I got back from a weeks holiday in the Lakes on Sunday and it was enjoyable
in one sense, but I didn't have the best of luck.
Arrived Sunday evening at Keswick. Weather looked settled, so decided to
drive to Honister pass and climb Dale Head as a "warm up" walk. Unfortunatly
when I was three quarters of the way up a mass of dark cloud swept up from
the South and dumped vast quantities of rain on me. I ended up retreating
back down and discovered that my waterproof jacket had reached the end of
its life. Spent the rest of the evening drying my clothes.
Monday: Went to outdoor shop to replace jacket. Caught a bus to Buttermere,
intending to climb Crag hill, Grasmoor, Hopegill Head and Grisedale Pike and
walk down to Braithwaite. The rain started, and would continue for the next
six hours. As I got to Crag Hill summit I was hit with gale force winds and
decided that slogging up Grasmoor facing the wind was not a good idea, so
headed straight down to Braithwaite via a tarred road in a valley. I didn't
realise that the laces on my right boot had come undone, and as I got to the
end of the road, just outside Braithwaite I sprained my ankle. I limped to
the bus stop and caught a bus back to Keswick. Didn't do any walking for two
more days due to ankle and more foul weather.
Thursday was much better, a nice day at last. Caught a bus to Honister pass
and climbed Great Gable via Brandreth and Green Gable. There was
intermittant cloud that kept covering the summits but I managed to get a
superb vies down towards Buttermere and the Ennerdale valley. The top of
Great Gable was cloudy but every so often the clouds would part to give
intermittant views down Wastwater and the Scafell range. Interesting to wath
the cloud streaming over the summit as the wind was blowing directly up
Wastwater and being forced up by the SW face. I then walked down to
Sprinkling Tarn and back up to Esk Hause and followed the ridge of Allen
Crags, Glaramere and Thornythwaite Fell which eventually took me back down
to Seatoller. I found this ridge quite tortuous - very undulating and rocky.
I did get nice views of the Langdales though.
Friday: Slogged up the tourist route of Skiddaw. It was clear when I started
but as I got to the summit ridge the cloud came down and I had fierce winds
to contend with. Difficult to stand up at times. Didn't get any views that
day.
Saturday: Caught a bus to Grasmere and walked over Greenup Edge to
Stonethwaite. Again the rain arrived and continued for around three hours,
accompanied with gusty winds. I did meet a couple that were walking from
Lands End to John o Groats and were en-route to Keswick, so I joined them
for the second part of the walk.
So in all, I think I was unlucky with the weather, but the break did me
good. It has not put me off, and I will go back next year.
Adam