Silver How

A cold wintry day, quite foggy as we drove from Staveley to Grasmere. Parked at near the Garden centre and had the obligatory coffee in the newly refurbished cafe there. We took the road from Grasmere to Elterwater and after a few hundred yards took a foot path left heading up the slopes of Silver How. The day was crisp and cold, the higher peaks to the east were blanketed with a bright covering of snow lit by the low sun in a light blue sky. An easy path gained height gradually bending left and soon contouring above a wall heading south. As the wall fell away at a junction of paths we took our usual route turning back on ourselves, up a steep gully previously a scree slog but now we were impressed by a much welcomed path had been constructed. Last time we we were here the route was lined with 'Helibags' full of boulders for path making. Near the top of the gully we took a rest admiring the view across Grasmere to the white snow clad summit of Heron Pike contrasting with the fog, clinging to the valley floor over Windermere. Views like this infrequent but breathtakingly beautiful.
There were a few couples at the top of Silver How and being such a glorious day we set straight down along the broad ridge and stopped for sandwiches under Lang How sitting in the weak sunshine from the south. Continuing west towards Blea Rigg my plan was to take this in before descending to Easdale. However it seemed to take for ever crossing the undulations to Blea Rigg having crossed Castle Rigg we very nearly had our first real argument on all of these walks. The light was getting ldim the sun lower and lower in the sky and the temperature dropping. Eventually and probably I have to admit correctly, we made the decision to descend to Easdale tarn missing out Blea Rigg. A soon as we dropped into the shadows on the north flank of the ridge the path became icy, the biting cold stung on our face and bodies depite our winter gear. This felt like proper winter walking. We were glad for a rest at the tarn before completing the circuit down to Grasmere, still in daylight. (which made me have one little moan that we could really have taking in Blea Rigg as well!)

Time 4hrs 30mns
Grade Excellent

Memories

• Snow capped tops, fog bound valleys


• Icy cold descent

Completed 69 To go 145

Low Fell and Fellbarrow

"We might not make it to the top" were the mutterings I heard behind me, almost lost in the noise of the wind across the field, just 5 minutes into our walk. True, it was windy - as forecast- and I was mindful of the fact it is often the wind rather than mist or rain that can be the reason for abandoning a walk, however there weren't many dangers on Felbarrow so on we plodded. Our route started from Thackthwaite farm and the plan was to head up to Fellbarrow and then along the ridge to Low Fell. As we ascended the old drovers road we we sheltered for a while but were always aware of the howling westerly gusts above us and occasionally blowing us around the path. A change of plan, we would do Low Fell first then at least walking along the ridge to Fellbarrow we would have the wind behind us. Being a relatively new area of the Lakes for us, we were able to make out some of the western fells across Loweswater and Crummock water and further on, the higher Buttermere fells in cloud. A lot of walking still to do!
The path took us all the way to the summit of Low Fell a small summit but a dramatic difference in the wind speed from about 3 ft below the summit where we could just stand up compared to the top itself where we had to crawl up as there was no chance of standing. A quick retreat, retracing our steps to a kissing gate where we headed left across the fell side to the rounded ridge which led us down then up to Fellbarrow. We held on to each other approaching the summit cairn to help prevent us doing a Mary Poppins! As we turned back from the summit the sleet had started blowing horizontally into our faces and we descended quickly to find the style over the fence which was the point at which we could drop down for a more sheltered walk back to the car. As we cross the final field before the farm another gust of wind nearly blew us off our feet reminding us of the initial mutterings at the start of the walk, but we had done it!

Time 2 hrs 30 minutes
Grade Excellent These lower fells get usually tackled in poor weather. This would also be an excellent, but quite different walk, on a sunny summer's afternoon.

Memories

• Wind particularly the difference 3ft made ob Low fell
• A lot more Wainwrights to tackle

Complete 68 To Go 146

Binsey and Dodd (two seperate walks)

The forecast was bad. Waking up feeling as though flu was about to flatten Elspeth it was touch and go whether an outing would be feasible today. However after a little gentle persuasion about blowing cobwebs (and viruses) away we headed for a taster of what the day would be like - Binsey. The most northerly of the Wainwrights seemed ideal for the conditions. We parked at Binsey Lodge on the road between the Castle Inn and Ireby. A straightforward track took us up from the south east directly to the summit. On the top a transient patch of brightness flooded the flat countryside westward and on to the coast. However to the south the real dramatic dark clouds over the northern fells gave a truer picture of the prevailing conditions. By some good fortune, the rain stayed off while we were on the hill and the wind although strong, posed no problems.

The descent was by the same route(but obviously, in reverse), just back to the car when the rain started.

Time 40 mns

It was still only 10.00am, the cobwebs and viruses having been blown away, were now all set for another outing, albeit, I agreed, nothing too strenuous. What better than Dodd with the Sawmill tearoom at the bottom. A warming coffee was consumed as the rain became heavier but our resolve was strong and protected by waterproofs from the start we followed the green trail up through the woods. No more than 500 yds into the walk two deer ran across the path in front of us. No need for map reading here although occasionally the green post were a little confusing being situated at a junction of paths without any direction of which path to take. However using common sense i.e. heading upwards through the forest paths, the trail avoided the large metalled track for the most part and we soon reached the col between Dodd and Carl Side. A magnificent vista opened before us to the south . Not the glorious sun drenched panorama that one usually visualises with the term 'magnificent vista' but the much more atmospheric dark fells highlighted by occasional beams of sunshine penetrating the clouds, spotlighting white curtains of rain showers, giving the depth to the whole scene.

A short climb up the south shoulder soon took us to the summit with more views over to the dark western fells again with each individual group of ridges, Barrow and Outerside, Causey Pike and Crag Hill clearly demarcated by the lighting from the clouds and showers in the distance. The rain persisted so quickly we descended down the western side of the hill back the the golden colours of the forest with an incredibly bright rainbow appearing ahead of us.

Time 2 hrs

Memories

• Golden colours
• Atmospheric views
• Two deer in Dodd Wood
• Rainbows

Grade: Excellent day

Completed 66 To Go 148