LAKE DISTRICT - SEPTEMBER 2014

So, for our 3rd wedding anniversary we are once again heading to the lakes to conquer yet more Wainwrights....35 Wainwrights completed so far and still have 179 to go!!
So we headed up from London to Blackburn to Mrs F's Dad on Saturday morning and it took us 5 very long hours to get there. But once we were finally there, we were greeted by one of Mrs F's Dad's delicious wholesome chicken and noodle broths.

We spent the night in Blackburn and headed to the lakes in the early afternoon the next day. This time we rented a cottage over by Santon Bridge with Mr & Mr which is more towards the Irish sea and a lot further out than where we normally stay in Windermere, but it was close to all of the mountain ranges over by Scafell that we planned to climb which would have been an hours drive from Windermere, as you'll see on the map below....

Santon Bridge To The Far Left With Little Distance To Our Climbs By Scafell & Windermere On Bottom Right

It took 2 and half hours to get from Blackburn to our cottage, partly because Mr F took us on an unintentional detour to the edge of the Irish sea via Barrow!
The cottage accommodates up to 8 people so was very spacious for just 4 of us. Mr & Mrs S was en-route after church and arrived just under an hour after we got there. Mr & Mrs S got the room with the biggest window and we got the room with the en-suite. There is also a main bathroom that Mr & Mrs S used.
We arranged for a Tesco home shopping delivery for all our food for the week to be delivered to the cottage, which worked out so much cheaper than if we had eaten out each night. Downside was, they only delivered half of what we had ordered due to our fault, so we had to reorder the rest of the food for the next day. But we had dinner already sorted for that night (Mrs F's famous lasagne & chips) and lunch for the day so we we were good......

The Boys With Their Grandad T

Our Sitting Area Upstairs

Dinning Area Upstairs Where We Ate Our evening Meals

Downstairs Dinning Area Where We Ate Breakfast

Mr & Mrs F's Room....With En-Suite To The Left

Mr & Mrs S's Room

Kitchen

Utility Room

The utility room was really handy to have for leaving our boots, rucksacks and coats in at the end of trekking day and had a washing machine and tumble dryer which we made good use of. The garden went right around the cottage and was completely accessible. It had a bird table which Mrs F found bird seed for and put some out on the first morning and hoped to see more wildlife...but apart from the neighbours Siamese cat, we didn't see anything for the whole week :-(

Seating Area Outside

View From Our Bedroom Window

The Garden Around The Back Of The Cottage

DAY 1: GREEN CRAG - 1,602FT
4 HOURS TREKKING/SCRAMBLING

So for our first day, we decided to not go mad and knacker ourselves out before the week had really started, so we stretched and prepared our legs with a nice little 4 hour day. We drove through twisty windy roads to the start of our trek and according to a road sign, the road we needed to go down was 'Unfit For Motors' So we parked just off of the main road and walked a fair bit down to the actual start of our trek. We sang How Great Thou Art along the way which was a nice touch. Although the first part of our walk wasn't so nice....we trekked through over an hours worth of boggy, unsteady grassland area with no clear path or clear direction, just Mr F's & Mr S's Satmaps to guide us!

The Boys Checking Where We Are Going As Per Usual

Mr S Trying To Jump Over The Bogginess!

The Little Stream We Had To Cross

Inevitably and as always, Mr F went down a hole....a very boggy hole without gaiters!!

Mr F And His Bogged Up Leg!

We eventually made it through the jungle and to the real start of our climb where we had a little scramble to the top of Green Crag. It was strategically difficult in knowing the best way up as there wasn't many clear footholds or anywhere to grab hold of. After our first initial climb, we came across a more tricky part of the scramble that required a very firm foot, hand, pull, push...everything! It was steep and awkward to know where to get a good foothold to get up...but we all made it.

...Mrs F Came Across A Rather Large Gap Between Rocks. Thankfully This Wasn't The Way We Needed To Go!

Green Crag Dead Ahead

First Selfie Of Mr & Mrs F

Final Part Of The Jungle Trek

Our First Scramble

Mrs F First Selfie

Mr S decided to take precautionary measures before our first climb and put his trouser legs on to save scrapping his legs....plus I think he might have been a bit cold!

  Views From Where We Were....

               
Mr S had trouble putting his legs back on - mainly because he put them on the wrong legs, so Mrs S & Mrs F came to the rescue to help him!

Girls Helping Mr S With His Legs!

                           














        And so our first scramble begins....

Mr F First Selfie

We kept hearing what sounded like a hound hunt but couldn't see where it was coming from, hence us turning around with a puzzled look on our faces!

First Scramble Done With Green Crag In The Near Distance

....Our climb back down towards Green Crag.

We wanted to get as many scrambles in as possible, so we had to go up, over and down a couple of small of small mountains to get to Green Crag...

Analysing Our Next Scramble 

The boys on the summit....Buzzles came with us this time. But because he's so young he decided it was too much for him, so he stayed at the cottage each day with Cuddles!

We stopped and had lunch on the summit before making our way back down. Mr S had a book titled 'Scrambles In The Lake District' and once we were part of the way down, he pointed out where the full extent of the scramble actually started from the bottom.....turns out we only done a fraction of it from over half way up!! Never mind, we still got a good little scramble in on our first day, so we were happy.....although we thought Mr S was up for doing the bit we missed out! We avoided the boggy area by going right around to the left of it going back, but we couldn't completely avoid it. We were doing quite well up until the final stretch - we did climb along the fence over one part, but the second part of bog there was no avoiding it.....just jump and hope!! Well, although we hoped, we failed because we all landed at least one foot each straight in the bog...Mrs F being exceptionally annoyed!

We were finally on the main road that led back up to our car where we had a really lovely view of where we had just climbed looking back...

The Boys Doing Their Usual Whereabouts Of Mountains

It was a bit strange to be back so soon after a day out on the fells, so we had a very relaxed afternoon upstairs. In fact it was so relaxed that Mr & Mrs S got one of the duvets from the spare bedrooms and put it over themselves on the lay-back armchairs. Mrs F also fell asleep whilst Mr F read his Wainwright book. Once we had all came back to life, we were all showered and ready for Mrs S's home made Chilli Con Carne. Although Mrs F's very own milder version tasted slightly of the burnt pan, it done it's job and filled a hole and we didn't even have to wash up because there was a dishwasher.....result!!
After dinner, Mr S got the guitar out and we sang a few songs and chilled out upstairs....good chilled out night. The downside to the evening came when Mrs F discovered a tick had latched and buried it's way on her belly and Mrs F had to yank it out with tweezers!!!!! Must have picked it up in the grassy areas....gross!!!!!!

Mr S Studying The Map For The Next Days Route

Post Trekking Ciders & Budweiser's In The Garden 

Mr F Playing Solitaire 

DAY 2: WHIN RIGG - 1,755FT
              ILLGILL HEAD - 1,983FT
8 HOURS TREKKING/SCRAMBLING

Although we knew today's weather was forecast to be grim, we still headed out for a big day on the mountains. Armoured with waterproofs, we headed out for Whin Rigg and Illgill Head. The first part of our walk was through a little forest area until we came out onto a more exposed boggy grassland, much like the day before. The footing was very uneven and frustrating at timeswith going down deeper unexpected holes and having to keep twisting and turning our ankles and knees to suit the terrain. After a while, we saw a wall with a clear path that looked like it was heading in the same direction as we needed to go. But according to the satmap and Wainwright, the way we were going was the way to go, so we stuck with it...but after a while ended up going along the wall anyway!!

                                          ...Our initial walk through the forest area...

Mr & Mrs F Selfie Number 2

Everone Looking A Bit Confused At Our 'Made-Up' Route

Looking Back At What We Just Trekked Over!!

And More Of It To Go!!

Finally Found The Sensible wall Route

Unfortunately it was too wet and rainy to get the camera out take pictures on our first part of the walk on the ridge- all of a sudden it just lashed down and didn't give us much warning or time to put our waterproof jackets on ourselves and our rain-covers on our rucksacks.

The Boys On The Summit Of Illgill Head

We didn't hang around too much on the ridge as visibility was poor and it was still raining, so we just made a break for the Wastwater where we had a 4 mile walk back along the bottom. So the idea was to do a big loop going over the ridge on the way and along the bottom by Wastwater on way back.

Our Walk Off The Ridge

We made good time off the ridge and towards the bottom. We had Wastwater well in our view when we heard and saw a farmer rounding up his sheep and using colourful words at his dog because he didn't do what he was supposed to....we think!!

Mrs F's Mum Likes This Photo

The Farmer Rounding Up His Sheep

Lovely View Of Wastwater Through Vibrant Red Colours On The Tree

We made it down to level ground and walked through a little farming area where there were sheep in pen areas. We noticed as we were walking out that the gate was open at the bottom and were some roaming sheep on the same path as us and were also heading towards the open gate to avoid us. Mr F tried to run to the gate to close it before they got out but the sheep out-ran him and got there first!! His intentions were good but anyone else who looked on must have thought we were terrorising the sheep!!
Once we were on the banks of the water, we had to follow the water edge all the way to the end and to where our car was. The rain eased off so we sat by the bank to eat lunch and very shortly it started to rain again!

A Little Calf On Our Way To The Water

Eating Lunch In The Rain

Setting Off For The 4 Mile Walk Along The Water

We started to head along the water back towards the car when we saw a lost sheep dog who we assume was the farmers dog who he was swearing at when he leaped over the gate towards the farmer and his sheep. Then the farmer called out to us asking if we were heading towards the end of the water as there is a boulder field that will be slippery and to take care, which was nice of him. However we were already aware of the boulder field from reading it in Wainwrights book. According to Wainwright, the last mile of the long 4 mile walk is a boulder field with mahoosive boulders. Every time we came across some rocks Mrs F asked if this was the boulder field....but apparently I'd know when I see it! Then we finally saw it.....and it was a boulder field!!! The boulders were huge and was on quite a steep slope. We had to use hands, knees feet and poles to pick our own route to get across safely, negotiating our way over big holes in-between the boulders, deceiving unsteady ones, wet ones......a mile of it! But Mrs F was in her element and took the lead. It's like playing a mental game of chess, working out your next move and working our where to go from there and what your leading foot will be according to your next move!

But, thanks be to God, we made it over and off the boulder field in one piece (but admittedly aching) and onto a more clear path...

Looking Up At The Steep Slope

The Start Of The Boulder Field

And So The Hardcore Boulder Begin....

Mrs F Having A Nose Wipe By The Looks Of Things

All Off And Safe In The End

....A Look Back And Up At What We Had Just Conquered!!

Once we were on a proper path, we made our way over the fields and back through the woods towards the car. As we came out into a more open field, we were greeted by the most beautiful red colours of what seemed like wheat. Mrs F said it was like the scene from The Wizard Of Oz!

We were back at the car in a shorter time than expected, this time avoiding the boggy grassland area that we had to make our way through at the start...

Beautiful Red Fields

Final Stretch

Once we were back at the cottage, we chilled out a bit before it was Mr F's turn to cook dinner.....beef pie, new potatoes, peas and gravy....and it was delicious!!

All in all it was a very tiring day physically and challenging with all the rain, but Mrs F seemed to enjoy the boulder field more so than the rest of the group!! Tomorrow is yet another day....




DAY 3: LINGMELL VIA PIERS GILL - 2,649FT
             6 HOURS TREKKING/SCRAMBLING

So today is our 3 year wedding anniversary! Which was the reason for coming to the lakes for this particular week, as we did the previous year. Mrs F went out into the garden where there are loads of blackberry bushes to pick fresh blackberries and made pancakes for breakfast that included 6 eggs.....having 7 of them herself!! We didn't hurry to set out in the morning as we knew our route and goal for the day and saw that it wasn't an overly strenuous day. We drove to park up at Lingmell House and set off taking the path that heads down the side of Lingmell House which is situated in the very heart of the Wasdale Valley with views of Great Gable and Wastwater. En-route, we drove on the opposite side of Wastwater to where we had walked over the boulder field the previous day and could see from this angle the extremity of what we had walked along!!

The Boys With Their Owl Stones For Our Anniversary

Our Anniversary Cards

Mrs F's Anniversary Present For Mr F

Early Morning Blackberry Picking

Stunning Views From The Car

Looking Across The Water At Our Walk Over The Boulder Filed At The Bottom Of The Slope The Previous Day!!

Wedding Anniversary Selfie

 As we set off straight through the Valley towards Piers Gill, A tornado aeroplane came right over us and the noise was immense!!! We went off the path slightly when we came to a farm and ended up in the farms back garden because we missed the sign that said "Path"!!! A lady came out wondering if she could help us!!! It was really windy to start of quite cold, we we layered up for the first part of the trek...

The Boys Doing Their Usual Check Before We Set Off

Mrs F & Mrs S First Selfie

The Tornado That Came Over Us

After we were well on our way via a clear path up, the wind died down slightly and our own body heat was warming us up, so we de-layered...

Once we had the full extent of Piers Gill in sight, we had to make a judgement call as the whether we were going to go for it and go into the Gill, or skirt around. The conclusion we came up with was although we were all well up for it, we realistically didn't have enough time to make our way through and out of the Gill and back to the car since we didn't set off until 11:30am. The Gill looked wet from all the rain and would have taken us around 3 hours for us to make our way through it. So we decided to skirt around the edge of it instead....

Piers Gill From The Bottom

Looking Down Into The Gill

The Gill Edge From The Top Route

Looking Into The Gill - The Photo Doesn't Do It Justice For How Steep The Drop Is!

We came across a nice little scramble heading towards the Lingmell....

                                                    ...More Views Looking Into The Gill....

There were some parts of the route that didn't have much scope for error, if you slipped even slightly there would a strong possibility that you'd be in the Gill below! But again thanks be to God, we were up on top safely. We were still following a clear path until we had the summit in our sights. At the bottom we had a very quick pit stop for drinks and aimed to push for the summit for 2pm.....lunch!!

We must all be fitter than we think, because we made it to the top 3 minutes after 2pm, having started the final ascent/slog to the top at 1:35pm...

Oops, Wasn't Looking For The Photo....Try Again

That's Better!

Came Across This Random pyramid looking rock....no mention of what it is in the Wainwright book

Mr F Having A Little Sit With His Wainwright Book, Looking For A Mention Of The Pyramid Rock and its significance....How Cute Does He Look Sitting Reading His Book Like A Little Garden Gnome!!

Mrs F's Favourite Sty Head Tarn In The Distance

Final Push For The Top, Looking Towards Green Crag 

Lingemell Summit!!

As per usual, we sat and ate lunch at the top out of the brisk wind and watched a rescue helicopter circle Scafell & Scafell Pike a few times. Then Mrs F got the closest she's ever got with a mountain sheep who didn't seem too fused about having his photo taken! Then we set off heading down towards Wastwater with Scafell behind us and it was a stunning walk down across the pastures with the sun shining. What more is Mrs F's knees were causing no pain at all coming down and with no assistance of a pole, just knees taped up to the max and the grace of God that enabled me to fully enjoy my walk with the beauty of God creation without being in pain :-)

View From The Summit

The Circling Rescue Helicopter 

The Boys On The Summit

The Way Back

Another Mr F Selfie...Number 2!

Lords Rake On Scafell

                       This Sheep Certainly Isn't Shy!...

The Start Of Our Walk Down

Looking Back At Our Progress

Scafell & Scafell Pike

Mr F Doing A Very Camp Pose!

The Boys Working Out The Next Possible Route

Looks Like An Ice Cream Scoop Has scooped The Valley!

Add caption

...Stopping To Take A Moment To Be In The Moment....

The Route Down Looking Back

Green Crag, Our First Day Climb

Once we were over the stile, it didn't take us too long at all to be back at the car - it almost felt like we were cheating ourselves out of a couple of hours of trekking as we all still felt good and ready to keep going! On the way back, we stopped off to take in and admire Britains best voted hot spot viewing point over Wastwater, where there were a few people with tripods and top of the range cameras waiting for the perfect moment to get the perfect shot....we rocked up and took a few pictures and left!! It was a stunning view from ground level, however we have come across more stunning views from the heights of the fells....

Looking Back On The Way Back To The Car

Britains Favourite View Of Wastwater...

Mr F enjoying the view....or contemplating life....

On the way back to the cottage, we stopped off in the pub just up the road from the cottage called The Bridge Inn, where we were planning to eat that night for our anniversary. We had a drink and a look at the menu and headed back to freshen up and didn't take too long before we were back out walking to the pub and ready for our meal. There was a beautiful sunset on the mountain behind our cottage too which was nice.

It was really lovely food and it was nice to be out eating out for our special occasion - we intended to go back for Mr & Mrs S's wedding anniversary in 2 days time!

DAY 4: REST DAY -TOWN VISITS 

Today's weather was poo! The visibility from the cottage window wasn't very good so the views from the fells would have been even worse and since it was forecast to rain the majority of the day, we decided that a rest day wouldn't be such a bad idea.

So after setting the alarm for 7am and getting up for breakfast, Mr S and Mrs F went back to bed and Mr F and Mrs S watched rubbish tele for the whole of the morning. After we had all emerged from beds and pulled ourselves away fro the tele, we decided to take a drive into Whitehaven town which is the main town form where we were staying. It was quite a drive away right along the Irish sea coast and we walked around having a mooch for only a couple of hours....

                  Down By The Harbour....

This Goose Was Getting A Bit Larey When We Walked Past Him!

There was a remembrance section to commemorate the mining disaster that happened on 11th May 1910, when 136 men and boys died following an explosion and fire at the Wellington Pit.

Mr S, Mrs S & Mr F Looking Over The Wall Out To Sea

Whitehaven itself we found to be quite a depressing town. Maybe the grim weather didn't help, but as a town it didn't really have much to offer and lacked character. But we still had a good mooch around, a magnet drew us all into Millets and Mrs F had to buy chips since she was at the seaside! One thing we noticed in the lakes and possibly as a rule up North, is that you don't get an open bag of chips, it's put into a tray....maybe it's just a London thing to have an open bag of chips??

Mr & Mrs S chose the healthier option of Greggs for lunch and we headed back to the harbour to sit down and eat.....with mahoosive gulls at the ready to pounce at the first drop of food!

After we had gone into B&M bargains to get some bits, we went to Tesco to buy things for more of Mrs F's famous lasange for our last night in the cottage, then decided to drive to Ravenglass as recommended by the guy in Millets. Mr S found and fell in-love with his dream retirement place - a little street called Main Street that lead onto the beach where he could sail his dingy and enjoy the surroundings....not sure Mrs S was as eager! The houses on the street were little hobbit sized houses with loads of flowers and all sorts in the garden and on the doors...

Not Sure What Mr F Is Doing Here??

Beach At Ravenglass

One Of The Houses On Main Street

The Beach At The End Of The Street

 Two houses next to each other in competition for the most flowers so it would seem!!

A local guy who owned a guest house on Main Street stopped to talk to us whilst walking his dog on the beach and said that he's looking to sell up and move over to Drigg just up the road. Think Mr S was in a serious mind to make him an offer!!! So Mr S wanted to drive to Drigg to check it out in comparison to Ravenglass. As we drove through the village there were dummies dressed up as all sorts, we think it must have been for harvest festival....here's a Where's Wally by a sign post below....

That night it was Mr S's turn to cook dinner,so we had steak, chips and peas and was delish!! We bought a couple of DVD's with us since there was a DVD player, so we watched a DVD after dinner, This Means War...very funny film :-)












Day 5: PILLAR VIA HIGH LEVEL ROUTE - 2,927FT
            BLACK CRAG - NOT A LISTED WAINWRIGHT
            SCOAT FELL - 2,760FT
            STEEPLE - 2,687FT
            RED PIKE (WASDALE) 2,707FT
            YEWBARROW - 2,058FT
            9 & HALF HOURS TREKKING/SCRAMBLING/CLIMBING

Today we are tackling the Mosedale Horseshoe. 5 mountains but only 4 of them are Wainwrights. Mrs F has bad memories from the Fairfield horseshoe back in June (check out our July post) and now isn't overly keen even on the word horseshoe! However and as always, we  are up for anything and today wasn't 95% humidity! So again we parked up at Lingmell House and heading up towards our first summit, Pillar via High Level route. According to Walking Britain:

'On a clear day, few places in the Lake District have a view to compete with those from the summit of Pillar. There are 2 straightforward approaches to Pillar and there is one for the adrenaline junkies – the airy and exposed High Level Path. This route ascends by the High Level Path, returning via the more popular path to Looking Stead. The benefit of the High Level Path, apart from the adrenaline rush and satisfaction of completing one of the Lake District’s toughest walks, are the superb views throughout the ascent. If possible, choose a clear day to enjoy a classic route. This is a serious route with plenty of exposure that should be attempted only by experienced mountain walkers who have a good head for heights, are comfortable both descending and ascending steep scree slopes and are confident crossing boulder fields. There are occasional short (but reasonably straightforward) scrambles. The route is best avoided altogether in misty, wet or windy weather. Do not underestimate the High Level Path – it may only be 2km from the cairn at the start of the High Level Path to the summit of Pillar but you should allow at least 1½ hours'

We didn't even know that Walking Britain had said this about the walk until Mr F read it on-line at the pub in the evening, after we had done it!

So, we had to go quite a way (slog) up towards the summit via the main path and then took a right turn off the main route to go via High Level. It was a little disheartening as we had to go quite a bit down going this way in order to go back up with a little scramble. The path this way wasn't very forgiving to the sheer drop off the edge and we had to take great care making our way over some parts. We reached point where we stopped to snack and refuel, that strangely had prayer flags like there are in Nepal!!

Mr S In Mid Munch On His Energy bar

Phot Bombed By Mr F

Our Route Up Towards The High Level Turn Off....

We came across a river going down the valley that we had to cross and was now on a more open pasture route that had a nice little tarn. It was raining for while just before the river crossing and we had to waterproof up including rain covers for our rucksacks, but it cleared after we made the crossing....

The Route Just After The River Crossing

The Little Tarn On The Other Side...Mrs F Loves A Good Tarn!

The Way Towards Pillar

Forming A Chain To Put Rain covers away

Prayer Flags By Pillar Rock

Views From Our Pit Stop By The Flags

Mr F Selfie Number 3

Mr F Selfie Number 4

Mr F Selfie Number 5

After we had fuled up, we put a few more layers on as where we were heading was completely out of any sun and it was quite windy. So we headed over towards Pillar rock to take the scrambly route up the the summit of Pillar....mountain number 1 of the horseshoe...

Our Scrambly Route Up

Faces Of Fatique

Pillar Rock Which Mr S Was Keen To Climb!

Mr F Found A Friend On The Summit

Pit Stop For Munch In The Wind Shelter

Great Gable In The Near Distance

The Boys On The Summit

From here we had to walk down into a section called windy gap, which was a slight concern as it was already quite windy but wasn't as bad as the windy gap from Green Gable over to Great Gable so we were able to make it over without being blown over....

Making Our Way Through Windy Gap

Our Route Off Of Pillar

Our Route Up Towards Black Crag

Mr & Mrs S On Scoat Fell Summit

Unfortunately Black Crag for some reason isn't a listed Wainwright, but we had to go over Black Crag to get to Scoat Fell in order to carry on and complete the horseshoe.
Our next mountain, Steeple, was so close from Black Crag that we left our rucksacks behind and made a dash for it! We clipped all the rucksacks together for extra weight so they didn't go rolling off the side of the mountain and made it to Steeple and back within half an hour...good going!! Mr F was more concerned that the boys were in the rucksack....not all the expensive equipment! This gave her insentive to make a mad dash back...

Mrs F On The Summit Of Steeple....Good Photo By Mr F

After Steeple, we sat by a wall that was going right over the ridge and had lunch. The sun was shinning but was quite cold, so after lunch, Mrs F got a march on over towards Red Pike to get the blood pumping to warm back up...which worked! After Red Pike, we had to come all the way down where we had Yewbarrow right in front of us....so we had a decision to make since we were in the area to bag it or go straight back down the valley back to the car. But us being hardcore we decided to go for it! So after a few high fives to gear us up for a good scramble, we chose our route and climbed...

Looking At Yewbarrow Coming Down From Red Pike

Mrs F Looking Windswept!

Mrs F Loads Up On An Energy Gel Before Going For Yewbarrow

Looking Onto Our Scramble

We had a really good climb up. Mrs F & Mr S being the goats of the group chose the more hearty climb whereas Mr F & Mrs S chose a more sensible route. We had to walk along the ridge right to the end and back down off of it, which was really challenging as it wasn't an easy route down and added a bit of time to our day. We saw a fell coming the other way and wondered how on earth he ran up and how on earth he was going to get down!! We had walk down lose gravel paths and be on our bums for some of it. Mr F had a couple of little falls which hurt his ankle and knee but soldered on bless him. Once we were off the mountain, we had a little walk through a woodland area before we were back on the main road. We had a really long walk along the main road back to the car which was by far the worst part of the day. Although it was a straight forward walk, it was just daunting after a long day. Mr S & Mr F went ahead of the Mrs F & Mrs S to get the car to drive up and meet us and also rescue us from all the midges that we had to walk with!

The Boys On The Summit Of Yewbarrow With Scafell In The Background

This Is Our 'We Did It' Photo

Our way Back Down

Mrs F Selfie Number 2

Looking Back At Our Climb Off Yewbarrow

Our Walk Through Woodland

Our Long Walk Back To The Car

Looking At Yewbarrow From The Main Road

That night, we were back in The Bridge Inn for Mr & Mrs S's 4 year wedding anniversary. Everyone was feeling tired and slightly burnt but had a lovely meal yet again. No one was tempted by desert as we had nice nibbles (Walnut Whip's & revels) back at the cottage. So after dinner we went back and chilled out before heading to bed for a well earned rest after a long 9 and half hour day on the fells.


DAY 6: SEATALLAN - 2,266FT
              MIDDLE FELL - 1,908FT
              BUCKBARROW - 1,410FT
              4 HOURS TREKKING

Our last day of trekking, we were all pretty tired and lacking energy. So we again didn't rush out in the morning. Mr & Mrs F decided to make the most of the beautiful crisp mornings by having tea outside and it was lovely. Mrs F went to buy a lemon in the tea shop next door to the cottage to cook the rest of the pancake mixture for breakfast. We headed out with the intention to just do one mountain straight up and straight down. So, we headed for Middle Fell which was a slog enough without feeling tired! By now, Mrs F's joints had started to go on strike and ache a fair bit, so the slog up to Middle Fell was challenging due to tiredness as well as physically. We got to a certain point of going up where we had to make a right turn and head straight for the summit and although we weren't going at any speed, we got there in good time...

Mr F Having His Coffee Outside

On Middle Fell Summit

From Middle Fell, we had a choice to do our own little horseshoe and bag 2 more Wainwrights or just head down via a different route, being back at the car sooner. We were all up for the little horseshoe since we were in the area and my as well. The weather was quite bad, there was no point in going any higher than we did because visibility was poor and it was quite cold too. We sat by the summit and had a little refuel before heading straight across and over towards Seatallan. We had to dip down between mountains and then regain height for Seatallan. This was just as much as a slog as the Middle Fell and the cloud had really come down by now and couldn't see our progress or how much more there was to go to the top, which in a way can be a good thing.

We got to Seatallan and the wind really picked up and was a good job there was a wind shelter to sit and eat lunch....

Mr F In The Wind Shelter

Views From The Wind Shelter!!

Mrs F Last Selfie Of The Trip

Once we had finished lunch, we started to make our way over to our final mountain for the day and last Wainwright for this trip, Buckbarrow. Not long after we set off, the cloud seemed to instantly clear and we were able to get a good clear view around us which was amazing! We continued along the ridge and round over to Buckbarrow. There was no clear path amongst all the little rocks about the place, but after we made it Buckbarrow, we were able to see our way back down to the car.

Mr F With The Boys On Buckbarrow

View After The Cloud Lifted

On Our Way Down

Since we had done a little horseshoe, we ended up a little way down the road from where the car and had a bit of a walk back. By now, the sun was out and it was a pleasant walk....but good to be back at the car!!

Where We Had Just Been

Mr F Showing Our Ridge Walk That We Did On Our 2nd Day

Heading Back To The Car

That night, Mr & Mrs F packed the car up as much as they could ready to leave to head back for London bright and early the next morning.

Mr & Mrs S was staying in the lakes for another 3 nights but were also leaving the cottage the next morning, just not as early as we planned to!

We had our last meal of Mrs F's lasagne and was ready to hit the sack for a good nights sleep ready for the long 5 hour drive back to London. We said our goodbyes to Mr & Mrs S and hit the road at 6:57am and made it back to our home at 11:57....exactly 5 hours without stopping, pretty impressive!!

VERDICT OF THE LAKE DISTRICT IN SEPTEMBER 2014

Mr F: A mixed bag of a week in terms of whether, but a great time nonetheless. Great decision to get a cottage which saved on the long drives everyday. Pillar for me was the highlight, can't wait to go back in the summer and tackle Piers Gill!

Mrs F: It was a nice experience to get a cottage for the week and have something that was more like a home rather than a B&B room. It was very strange being so far out from where we would normally stay but a good location for all the Wainwrights we wanted to tick off. We had a great day each day exploring more of Gods wonderful creation that is the Lake District. The Lord was once again and as always with us during our times out on the mountains and we gave Him the thanks and the glory for keeping us safe and giving us the strength and determination we needed each day. 12 completed Wainwrights on this trip, 43 in total, 167 to go.....bring em all on!