LAKE DISTRICT - JUNE 2016

So...The Lake District....again...yeah baby!!!!! We're now under 100 Wainwrights to go (99) and on a mission!
This time we were going solo having rented out a beautiful little cottage/barn for 2 people (or 2 people & 1 child) in Penruddock for the week.

We arrived around 3:30pm which was perfect timing as we couldn't check in until after 3pm. We parked up a wandered around briefly trying to find the barn and were approached by a man who was in his front garden, who happened to be the owner of the barn, Chris and his wife Jenny, which was right next door. He showed us where to park (on his drive) and walk around the side to get to our front door, and as soon as we walked in we loved it!

Mr & Mrs S gave Mr F his birthday presents that morning before we set off and one of the presents was a rather large photo frame of us all on our last trip....so we put it up in the barn which we thought looked pretty good in its location!

We Had a Mezzanine Bedroom

Looking Down From The Bedroom

We Got This From The Owners Which Was Lovely

As we like to make the most of our 300 mile trip to the lakes, we wanted to get out a do at least on in the afternoon that we arrived. So as soon as we unloaded the car and had a quick unpack of things, we headed out for a nearby mountain...

SOUTHER FELL - 1,713 FT
2  HOURS TREKKING

The route up was pretty straight forward and quite easy to follow without it being to strenuous for our first bit of fell walking. We hadn't really done any exercise since we ran the London Marathon 8 weeks previous....needless to say we both felt a little unfit!!

We didn't take anything with us and the boys (Muggles, Buggles, Cuddles & Juggles) stayed in the cottage for this one...

The Boys Behind Looking Out Of The Window!

The weather was still beautiful in the afternoon en route in the car with the mountains in good view...

Parked up and ready to go, Mr F checks the way we're going is the right way...

The Way Up & Where We were Heading

Good Easy Trail Leading Up

Mr Has A Quick Check Of The Satmap Once we Came Off The Path

Sharp Edge Leading To Blencathra

Our Way Up To Southern Fell

The Summit

It was a really nice 'Stretch of the Legs' first time stroll in lovely conditions and glad we made the most of the sunny afternoon that we arrived in. Once we were back at the cottage, we took a stroll around the corner to go and have a birthday drink at a local pub as recommended by Chris, the owner of our cottage. It was a short 5 minute walk away and quite a nice, cosy little pub with 3 dogs that lounged in the seating area! There were pictures of them all on fells and a sign that said something like, "If you want somewhere to sit, you'll need to move the dog"  It was a nice place to have a drink and they had free pool upstairs which was a bonus!

One Of The Dogs Mrs F Sat With On The Sofa

That morning, Mrs F inevitably bashed her head on the low iron bar that was used to hang your clothes on in the bedroom and it came up with a little red lump that hurt... A LOT! She took a couple of photos to send to the family Whatsapp and got a few comments on the freckles rather than the bashed head! But Mrs F had the camera settings on a blemish free setting, so took another one to show her true freckles!

Blemish Free Setting

Normal Settings!!

                                             

Freckled Paint Splattered Face!

                                             
As always, we had arranged for Tesco bring our food for the week but we chose the 8-9pm delivery slot and they were 10 minutes late and bringing our dinner for that night!! Once he turned up with the masses of food that we (Mrs F) ordered, we got on it straight away putting the food away and making dinner at the same time. By the time we finished eating our Chilli Con Carne it was just gone 10pm and with a big first day the next day and a fairly hard bed, we needed to try and get some sleep. But all in all, it was a good birthday for Mr F...

DAY 1: BLENCATHRA VIA HOARSE FELL RIDGE - 2,850 FT
              BANNERDALE CRAGS - 2,240 FT
              MUNGRISDALE COMMON - 2,080 FT
6 HOURS TEKKING/SCRAMBLING

So even though we have already ticked Blencathra off of our list, Mr F suggested going a different way up that involves a good scramble and as we do love a good scramble we decided to go for it. So we drove just a few miles up the A66 road from our cottage and parked up in a pub car park just off the main road. From there we headed up onto the foothills of the fells behind us and off to the left. The first part of the walk up was the exact same route that we came back on when we first climbed Blencathra via Sharp Edge. (See 2013-November entry) We had a little steep climb up the bank once we crossed the stream, but was on good ground after that....

Thought This Half Moulted/Shaven Sheep Was Funny!



The Path Leading Over The Beck

Our Mini Scramble Up Just Past The Water Crossing...

Once we were up our mini scramble, we were in grassy, fern terrain with a clear path that lead us to the start of Hoarse Fell Ridge....or so we thought!

Another beck to cross...

Our First Glimpse of What we thought Was Hoarse Fell Ridge

As we neared the bottom of the fell, we saw a gate that we headed down towards as Mr F checked his Satmap and was sure it was the way to the mountain next to the one we were currently at the bottom of. Then as we were heading down off the path we were on, we saw a man with his Dad coming up towards us. As per usual with fellow trekkers, we stopped to say hello and exchanged where and what we all had planned for the day. When we told them that we were on our way to the next mountain to do Hoarse Fell Ridge, the young man casually said "You do know that this is the start of Hoarse Fell Ridge??" Then showed us on his map as they were planning to do the same scramble! So after we all confirmed that we were indeed already on the very start of where we actually needed to be and not the mountain next to it, we re-traced our steps back up from where we had walked down to get to the gate!

On The Right Tracks

The man and his Dad together on Father's Day which we thought was a really love;y thing for them to be doing together...

Still A Little Way To Go Before he Actual Start Of he Scramble

The Clouds Are Closing In

And So The Scramble Begins

Mrs F In Her Scrambling Element

As Per Usual, Mr F Selfie Number 1

The Scrambling Road Ahead

Mr F Checking The Satmap To See How Far It Is To The Summit

Visibility Is Limiting!

No Good Pictures...And No Seeing The Drop Below us!

The 2 guys were a little bit behind us, but it was actually nice to head up with them and have a chat along the way and have that safety in numbers in what we were doing in the weather we were doing it in. The poor man had really bad hayfever and although we couldn't see them, we certainly could hear him sneezing loads bless him!

The Summit Of Blencathra!

Mr F Working Out The Way To Our Next Summit From Here

The view at the top was very different to when we did it before with a stunning clouding version (See 2013-November entry) From the summit, we said farewell to the 2 guys (found out that the man was in the TA and purposely carried a heavy rucksack as part of training!) We could see people coming up from Striding Edge which was a brave thing to tackle in the low visibility - but then again not much worse from when we tackled it in poor visibility. We then planned to go and do Bannerdale Crags which was heading in the opposite direction to the majority of where other people were heading or coming from! Mr F checked his Satmap quite a few times and were certain that we were on the right track/route, but the cloud was so thick we couldn't see any reference to confirm it and it seemed like we were going to walk off the edge, which was Mrs F's concern from remembering where the ridge was in relation to the summit from the last time we were here. We kept walking back and forth past the same cairn that was on a clear path we could see until Mr F made the decision from looking at his Satmap to go down towards where the Satmap was suggesting the path was. As we just headed off of the clear path and down a bit, a fell runner from up on the clear path called down to us to tell us that the path we needed was a little further on past the same cairn we kept walking past! We confirmed with him where we were heading and he said that we definitely needed to be on the path he was suggesting to us. It was like as if God was watching us and said to the runner "Do me a favour will ya, let them know they're on the wrong path please!" So we walked back up and over to what seemed like a much clearer path and turns out that our original way the runner called us back form, was the right way as it would have eventually linked up with this path anyway. But we were certainly thankful to the runner...and God :-)

Once we had made the trek to Bannerdale Crags, we stopped for lunch as Mrs F was lacking sightly. As we sat mulling over whether to carry on to the next planned summit, Bowscale Fell which was quite a while away from where we were, a sheep came walking over towards us at quite a pace and stopped to steer us out for a short while before he headed over to have a sniff at Mr F's bag!! Mrs F had her walking pole at the ready in case he decided to get territorial. Thankfully we think he was just inquisitive and may not even see many people in this neck of the secluded woods (or fells!)

The Path Leading Down The Valley

So we came to the decision to call it a day and head back down the valley from where we stopped for lunch. There were 2 different routes either side of the valley that both looked like the lead down to the same path at he end, but depending on where you were heading you needed to make sure you were on the right side of the valley. We headed down via the right side and came across a couple with a crazy friendly, jumpy dog that had a bungee cord as a lead! They asked us if they were on the right path according to where they were heading, so Mr F helped show them on his trusty Satmap that they actually needed to be on the other side of the valley as they were heading down and around to the left. So they decided to find a safe and easy place to cross over on the valley floor and we continued on our way, having a little look back to make sure they were ok.

Looking Back Up To Where We Came From...Cloudy

Looking Ahead To Our Way Back...Clear!

Mr F was looking ahead at the clear sky and quite tempted and keen to head back up and keep trekking. However Mrs F reminded him to turn around and look at the grimness that was the cloud still!

Mr F Not Happy With Calling It A Day With The Poor Visibility

Mr F suggested A Little Sit-Sat On Our Way Down Which Was Quite Nice

Once we were back at the car and headed to the cottage just a short 6 miles down the road from the car park, we unpacked our rucksacks and Mrs F realised that she didn't have her nice fairly newish Rab gloves! She was pretty certain that they were in the car park as she usually hooks them over the from strap of her rucksack and would have fallen on the floor when she unclipped her strap when back at the car. But then she couldn't remember if she took her rucksack off when we stopped briefly on the path down either! But good ol' Mr F was quite willing to drive back to the car park to look for the gloves and of course, Mrs F went along. As we neared the car park the only car that we remember being at the back of the car park when we got back from our trek was just pulling out and Mrs F hoped that they didn't spot the expensive pair of lost, abandoned gloves and claim them. But thankfully they were right by where we parked the car...thanks to God!

That night, Mr F got the fire going as Mrs F was feeling a bit chilly and it was actually quite cosy in our little cottage and was good for drying Mrs F's poorly abandoned and soaked gloves :-)

Mr F Planning The Next Day

DAY 2: CATSTYCAM - 2,917 FT
              SHEFFIELD PIKE - 2,232 FT
              GLENRIDDING DODD - 1,425 FT
8 HOURS TREKKING/SCRAMBLING

So today we decided to finally tackle Catsycam and mark off our top big 10 of our Wainwright list! We headed off in decent enough time and were out, ready to rock 'n' roll by 9:10am. The weather didn't look too bad although it was quite cloudy up ahead and the local radio stations Fell Top Forecast that we love to listen to (Lakeland) said that it wasn't due to rain. So unprepared like complete amateurs, we set out without any waterproofs accept that of our lightweight waterproof coats...

Mr F Looking Like He's Trying To Get Signal For His Satmap

Once we had walked past the right track and walked back to it again, we were on our way up!

Our Road Onwards & Upwards

Mrs F Pointing The Way & Ready For It!

We came to a little crossroads and we took the left hand side route once Mr F had consulted his Satmap and was confident of the way. It was a fairly level path that lead around the right hand side of Catstycam and according to the Wainwright book that we had revised by Clive Hutchby, there is a dam that we can cross to get over to the bottom of our scramble up to Catstycam.

Catstycam In The Distance....Under Grim Looking Clouds!

As we went along the path, it started started to rain but was intermittent and although a good downpour, it cleared up quite quickly. Mr F put his lightweight waterproof on and we put the rain-covers on our rucksacks and we trekked on....(Mr F had his nice new one that Mrs F got him for his birthday as his old one had a hole in it...but Mrs F couldn't remember if it was his rain-cover or rain coat that had a hole, but Mr  put his old rain-cover in the bin without checking to be sure! He could very well have used his new one as a spare if it turned out to be his rain coat that had the hole!)

Looking Back At Our Progress So Far

As we walked on, we could see up ahead in the middle of the valley that there was a car, which we can honestly say was a complete first of things to see in the mountains!! Once we got up to it, we could see that it belonged to lakeland authorities, but they were nowhere to be seen....we'll put it down as number one weirdest thing to come across whilst trekking....so far!

Both Happy To Be Together Doing What We Love Most

So, the dam that looked like we could cross was actually out of use and Mrs F was convinced that it was never in use to cross! There was tape going across the start of it warning people that it was unstable and no to cross/walk on it. So we came to a bit of a stand still as we needed to get over the other side to start our climb to Catstycam. Mrs F suggested walking straight down and over the stream right by the dam, which looked quite do-able, but we decided to walk on and walk down into and over the stream and up the other side, which was long winded and added time to our day, but couldn't be avoided as we needed to cross over.

The Dam With Catstycam Behind It

So once we had crossed safely over the stream, we came across a steep incline one wet grass that lead to the actual start of our climb to the top. It was arduous work and we just had to keep looking up ahead to make sure we were on track of where we needed to be and were heading for. We usually point out some kind of lank mark and just make our own way to it, but use it for reference.

Looking Back At The Dam

Mrs F Making Her Way Up

Stretching Out The Old Calf Muscles Going Up!

Looking Back Down To The Stream & Showing How Steep Our Climb Is

As we got to the bottom of Catstycam, the heavens opened and poured. But it didn't just pour, it battered us with harsh winds to go with it! As neither of us had waterproof trousers on, our legs got absolutely soaked which made them heavy and hard to step up in and they were sticking to our legs and had to be pulled up each time we took steep step...which was nearly every step! Mrs F was at a point where it wasn't enjoyable anymore and a bit humpy that she was without waterproof trousers. We would never wear our lightweight jackets for such a heavy battering of wind and rain, but they done their job more than enough and our top halves stayed dry to the end.

Once we got to the top, Mrs F had a couple of very quick picture as it was so heavily raining that we didn't want the camera to get wet...

Once we started to make our way off, the rain started to ease off. We did say that we would may have to go back to the cottage to change our trousers and head back out, but in fairness, because we were thankfully wearing wicking trousers, we were actually drying off quite quickly. We headed down towards to path that was going around the left of Catstycam, but had to climb over tall wet grass to get there. So we chose to the path closet to us to get out of the grass as quick as we could. Once we were on the path, we prayed for a bit of sun and low and behold, the sun came out and shined on us, which helped to dry us off...thank you Lord! We stopped for a quick scooby snack before getting our things together to head off. Mr F sudden;t realised that he didn't have his buff and thought hat he must have dropped it in the tall grass when he took it off. So back in the tall grass we both went, getting the bottoms of our trousers wet again looking for his buff. After searching for a short while, we reluctantly and gave up and moved on down the path with the sun shining behind us, drying us off. Mr F was gutted but we thought it would be too good to be true to lose 2 things in 2 days and get them both back! We made the decision to just keep on going to our next mountain and not have the need to go back to the cottage as we were near enough completely dried off.

Mr F Not Looking Impressed With Her Soaked Trousers & Legs

Our Path Ahead In The Warm Sunshine

As the sun was now shining quite a bit, Mr F decided to cover up with his brand new Rab hat that Mr & Mrs S bought for him for his birthday...

A Look Back At The Grim Weather Over Catstycam

Mrs F Selfie

We could still see the truck on the other side that was still there!

Sheffield Pile In The Distance

Mr F never usually suits a hat as his head is rather large and hats generally don't suit him. (Even Christmas cracker hats are too small for his head!) So Mrs F took a photo to show him how he looked in his new hat. Think he came to the conclusion that it was doing it's job of keeping the sun off...that is all!

Once we were down off the path and by the stream, we decided to pick a rock and sit on it for lunch...

Our Lunchtime View

As Mr F was getting lunch out of his back, he spotted his buff in the bungee part of his rucksack! He must have put it in there when we stopped for our scooby snacks and forgot that he had done so...but we thanked God that he got his buff back anyhow....happy Mr F :-)

Heading Over The Bridge Towards Sheffield Pike

From lunch, we headed off walking along the stream, looking for a place to potentially cross over. Mrs F suggested the part where there was more rock that water to cross, but Mr F suggested that there would be better potential crossings further up ahead. But as we walked on, the water became more like rapids and we couldn't see a safe place to get down and over. We even considered climbing over some bog rocks...but then up ahead, Mr F spotted a bridge which was specifically for crossing the water!

Looking For Somewhere To Cross

The Rapid Water

The Actual Place To Cross

Water Work Plant By The Bridge

We eventually made our way back to the little cross roads right at the beginning of our trek, but this time we had to take the right hand turn that lead up past Greenside Mine. Mrs F spotted an old canary cage on a shaft she wanted to get a photo of, but would have had to go off piste get one and probably won't ever see a perfectly preserved cage again. The cages was used to send canaries down to test for carbon monoxide poisoning....quite sad really.

Heading Up Past The Mine

The Mine Was Down To The Right Of Us

Quite ironically, the weather cleared up into a nice day and were seeing people in shorts and vests and t.shirts. Even looking back at Catstycam it was clear of cloud over it! If we hadn't had set out so early we would have remained dry or could have doe the planned route the other way around and would have got some good pictures from the top...oh well.

Once we had put sun cream on, we carried on our path past the quarry and came up onto flat land which looked like a camp site! It looked like the tents all possibly belonged to lakeland authorities, but still quite bizarre to come across so high up and the whole place was a bit baron and looked like another planet!

From here, we walked over a bridge and onto slightly boggy terrain, which Mrs F isn't a fan of and had a playful grumpy face on whilst looking at Mr F when having to walk through mud. Mr F made her laugh by saying "What d'ya want me to do, lay down in it?!" Anyhow, Mrs F didn't take him up on the offer but carried on going until we were on a slight stepping stone path before we got to the beautiful views at the top of Sheffield Pike...

View Of Ullswater At The Top f Sheffield Pike

Summit Selfie

Try Again Without The Stupid Wallace Grim From Mr F!

Mr F Checking His Map & Book

Glenridding Village Below

Impressive Long Distance Self Timer!

From Sheffield Pike we headed over to the next and final fell of the day, Glenridding Dodd. It was an out and back job as it was slightly out on it's own with no way off, just one way there and back again. We had a very short sit-sat with the boys before moving on and finally making it to Glenridding Dodd. Once again and as always, Mr F studied his book at the summit, Mrs F was happy sitting admiring the beautiful views taking photos of a butterfly that had landed nearby. After marking off Glenridding Dodd, we started to make our way down almost towards the village and back to the car.

The Boys & Their Dad

Glenridding Dodd up ahead

Mrs F On The Summit

Mrs F's Photo Of The Butterfly

Mr F Looking At His Book With A Scouring Look On His Face!

Mrs F's Freckles Are Growing!!

Once we were back in the cottage, Mr F got the fire going again and we put on damp clothes nearby to dry out. Mr F put our boots directly on top of the wood burner to completely dry them out. That night, we decided to have the left over chilli with half and half rice and chips....and it was lush!!


DAY 3:GREEN GABLE - 2,603 FT
             BRANDRETH - 2,344 FT
             GREY KNOTTS - 2,287 FT
              BOWSCALE FELL - 2,306 FT
5 & HALF HOURS TREKKING and then 3 HOURS TREKKING WITH FALSE SUMMITS!

The next day we didn't set the alarm at our usual time of 7:30am to be up and out early doors as we didn't have a particularly long or hard day, so that meant that Mrs F could make pancakes for breakfast! The lemons that came with the Tesco home shopping were the biggest lemons we've ever seen and Mrs F ordered 3 of them thinking they were average sized lemons....
             

We packed the rucksacks with the usuals; lunch, the boys, waterproof jackets, extra clothing and first aid kit and set off for Seathwaite. Our planned route is Mrs F's favourite route in the lakes so far, Green Gable via Gillercomb Valley...

En Route In The Car

Once we had parked up towards the back of row of cars along the road at the bottom of Sour Milk Ghyll, we put suncream on as it was a nice sunny day and set off up towards Sour Milk Ghyll that lead out onto Gillercomb Valley...

Sour Milk Ghyll Up Ahead

Mr F Having A Quick Double Check Of His Book

Mr F Stepping Down The Stile

Making Our Way Up Sour Milk Ghyll

Sour Milk Ghyll gets it's name because of its white water than runs down the mountain. It used to be called Churn Milk Force.

The Little Mini Scramble 

Once we were at the top of Sour Milk Ghyll and onto Gillercomb Valley, we could see the ridge walk ahead of us that lead from Green Gable over past Brandreth and finally Grey Knotts. We walked along the stunning valley which Mrs F is in-love with from the first time we were here when we ticked off Green Gable and Great Gable in March 2014 (see 2014, April entry) Mr F read in his book that instead of taking the obvious trekkers route up the Green Gable, there was a short cut route the cut off over to the right of the valley straight up to Green Gable, but we real couldn't make it out and figured that it would take longer trying to find the route than to just stick with the more popular one, even if it was taking the longer way up than the so called short cut...

Grey Knots Ahead Of Us

Mrs F Loving One Of Her Favourite Places In The Lakes

Gillercomb Valley

Making Our Way Up To Green Gable

Once we made it on top, it was just as windy as it was the first and last time we were here, so Mrs F put her jacket on and we made our way over to Brandreth where we picked a good spot out of the wind to eat lunch. There were a lot of wooden posts all tied up together but not sure what they were for...

Views From Green Gable

Happy To Be Back On Green Gable

Making Our Way To Brandreth Summit

The Summit Of Branreth

Mr F Got A Dirty Bum Sitting On The Wet Grass For Lunch!

Mrs F had some fun with her camera once again as we came across this lovely little tarn that overlooked the mountains behind like an infinity pool....

We only had one more summit to get on our ridge walk, Grey Knotts, and then Mr F consulted the book which said that we had to make our way down to the wall that went right along just half way between the top of the ridge and the bottom. Apparently we had to keep walking along the wall until we saw an opening with a stile to get over the other side and back down to Seathwaite. So Mr F suggested to keep walking along the wall until we saw the way over as the book said there would be further along the wall, but we were effectively just walking away from where we needed to make our way down to. Mrs F could see as far as the wall went and couldn't see any kind of way to get over and suggested to just make our way to the nearest point of the wall and make our own way over...

Mr F On The Summit Of Grey Knotts

More Views From The Top Before Making Our Way Down

So it was as we were making our way down that Mrs F noticed that there looked like a tear in the chunky rubber part of her boot sole and was devastated as she thought that her trusty boots of 4 years had finally split. But upon closer examination, they had actually been melted as a result of Mr F putting them directly on the stove to dry out!! As good as his intentions were to, he managed to give Mrs F the right 'Ump' about it!! Plus the long slog walk down trying to make our way to the wall and find a decent way over was adding to her predator grumpy face as Mr F calls it... 

Looking Back At What We Had Just Come Down & Off

Looking At Our Route We'd Just Been From

We finally came to a mound where Mr F was convinced that over it there would be the wall but we just couldn't see it....and he was right! We finally reached the wall but not a stile in sight still, we just hoped through a section where the wall had collapsed and started to make our way down the worn path through the Bracken. We came across an opening to the mines and an old mine shaft that had a barrier around it to stop people from falling in. Mrs F tried to get a photo of inside the entrance without actually going in as she doesn't trust it not to collapse around her! So instead she put the flash on her camera, but wasn't a great shot where you could see right inside..

Making Our Way Down

The Way Down Through The Bracken

Nearing The Main Road Where WE Parked up

We went slightly off track and the path disapeared near the bottom that lead us to the running stream. We figured out that we needed to be on thr right hand side coming down but couldn't see any safe way over. So we picked a spot and just made our own way through the thick bracken with dead brwon leaves on the ground that made it hard to get through and just hoped we wouldn't get picked on by ticks or grass snacks! But when we eventually made it back to the bottom, we decided to sit just by the bridge where the water ran by and have the rest of our lunch whilst enjoying the beautiful sunshine. It was such a lovely memorable moment and one of Mrs F's favourite ones, just us 2 chilling out by the river together in the sunshine....bliss!

As we drove out of the main road by Seathwaite Farm we noticed a young dog that was clearly lost wondering in the road and we didn't want her to get hurt. So we called her into the car and she was quite happy to plonk herself down in the passenger's seat and rest her little head on Mr F's hand that was on the gear stick. After Mrs F eventually moved her over so she could get in, we decided to take her to the campsite just a few hundred yards up the road and it turned out that her owners were pitched up there but didn't seem overly worried of fussed that we just found their dog! She went running up to them and we left them to it. We figured that the dog was with the group of kids that came out onto the main road and must have ran off...but they didn't seem like they were worried about where she was either

So anyway, as we were doing quite well for time and had plenty of daylight left, Mr F suggested doing Bowscale Fell which is what we were going to do on the first day but decided to come back to it. So we parked up and Mr F pointed to the nearby mountain that looked fairly straight forward and not too long to get to the top. However...after making our way through yet more bramble, we got came out on the ridge walk top of the open fell and could see the summit cairn just up ahead...or so we thought! When we reached the cairn it was just the way showing to what we thought must be the actually summit further on. But no! This was yet another cairn to show the way to another summit looking cairn way up ahead....we came 3 false summits before we got to the actual summit!!

Making Our Way Up

Our First False Summit Photo

A Bit Further To Go

Our Second False Summit Photo

A Bit More To Go...Mr F Pointing The Actual Way

Mrs F Not Happy With All The False Summits!

Mr F Pointing The Way To More Cairns After False Summit Number 3!

False Summit Number 3...Still Not Happy About It!

Mr F was checking his SatMap that kept telling us it was only a short distance away...but it lied! When we eventually got to the wind-breaker summit and had a little scooby snack sit-sat, we headed down to the left of the mountain that lead to a path back to the car. It was a really lovely walk back and came across a family of sheep who had some lambs who were playing together. When we got to the end of the path, we could really see the damage that storm Desmond had done to the fells and surrounding areas back in December and was really quite upsetting to see...

FINALLY...The Actual Summit!

A Look Back At Where We Had Just Walked From

Joined By Tame Sheep Again

Our Walk Back Along The Path

Coming across the damaged area. You could see a bridge that had been washed away and wedged in the bank. There was some tape that over it that had been put there, assuming by local authorities...

A Look Back At Where We Came Down

You can see below where the rushing waters washed the land away creating a river bed...

We didn't get back until quite late and so dinner was later than normal as was bedtime, but all in all a great day had being back in one of Mrs F's favourite places, Gillercomb Valley and Great Gable and was so lovely to sit by the stream...a good day.

Mrs F's Melted Boot...Grrrrrr!!

DAY 4: SKIDDAW LITTLE MAN VIA THE SOUTH ARETE - 2,837 FT
             LONSCALE FELL - 2,344 FT 
7 & HALF HOURS OF SCRAMBLING, CLIMBING, TREKKING, GETTING THE UMP!

So our trusty book suggested that there is a good scramble up to Skiddaw Little man which is what we opted out of doing when we done Skiddaw due to it destroying our mood with how mundane and monotonous the walk was (see 2013 July entry) So we decided to come back another day and that is just what we were doing today. So we drove and parked up along a little side road and started to make our way up towards where we needed to be and at the start of our walk to the bottom of Skiddaw Little Man. We got to a point where we could either to the right and around the back through a Valley or straight up. We went with straight up as there was a sign at the bottom that said something like 'Farm tractors only' but basically we got the impression that we shouldn't go that way. So after walking up a load of zig-zag roads, Mr F consulted his Satmap which seemed to be having a bit of a shocker this trip as it turned out that we should have taken the road that we didn't think was the right way! So back down we went, Mr F was a bit annoyed but it was only 20 minutes out of our way and were on the right track as soon as we got back down.
               

Mr F Making His Way Up The Wrong Way

Looking Back At The Wrong Way We Went

The Right Way...

So once we were on the right track and making our way through a valley via a clear path, we came across obstacle number 2 of there being a digger in the middle of work that's clearly going on with tape going across where we needed to go. So we got the book out and tried to work out if we could take the route going around the back via the right side rather than the one straight up ahead that had tape over it. After we both looked at the map and drawn picture in the Wainwright book and worked it out together, we decided that the right hand route was the way to go anyway, so we set off down that track. We could see 3 guys up ahead who were repairing part of a water pipe which was also damaged by storm Desmond and we thought we would have to explain that we've come all the way from London to specifically come and climb if they tried to stop us from going any further. We stopped to talk to them for a while before heading off ahead, so they weren't out to stop us in our tracks at all, in fact hey told us that we were the first trekkers they'd seen in months! The path quickly disappeared and we had to make up our own way under tress and over the stream to the other side. Mr F showed in the book that there was a lone tree that we needed to make our way to which we could see just over the way from the stream, so we were on the right path...

Under The Tree...

Over The Stream

Skiddaw Little Man Up Ahead

We spent quite a bit of time looking at the drawing in the Wainwright book and tried to make a reference as to where we needed to be to make our way up, but we really couldn't make anything out. It was telling us that there was a path just to the left of the tree that we made our way to, but it was just a gully that really wasn't climbable and the rest of the way up was just sheer amounts a bracken...again!! We eventually just gave up on the idea that there was any such path and just decided to do the best we could with what we had and make our own way through. We don't doubt that there maybe was once a visible clear route/way up, but as the guys said, there hasn't been any trekkers this way in months so the bracken has just grown over everywhere....

Mr F Making His Way Through

A Look Back At Our Small Progress

It wasn't at all enjoyable but becoming quite arduous work having to fight against and through all the fully grown bracken and the dead, brown bracken laying on the ground. It literally was like making our way through a jungle and could have done with a couple of machete's! It was quite soul destroying looking back at how little progress we were making despite our best efforts and looking ahead to how much we still had to climb. According to the book the hard climb up, described as 'toilsome' is worth it for the scramble that we will eventually get to....we'll see! There were some screes that we had to try and climb up but for every 6 steps we were taking, we didn't actually go anywhere at all because the scree was so lose it would just bring us straight down again. It was much worse that when we done Sca Fell via Lords Rake! (see 2013 November entry) So we had either the going no where scree or the jungle bracken...needless to say we were both getting really tired of it and fed up...

Mr F Picking His Route

Mrs F Looking Really Unimpressed!

We came to a flat point where we collapsed for a short while before cracking on again...

Not Happy With This One At All!

Looking Back At The Valley We Walked Though

The Screes That Stopped Us Going Anywhere!

Mrs F unfortunately spotted the one thing in this world that she's petrified of, a certain insect which made her fly up past Mr F....and made her cry!

Looking Back At The Progress Through The Scree

So as we stared to make our way out of the bracken, we were faced with thick mountain heather which was just as hard to get up on. Then we finally saw the apparent 'well worth it' scramble and let us tell you it was a mere little climb over a few rocks!!! We were both utterly gutted and disappointed in the books description of the scramble that was worth all our hard efforts for the past 3 hours...nothing more to say really! Mrs F decided to get right on top of the few rocks there were, since she made such an effort to get this so called scramble, she thought she may as well make the most of actually doing it by walking across the top!

Mr F Making His Way Onto The 'Scrambling Rocks'

Our Scramble!

Nearly At The Top

Looking Across You Can See How Steep Our 3 Hour Climb Was

FINALLY!! Out and Up On The Summit...The Hard Way!!

The Boys On The Summit...their Legs Were Hurting From Stabilising the rucksacks apparently...

It was quite funny coming onto the summit from out of on where. There was a group of people sat on the summit who saw us coming up and looking confused as to where we'd just come from! We heard one of the say there was a way down that way which we think they were just basing that on the fact that we just came up that way...we didn't tell them that technically there wasn't! We stopped for a much needed pit stop and food...Mr F surprised Mrs F with bringing some of her chocolate cups that she loves to buy from Old Friars in Keswick and was using that as incentive to get her up by telling her that he had brought something as a surprise for her in the lunch bag :-)

From here we could actually see how close we were from Skiddaw and could have quite easily have doe this quickly when we done Skiddaw, but as we said, we just wanted to get back to the car that day. So from Skiddaw Little Man we headed over to the right to conquer Lonsacle Fell which was just a short walk away and quite enjoyable. As we sat having a quick scooby snack on Skiddaw Little Man, we could see a poor little lamb who had somehow made his way over the fence from where his mum was a couldn't get back. They were crying out to each other but he couldn't find a way back over...we could hear someone in the group suggest going to pick him up and put him over...don't think they did in the end as they set off before us.

Once we got to Lonscale Fell we sat on the wet grass and had proper lunch, our daily ham rolls, with cheese and pickle for Mrs F. From here, we had to go back on ourselves slightly and go down via a path that lead off down to the left, so we had Skiddaw Little Man on our right, effectively going down the same side as we came up but much further along so we came down the same side as where the car was. So what better way to go down after a long and tiresome way of going up, than an equally hard way going down!! There was no clear path although both the book and Satmap suggested we were practically on it. We could see what looked like a little sheep track that we kept coming across that was running across the mountain side rather than down it, but yet again we just had to make our own way down the steep gully.

Lonscale Fell Summit

Looking Back At Skiddaw Little Man To The Left, Skiddaw To The Right

Mr F Checking His Satmap Of Our Steep Route Down

Then we came across yet more scree, but these were more like old mining slates and were slightly easier and bigger to negotiate going down, but still hard work...

Looking Back Through The Gully We Were Coming Down

There were times where the backside was needed to get down some steeper more difficult parts. We eventually came alongside a running stream that was making its way down through the mountain gully and we were on the left side of it, as Mr F ensured us of a path that will eventually come into sight that we would take all the way back...

Mr F Demonstrating Going Down On The Bum...Still A Long Way To Go

Selfie With Attitude!

Not Sure If Mr F  Fell Or A Stylish Drop In Height!

Finally On The Path & Looking Back

Mr F Giving It The Biggen'!

Once we were on the path, we were able to get a bit of a march on the made our way past some tall grass, out onto the road where we were parked and eventually back at the car...and it was never a more beautiful sight!

Mrs F Soooo Happy To See The Car Again!

Once we were back at the cottage, to say we absolutely pooped would be an understatement. It was easily one of the hardest energy consuming days we've had on the fells...Mrs F made a good lasange and chips and we pulled the table around so we could both sit on the same side and watch tele! Well deserved after a hard day. Mrs F wrote on 'I Love the Lake District' Facebook page about our day and that the book was quite wrong in suggesting The South Arete was any sort of scramble, but they removed it!! I suppose they can't have any sort of established revised Wainwright book being badly critiqued. 

The Face Says It All..

Collapsed...

DAY 5: GLARAMARA - 2,560 FT
             ALLEN CRAGS - 2,572 FT
             SEATHWAITE FELL - 1,970 FT
7 & HALF HOURS TREKKING

So today was our last day trekking on the fells as tomorrow was our last day in the Lake District and wasn't planning any treks. So we planned to do a great big loop starting at Seathwaite Farm again on the busy main road where we parked for day 3 of Green Gable and back down via Sty Head Tarn (Mrs F's favourite tarn in the lakes) and back to Seathwaite Farm via Stockly Bridge (another of Mrs F's favourite spots) The road was even busier this time and we were one of the cars parked right up along the road at the back. But it was fine as we walked past Seathwaite Farm just a little way up the road and dived off up to the left towards our first mountain of the day...Glaramara. We put our sun cream on at the car as it was a beautifully clear and sunny day.

We sent a photo to our family on the family Whatsapp group of our beautiful blue skies from our cottage, purely because for once we had the good weather up North and it was torrential rain and floods down South!

Our 'Wind Up Photo' Sent To Family!

Views Setting Off On A Beautiful Day

We Came Across a Pen Full Of Sheep In The Farm

Making Our Way Along The Main Path 

Getting Ready To Dive Off To The Left and Over This Mountain

Once again, the book assured us of a path that would lead us through yet more bracken...much to our delight! You can probably guess what we're going to say next....there was no such path!!! According to the book there will be a gap in the wall for us to climb over to carry on making our way up, but we really couldn't see one so we dived over the nearest and best possible point we could make out. Mr F went over first and once Mrs F got on top of the wall, he carried her down like a gent. When we looked back from where we were, we could see that if we had followed the wall all the way along to the left of us from the bottom, we would have eventually come to an old stile to cross over...oh well, we like to do things the hard way! According to the Satmap as we were making our way up, we were either directly on it or not far from it, so we just kept on heading up towards where we needed to be...through the bracken and onto some big rocks that wasn't too bad in the end. We just needed to keep looking up ahead of us to make sure we were still on track and not getting carried away on making our own way up and steering off track too much. But eventually we came out of all the bracken and rocks and onto an opening that lead us to Glaramara where we stopped for a much needed boiled egg. It was Mrs F's turn to surprise Mr F this time by bringing his fruit nougat for him...

Making Our Way Up

We Saw This Little Guy Along The Way

Mr F Trying To See Where We Should Be Heading 

Mrs F Loving It In The Sunshine!

The Dreaded Bracken Route

Mr F Had To Put His Hat On As He Had A Blister On His Head!

Finally Out Of The Bracken and Onto Better Terrain

Glaramara Just Over The Hill

Rosie Cheeks

Glaramara Summit

We sat and enjoyed the views from Glaramara for a little while before pressing on for Allen Crags. Although we had been to Allen Crags before (see 2015 July entry) we had to retrace our steps in order to get to Seathwaite Fell. It looked like an absolute monster climb up towards Seathwaite Fell from where we were standing, but at least it was a clear day and could see where we were going unlike the last time we were here!

Enjoying The Views From Glaramara

We came to a bit of a head scratcher where the land overhung like a cliff edge, but it looked too dangerous to make our way down. But Mrs F could see a slight detour route around to the right of the overhang and so we made our way over and was at the bottom and on the obvious and visible track that lead up towards Seathwaite Fell. Mr F reckoned that we could have made that climb down from where we originally were or could have avoided the diverted route because there was an easier, quicker way down just to the left of it....oh well, as we said, we love to do things the hard way!!


Looking back at our little overhand....you can see the proper route we should have taken over to the right as you look at it!...

Mrs F With Seathwaite Fell Somewhere In The Far Distance

It was a really hot day and we stopped a couple of times for guzzles of water and a quick breather and carried on up the inclining track. As daunting as it seemed looking at the steep climb up, it actually wasn't too bad or took that long to get to the top....

Out of nowhere, we came across these couple of lovey little tarns that overlooked the fells in the distance like an infinity pool. Mrs F just had to take a photo as she does love and appreciate a good tarn, especially ones like these...

 

We saw this sheep tucked right into a little groove in the mountain side obviously trying to keep cool in the heat...bless him...or her!

Once we made it to the top of the mountain, we had to drop height again heading down to the right side of us on another obvious path towards Sty Head Tarn. In fact as soon as we got onto the path from the hangover bit, there was an obvious path the whole way back to the car which made a nice change from bracken!! We came across a tarn where there were quite a few people who were stopping to have lunch by it and there were a couple of women who were bravely swimming in it...it must have been freezing! But to say the least, it was a beautiful tarn called Sprinkling Tarn it a beautiful spot. We had to walk around the back of the tarn to get to our final Wainwright fell for the day and this trip, Seathwaite Fell.

Our Path To Sprinkling Tarn

Stunning Sprinkling Tarn

Mrs F Loves a tarn!

Looking Back From The Other Side

There was a little path that we followed all the way to the summit of Seathwaite Fell and took the same path back to the main path that lead down to Sty Head Tarn and ultimately the long road back to Seathwaite Farm and the car. But it would be so rude not to stop and appreciate yet another again the beauty that is Sty Head Tarn...of course :-)

Making Our Way To Seathwaite Fell Around The Back Of Sprinkling Tarn

Looking At Our Conquered Skew Gill (see 2014 July Entry)

Sty Head Tarn

View From Our 'Cop-a-Squat' Place

Looking Back At Great End

Once we made it back down the long stepping stones to Stockly Bridge, we came well prepared with a towel to dry our feet after having dipped them in the fresh crisp waters at Stockly Bridge as we did before...(see 2014 July Entry) It was so cold, but so refreshing. The same lady who was wild swimming at Sprinkling Tarn was in the deeper end of the stream and hats off to her because it was numbingly cold! We were hoping for a tornado plane to come over us like it did the last time, but no. However it was such a lovely moment to embrace not only after the end of a long to day, but a great end to our week....

Stockly Bridge

Mr F's Face Says 'It's a Bit Cold!'

Looking Back At Stockly Bridge From Our Feet Dipping Spot

        

Mrs F Not Quite Brave Enough To Go For A Full Dunk!

All The Way In!

That night we started to organise our things ready to leave back to London day after tomorrow. We didn't have anything planned to do in terms of mountain wise, we were going to see how we both felt in the morning if we were up for it or just a stroll around Keswick. But for this night and all previous nights, we enjoyed the fact that we still had the sun shinning in our little converted barn until gone 10pm....

DAY 6: GOWBARROW FELL (ATTEMPTED)
              KESWICK

So we decided to go and do a relatively straight forward Wainwright that wasn't too arduous before our big drive back to London the next day. So we set off through the forest which lead us to Aira Force Waterfall, which Mr F planned for us to do. We could have taken a different more direct route but Mr F thought it would be nice to see the waterfall...and nice it was too. We came out onto an open area and Mr F lost his barrings and wasn't sure if we had taken a wrong turn. We walked back and forth over this boggy bit of walk way about 4 times before Mr F came to the conclusion that he was right the first time and shouldn't have doubted himself! So once we were on the absolute right track, we started to make our way through and up towards the summit. Then the skies opened and started to pour down!! We persisted a while before, having our raincoats on and putting the rain covers over our rucksacks. But when it started to get heavier, we both made a mutual decision that to carry on would just be foolish as we had all our stuff to dry out before having to pack it all away. Plus looking at the mp, we still had a long way to go before we got to the summit, so we decided to call it a day...sadly. We never like being defeated, but sometimes the sensible decision has to be made.

Making Our Way Through The Forest

The Bridge That Goes Over Aira Force

Looking Down Over The Bridge

Some More Little Cascading Water Spots

Mr F Double Checking His Satmap Bearings

Another Nice Little Quite Water Spot Find En Route

So we decided to head into Keswick for lunch before having a little stroll around. We went into the old courthouse Weatherspoons where we've eaten before and had a really delicious shared combo of nachos and the super-food pasta...proper lush! We walked around the town gardens and shops and stopped for a little sit-sat by Derwent Water. The annoying thing was it was actually really sunny in Keswick, but when you looked back towards.....there were still grim clouds lurking! But we had a good stroll around which wasn't a bad thing before we headed back to the cottage to start the packing and getting ready to sadly leave. But we will definitely be back and would love to stay in this stunning little converted barn again....maybe November for the Remembrance Sunday Service on top of Great Gable....

View Of Derwent Water From Our Sit-Sat Spot

We Thought This Was Funny!

Clouding Version On The Motorway On Our Way Home Early Morning

VERDICT OF THE LAKE DISTRICT IN JUNE 2016

Mr F: Loved our home for the week, great location for many fells that we still have left to tick off. Weather was great (for the lakes) a great mixture of scrambles, walks, beautiful tarns & some dodgy route finding. A fantastic week with "the wife"!

Mrs F: I really loved our little converted barn just the 2 of us. The bed was a little uncomfortable and there were no towels provided despite Cumbrian Cottages telling us there would be, so we shared one microfiber towel between us after baths, showers and hair washes all week, but we made it work! I loved being back in my favourite place in the world with my favourite person in the world. I really loved all the tarns we hadn't come across before and although our hard and challenging days in the rain and bracken was tough, I still still look back with a smile. I loved our scramble up to Blencathra via Hoarse Fell Ridge and the day we sat by the water was a special moment for me. I loved being back in Gillercomb Valley and Green Gable...I just loved it all! I love how different parts of the lakes have different things and views to offer no matter how many times you've been here....it always has, still does and always will hold a very special place in my heart.