perfect way to end a stunning walk.  Once again the lakes didnt disappoint.  2 Wainwrights today bringing my total up to 33.  A long way to go and I'm looking forward to every second.