| Location | Highbury, Blencathra Street, Keswick |
| Those Present | Jerry, Bill, Mark and myself |
| Dates | November 9th - November 16th |
My friend Steve from the garage owed me a favour, and he found us a Mondeo Estate for the week, so we all travelled up together. The journey wasn’t too bad except for some rain round Manchester. We arrived at just after 2 pm, and had a couple of quick ones in the Keswick Lodge (which has now replaced the D&G as our 'local'). Then it was a bag of chips and a wander round before doing the week’s shopping in Walter Wilson’s.
Highbury was the same as usual, and the cracks hadn’t got any bigger.
The beer that evening was still good, but it was very hot and stuffy, and my eyes felt tired from driving, so we only had four pints, and then fish and chips, and went back to Highbury for a cup of coffee and an early night.
We woke up to a bright and very frosty morning. We had planned to catch the boat to High Brandlehow and then walk to Seatoller, up Honister, across to Dale Head and back to Hawes End via the Catbells ridge, but when we got down to the lake we found the boats had been delayed by heavy mist. (picture) We walked back into Keswick to try and find a bus to Grange, but without any success, so we went back to the lake over Crow Park. The boat finally set off over an hour late, and by the time we got to the path which climbs to Honister (picture) we realised we weren't going to make it back for the last boat if we followed the original route, so we dropped down to the river and took the low-level path back to Grange. We got to high Brandlehow with five minutes to spare!
Monday November 11th - Monday November 11th - Barrow and Outerside
Another cold, frosty morning, but not so sunny. We drove to Braithwaite and climbed Barrow. It was one of those annoying little mountains which always has another peak beyond the horizon.
We went down to the Stoneycroft mine road (picture) and up Outerside (picture) , across to Stile End and back to Braithwaite. It was still very cold, and there were patches of ice on the paths, which made progress a trifle hazardous.
It had just started to rain as we got back to Keswick, and the rest of the afternoon and early evening was very wet and windy.
It was cloudy but dry and mild. We parked at the visitors’ centre on Whinlatter and climbed up through the forest onto Whinlatter fell. The summit ridge was very pleasant. We went down the other side and skirted the forest looking for the track we had been able to see from the top, but the only escape was back up again.
We went back down to a different part of the forest, and eventually found a forest ‘main road’, which skirted the fell in an anticlockwise direction and emerged onto the main road about a mile from the car.
It was bright and frosty again. We parked at Seathwaite and walked back to the main road, turning up a farm track opposite the cottages of Mountain View and then left over a stile to begin the ascent of Thorneythwaite Fell. We had a magnificent views of Combe Head. (picture) We went over Thorneythwaite Fell and on to Glaramara. The others took the direct route involving the 20 ft. scramble, but because of my elbow I was effectively one-handed, so I took the path which skirts the crags and reached the summit via an easy gully
which was the one that Jerry had slid down in the snow on our previous
visit in March 1988.
It was very cold on top, with ice on the rocks, and some care was needed. (picture)
We went along the summit ridge towards Allen Crags, past the three little tarns which were covered with thick ice - stones just bounced off - over Allen Crags, down to Esk Hause, past Sprinkling Tarn and down to Styhead. Jerry embarrassed himself by slipping over just as he was saying "Good afternoon" to some National Trust volunteers who were repairing the path.
The snow-covered summit of Scafell Pike looked very remote, and Styhead Tarn was so still that the surrounding fells were reflected clearly, making it look as if there was a 500ft drop instead of a tarn. We arrived back in Seathwaite as the sun was disappearing behind the fells. (picture)
Styhead is one of my favourite places, and if I don't go there again that was how I would like to remember it. (I find myself saying things like that these days. I suppose the thought of having to give up walking is in the back of my mind. I have trouble with both knees, and my sense of balance is getting worse.)
We drove to Grasmere, parked up the Easedale road, and climbed up to
Easedale Tarn with the intention of going up Tarn Crags and back via Far Easedale, but the summits were covered in cloud, and the ‘good path through bracken’ promised by Bob Allen wasn’t apparent. In fact we missed it completely and did a circuit of the tarn - pleasant enough.
On the following circuit we took a path which led upwards, but intermittently disappeared. Eventually we arrived at what we believed to be the ‘grassy saddle’, but there was no sign of the ‘cairned descent’ to Far Easedale. Jerry disappeared into the mist, returning half an hour later saying that he thought he had got to the top, but because we could’t see where the top was, this was open to debate.
A faint path led north, roughly in the direction we wanted to go, so we decided to follow it for twenty minutes, and then if it didn’t go anywhere to return to Easedale Tarn. The path eventually petered out, but we could now first hear, and then see, the beck down in Far Easedale, so we made our way down through bracken and bog to join the path.
The walk back down Far Easedale was long but pleasant. We stopped at the gingerbread shop on the way home.
The usual end of the week lethargy had set in, and it took a long time for us to leave the house. Eventually we decided on Steel Fell with a return down Greenburn, but as we approached Grasmere the cloud was right down to the valley, and we couldn’t even see Steel Fell. We returned to Keswick to swap maps etc., and then drove to Mungrisedale, our objective this time being Souter Fell. We parked opposite the village hall and walked up behind the pub, but the gate that Wainwright says offers access to the fell had a ‘no footpath’ sign on it.
We walked back along the minor road and then took a path rising diagonally up the fell. It was a boring, never-ending slog, and I didn’t enjoy a single step of it, but eventually the summit ridge was reached. We walked back along the ridge to visit the highest point above Mungrisedale, and then retraced our steps towards Blencathra. (picture) There were dramatic views of Sharp Edge and Foule Crag (picture) as we dropped down to Mousethwaite Combe. We returned to Mungrisedale via the Gleneramackin valley.
We made an early start and arrived home just after midday. It was a reasonable journey apart from some fog round Kendal.