Another weekend in the lakes

SATURDAY

After last weekend’s fell walking we’d been itching to get back up to The Lakes all week and had a walk planned ready.  The weather wasn’t looking great, not wet but just looked like it might be cloudy so we thought we’d go for it anyway.

The plan was to take in 4 Wainwrights starting with Great Carrs.  The reason we planned this particular walk was that back in March we did Coniston Old Man then after we’d got home we checked the route more closely and realised we could’ve taken in four other Wainwrights if we'd planned the route a little better We are trying to bag all the Wainwrights without retracing any of our steps, thus bagging the optimum amount on each walk.

After a hairy drive up Wrynose Pass we parked up next to the Three Shire Stone.

Three Shire Stone

The Three Shire Stone marks the actual spot where the historical counties of Cumberland, Lancashire and Westmorland all meet.

Waiting for the cloud to lift

The cloud was coming down quite low, so we decided to have a brew and wait and see if it would lift.  We decided to go for it, we could always turn back if things got too bad.

This is the thing really, I am really keen to bag all 214 Wainwrights but I’m also keen to do them when the weather is good, or at least with good visibility for the views and scenery.  As we continued on up the fell we came to a junction in the path where we had to head up towards Great Carrs along Wet Side Edge. The fog was getting thicker and if it wasn’t for the well trodden path underfoot it would’ve been difficult to see where we needed to walk.

It was soon time to leave Wet Side Edge and head up towards the summit.  The path then became non-existent over rocks and was slippery underfoot, the temperature had dropped considerably too at this point and the wind had got up and it was getting difficult to stand upright, we had about 0.16 miles to get to the summit but we couldn’t even see it, visibility was that poor, when we turned around we couldn’t even see where we’d just come from.  It was at this point that I decided we should turn around, Mark was happy to carry on but I wasn't happy ... it didn't help that Mark was humming the 999 theme tune behind me!   Click below if you're too young to remember it ...

Also I ran through the likely news report in my head should I need rescuing 'Middle-aged woman airlifted to safety after becoming cragfast on Great Carrs'... There is no way I ever want to be referred to as a middle aged woman!  If it was just a case of walking another 500ft or so to the summit and then turn round and come back down then maybe we could’ve continued but this was just the start of what we had intended to be a 10 mile walk and we were only about 1.5 miles into it!  So it was looking as though we’d have to come back anyway to bag Grey Friars, Swirl How and Wetherlam.  Annoyingly I didn't take any photos as it was just too windy and also the cloud was really wet and I didn't want to wreck my camera.

Coming back down

So we turned around and headed back down the fell and by this point we couldn’t see a thing in front of us and were relying completely on our track log on the GPSrs.  It was a relief to get back to Wet Side Edge where it was well trodden and we couldn’t go far wrong with the route.  At this point I started to relax again and we found a sheltered spot to stop for a cake and a brew before continuing back down to the camper.

Well it was certainly an experience, no views really to speak of but a good walk and at least we know what to expect when we come back in the Spring, hopefully with clear views too!

We found a couple of easier caches on the way to Windermere and spent the rest of the day mooching around the Christmas market and the shops in Windermere before heading off to our favourite camping spot in Ambleside ready for our walk on Loughrigg in the morning.

SUNDAY

I never sleep particularly well at home, in fact without fail I always wake up about 3 or 4 times during the night then struggle to get back to sleep, then wake up exhausted when my alarm goes off at 6.  I never have this problem in the campervan.  I put this down to the fact that during the week I sit at a desk all day and end up going to bed mentally tired instead of physically tired.  On Saturdays we usually walk all day and this means I have no problem sleeping.  Anyway I forgot to set the alarm and we didn’t wake up until 8am!!!  A lie-in for us!

We enjoyed a lovely walk on Loughrigg last Sunday so decided to explore a bit more of Loughrigg fell today and find a few more caches there.

We planned a 5 mile walk, the weather was fine, the sun didn’t put in an appearance but the views were still stunning.  I think that’s what I’m enjoying most about having the campervan, getting to see this area through the changing seasons and all weathers.  It doesn’t really matter what the weather is doing really, it’s so beautiful all year round but in different ways.  Anyway  I’ve waxed lyrical enough about the beauty of this area so just going to nip into Ambleside for a couple of Christmas presents before heading home.

Pasture Beck Round

It's been a busy few weeks, what with attending Piratemania, Geolympix and the North Wales Mega so despite the forecast being for cloud with possible rain most of the day we decided we were ready to bag a few Wainwrights and even better, our daughter Beth wanted to come along.

As we set off from Cow Bridge Car Park I wasn't in the best of moods, I'd had a 'challenging' week at work and a late night last night and when the alarm went off at 5am it was a bit of a struggle to get up to say the least, I really could've done with another hour or so.  It's funny though because as we started our walk I thought how rubbish my week had been with one thing and another and as we started the ascent up towards the summit of Hartsop Dodd in the strong wind and rain I had a bit of a tearful moment as I mulled things over and I considered going back down but after a big hug off my lovely daughter and a bit of a talking to I decided to carry on with the walk and there's the funny thing, by the time I arrived at the first summit and bagged our first Wainwright of the day I felt so much better, it was like a weight had lifted and I decided that in actual fact the week hadn't been that bad after all, just challenging really.  So when people ask me why I love walking so much well that's why, I find it uplifting and the best cure for stress.

Setting off from Hartsop

Anyway enough of all that and on with the walk.

Here's an overview of the route:

Cow Bridge - Hartsop - Hartsop Dodd - Stony Cove Pike - Thornthwaite Crag - Grey Crag - Hartsop - Cow Bridge

Looks like a steep climb

A gentle ascent up the north ridge to the summit of Hartsop Dodd which is marked by a stick by the wall, not very impressive but it marks the highest point of the fell.

Summit 'stick'

Visibility was quite poor as the cloud was very low but the forecast had promised it would clear up by mid-day so we were hopeful of some good views before the end of the walk.

That was our first Wainwright of the day in the bag.

As we continued to Stony Cove Pike there weren't really any views to be had as the cloud was so low and we could barely see the summit cairn as we approached but the walk itself was easy enough.

Once at the summit we took a very short detour to the geocache (1 of only 2 on the walk).  That was Wainwright #2 of the day.  We didn't hang around long here as the visibility was poor and getting worse.  Then it was onward to Thornthwaite Crag.

The path down was a tricky scramble on wet rock.  I really wasn't prepared for how difficult this was and at times felt out of my depth due to not being able to get a good foothold on the slippery rock but we took it slowly and eventually made it to Threshthwaite mouth unscathed.

Then after a brief cuppa we started the very steep ascent up the scree path on Thornthwaite crag.  This looked a lot worse than it actually was.  It was very steep but easy enough and I was glad we were walking up rather than coming down that way.

The summit is marked by a very impressive 14ft cairn named Thornthwaite Beacon.  This was Wainwright #3.

After this we continued along to Grey Crag.  This section was like a walk in the park and we soon arrived at Grey Crag summit cairn.

Grey Crag

After this the descent back down to Hartsop was straightforward and we were soon back on flat ground and back to the car.

The walk was just under 9 miles long, thoroughly enjoyable. 

Our route

Then it was off to Ambleside for pasties from the Apple Pie Bakery.

Saw this in a shop window in Ambleside, sums up the day perfectly

The Greendale Horseshoe

The UK weather report at the beginning of the week said that this weekend was going to be hotter than Ibiza.... hmm found it hard to believe but decided to get a walk planned ready for Saturday anyway just in case.

We decided it would be a perfect day to head off to the Lake District again for a bit of Wainwright bagging and maybe a cache or two.  Today's chosen walk was in the Western Fells area. We are really enjoying being closer to Cumbria and love how we now have easy access to the Lake District.  Every cloud and all that.....

Lordy! Good job we're in the car!

After a rather winding route we eventually arrived at the parking spot which was a grassy verge in Greendale, just to the West of Wast Water.

Fun facts about Wast Water:

It's owned by the National Trust and is England's largest lake at almost 3 miles long and more than a third of a mile wide and is also England's deepest lake at nearly 260ft.

There is said to be a gnome garden at the bottom of the lake, the gnomes have been there for quite a few years.  After several deaths in the lake they were removed as it was thought they posed a risk for divers that went looking for them and got out of their depth but they were soon replaced and it is thought they are still there today.  Apparently many dive sites around the world have gnome gardens.  I'm not in a hurry to go and check on them though.

Back to Greendale... we set off up the road and walked for about 0.8 mile before leaving the road and taking the path at Gill Beck.  The path wasn't very well defined but we headed steadily up towards the summit of Buckbarrow.  This was a little steeper than I was expecting and even though it was early the heat of the sun was quite intense and before long I was sweltering.  I was a little concerned as it wasn't like I could peel off any extra layers as we were already only in T-shirts.  We're just not used to this heat, it's been so cold for so long the sunshine has come as a bit of a shock.  I stopped a couple of times on my way up to check the map (ok to get my breath back) and soon found our way to Buckbarrow, our first Wainwright of the day - brilliant!

Buckbarrow summit

Then we headed North towards the cairn on Glade How.  Glade How is actually listed as Birkett on the Hill Bagging website.

Glade How

From here we headed to the cairn on Cat Bields where we could clearly see the path up to Seatallan almost a mile away.

It was a bit of a slog but a steady climb which wasn't too gruelling, just a bit boggy underfoot in places.

The temperature had dropped and the wind got up at this point so this helped cool us down.

Seatallan

It was good to finally reach the trigpoint and bag another Wainwright.  Fabulous views from the top, we could clearly see Sellafield and the Irish Sea coast.  We found the nearby Seatallan cache and then sat in the shelter to eat our cake - this was one of 2 caches that we found on the 7 mile walk.  The cache on Seatallan doesn't get many visitors, only 53 in 8 years... make that 54..... but the funny thing is when I came to log it I noticed that it'd had another visitor today and we feel sure we passed them on our way back to the car but didn't see any GPSrs but their log fits with the time we saw them - what a coincidence!

Then it was time to move on to our third and final Wainwright of the day - Middle Fell.  The route wasn't very clear but before long we found our way and steadily climbed up to the cairn where we spent quite some time admiring the fabulous views of Scafell Pike and Wast Water.

Middle Fell

View of Wast Water and Scafell Pike

Then we started the steady descent down to the car.  The route then became a little busier and we passed a few people going in the opposite direction.

The path was very rocky so we carefully made our way along Greendale Gill until the path became a little easier and we could soon see the car.  We were glad that we'd had the mile long walk along the road at the beginning of the walk instead of the end.

We can see the car!

All in all a brilliant walk, we bagged 3 Wainwrights, a trigpoint and 2 caches and walked a little over 7 miles.

The route

We decided to spend the rest of the day in Ambleside which involved driving over Hardknott Pass!  For anyone not in the know... Hardknott Pass is the steepest road in England, a title it shares with Rosedale Bank in Yorkshire.

ha ha ha only 30%

It's been 6 years since we last drove over Hardknott pass and I distinctly remember passing a car that had skidded off the road and was well and truly stuck so I have always been a little nervous of this road. I took it steady and we stopped off half way to look for a cache we'd DNFd 6 years ago - found it straight away this time doh!  We were in my Fiesta today so I wasn't sure how it would fare but I just kept on going and made it over the pass thankfully without incident and my nerves intact.

Looks flat in the photo

Herdy

It was good to finally reach Ambleside.  We had hoped to go inside the Bridge House but we were too late, so we ate our chippy tea on the bench next to it and it's a good excuse to return to Ambleside another day when it's open.

The Bridge House

We've been so lucky with the weather today, the atmosphere in Ambleside was buzzing as everyone was relaxing and enjoying themselves in this long awaited sunny weather.  Let's hope it lasts...........

Now where shall we go next weekend?

The end of a perfect day