Christmas Walk 2010

As planned in our last walk up Gable, we stuck to our date of 11th December for the Christmas Walk. Peter called me the day before and suggested a similar walk to the one we did in June last year although missing out Bowscale Fell and just doing Blencathra. As it was a shorter drive and we were only doing one top he came for me at 6.30 am and we picked Steve up 5 minutes later. As we drove west the snow was clearing and we were quite surprised when we got over the other side of the Pennines that there was hardly any snow at all. Especially considering the A66 had been closed for several days only a few days before our walk. We got to the parking spot about 8.15, we managed to get Pole Position and tucked into the Angus steak pies Peter had picked up the day before. We set off around 8.30 and took the same path as we did last June, up through the ferns. Half an hour or so of steep climbing until we reached the "Alpine Valley" and then just a steady walk. There were only a few patched of snow here and there, it had mainly settled on the paths and whenwe did hot some we were knee deep at times and, yes, I fell over a couple of times!! (Taking the Tumbles title from Steve).

We had our Christmas lunch at the same bait stop that was covered in midgies in June last year, although no sign of them this time! Usual Christmas fayre, turkey legs the size of a horse to start, Mince pies and custard all accompanied by wine and of course we all pulled crackers. Stuffed, we set off up the path around Blencathra shortly after.

There were great views of Sharp Edge and Fowl Crag from where we were and in the next couple of photos you can just see the tiny figures taking on Sharp Edge.

For some reason I was really struggling today though, trying to get my breath and my legs were like jelly. I could see there was quite a steep climb coming up on the last push to Blencathra so I

decided to turn back at this point. I had already done Blencathra but it was still a tough decision

as I would have liked to have got there again. I have since got full blown Man Flu so that was obviously the reason for my shortness of breath and dizziness! Well that's my excuse anyway. We were at this point on the walk, just before the crossroads and doubled back onto the other side of the valley to walk in the sun.

This was our route back down on the left side of the valley.

We were seeing Sharp Edge from both sides today, the next couple of shots show it from the other side.

We kept to the left side of the valley and then crossed over a little bridge to the other side of the valley. We then went back through the ferns and dropped back down to the car. We got back to the car about 1.30 and popped into the Sportsmans for a couple of beers and a few games of pool. Shame I had to cut the walk short but hopefully it was not spoilt for Peter and Steve.

We hope to get out again in January. Merry Christmas everyone and looking forward to 2011.

Bowscale Fell and Blencathra

Peter called me during the week and said that Steve could not make this walk as he had injured his back so just Peter and myself on this one - or so I thought during the week. Peter arrived to pick me up just after 6.00 am (some excuse about a big accident on the A19!) with the latest recruit to our walks - Archie, his year old Border terrier. As I put my bag and boots in the boot I could see Archie peering at me from the back seat. So we were on the road by 6.10 am, off towards Bowscale Fell and perhaps Blencathra - my nemesis from a couple of years ago!

As we were driving over it was very foggy until we got over the Pennines where it started to clear very slightly. We arrived at our parking spot directly on the A66 at the foot of Blencathra just before 8.00 am and tucked into Angus the Butchers steak and kidney pie. Archie even got a few pieces of steak which he licked his lips at! The temperature was already 16 degrees even at that time of the morning so we knew it was going to be warm although it was still foggy.

We set off on the path through the ferns just after 8.00 am and the first half hour was a fairly steep climb until we reached the valley where it flattened out a

little. By now Archie was off his lead but kept very close to us - right up to the point where he saw a couple of sheep and decided he wanted to chase them! He took off at speed, totally ignoring our calls and whistles. When he was about 100 yards

away he gave up the chase and returned to us. We will never kno

w if he just got tired and realised it was a futile pursuit or if he responded to our calls! Needless to say he was put back on the lead for some time after that. We stopped for a quick cuppa at the end of the valley where the path separates up towards the tarn below Sharp Edge and towards Bowscale Fell which was our route today.

We didn't stay at the bait stop long as it was swarming with midgeys being by the stream so after 5 minutes or so we headed up the path.

Before too long we reached a crossroads and turned left up towards the top. By now we were in thick fog and could not see very far at all. We were walking through a boggy area and could see the ground was higher on our right and wondered for a moment if the top was there. We kept going until eventually we started to climb until we did finally reach the top. We stopped in a shelter for a proper bait stop and Archie had a drink and a little Scooby snack himself.

You can just make out the top of Bowscale Fell in the next photo through the fog. One top down and not even 10.00 am yet.

We re-traced our steps back down the track and across the bog to the crossroads. As we approached the crossroads the fog cleared a little so we could see the path up towards Blencathra and i must admit at this point I was happy to have done 1 top and seriously considered going back down to the car. Peter persuaded me otherwise and we started to climb. We took off to the right and skirted around the mountain, climbing slightly as we went. As we started to climb it was getting clearer and warmer. We reached the top around 12.45 and whilst it was not perfectly clear, if was sufficiently clear to have a great view of the surrounding area, one of the best tops I have visited with a great view.

We could also clearly see the path we were going to take back down to the car. We started back down just after 1.00 pm and straight away I could feel my knees were much better than they had been on other walks. We got back to the car at 2.00 pm exactly, Archie lay down straight away but he had done great for his first walk - the new mascot. Just time for a very refreshing pint at the Sportsmans. Next walk planned for 2 weeks time, weekend of 11th/12th July.