Attendees: Claire, Alan & Maggie
The plan was to practice our newly learnt ice axe skills, but we were met with rather green looking hills, just a dash of snow on Helvellyn and Scafell. But we were well pleased with dry, cloud free summits for a whole weekend, albeit one where we battled against the 80mph gusts of wind. Friday was our first intro to the winds, along the Skiddaw ridge, crawling along Little Man and managing to make it all the way to the summit. We bid a hasty retreat heading east via the remote Skiddaw House YHA. On Saturday we set off from Little Town, and as we approached our first summit – Hindscarth – we were once again knocked over by the wind. Again we battled our way, struggling to stand on top of Dale Head, but then a more pleasant stroll up to High Spy (what a fantastic view point – I think most of the Lakeland mountains can be seen from here) and on towards Catbells with super views of Derwentwater. Keswick was full that night, but we did manage to squeeze in one of the many pubs for a well earned meal. On Sunday we opted for an easier walk (though Maggie didn’t think so!), firstly up to Raven Crag and Castle Crag above Thirlmere, and then across some wet stuff to Armboth Fell, a lovely rocky outcrop in a sea of bog. A little disagreement about the best route down, but Claire won and we took the official footpath back down to the lake. A very efficient non stop drive back home (yes – no congestion on the M6) saw us back in Newbury in time for dinner, well pleased after 3 dry days in the Lakes.
Photos by Claire
