Something Different

After a few short rides the other week I was keen to do something a bit different for a change so headed over to the Lakes to grab a few more Wainwrights.

I'd last done some fell walking over a year ago and had been stuck on 199 fells since then. One thing that has been a constant for some time is that the Northern Fells have taken up the majority of those fells left to do, usually they accounted for over half of the remainder.

With seven fells yet to do in the group this was still the case. As seems inevitable they were spread out in to three groups, two of these groups formed the eastern most fells with a group of three and one of two. A fine target for the day.

After a leisurely start I parked up in Mungrisedale at around 10am with quite a breeze blowing. Wainwright's recommended route up Bowscale Fell was at the other end of the village so a bit of road walking later and it's a steep climb up through the gorse. As I got higher on the ridge, the wind got stronger and stronger, by the time I was on the summit it was comedy "lean in to the wind at 45degs" strength. It was also pretty cold - so much for the nice spring day promised by the forecast.

The walk to Bannerdale Knotts is pretty uneventful being just a broad depression across boggy ground. Somehow I got my line wrong in dropping off from the summit and ended up traipsing over tussocks to gain the bridge over the beck. Though there were lots of people on Blencathra, the fells I was on were fairly quiet - I met maybe a dozen people in total. The last of the group and the lowest was Souther Fell, just a long broad ridge to the summit then a steep descent back down to Mungrisedale with a long detour to avoid a field.

Bannerdale Knotts from Souther Fell. I think it's a currick in the foreground.

I was fed up with the wind so rather than head for the next two fells just to the North I decided to head over to Thirlmere and climb Raven Crag. I'm sure I'd been to the top of this before (the summit is very close to the top of the crag of the same name) but hadn't noted it. It's a completely different walk to the northern fells - enclosed rather than open, short and steep rather than long and gradual. As I approached the summit area a couple were heading down. A quick chat, they were Wainwright bagging like myself, and the father says: "I follow you on Twitter"! Really quite bizarre, rather embarrassingly I didn't recognise him nor did I ask his name.

The summit of Raven Crag, Brown Cove Crags just below the clouds.

It's a long while since I've suffered from DOMS but being totally unused to fell walking I had sore legs for the next three days. Oh well, just 11 tops to go.

Wheezing and Walking

Despite my best efforts last week I succumbed to the current lurgy doing the rounds. This led to a couple of days in bed feeling pretty lousy. Quite unusual for me - I normally only take days off work for things like physical injury or being hospitalised. Fortunately it struck early in the week so I was on the road to recovery by the weekend.

With good weather forecast for the weekend I decided to head over to the Lakes to grab some more Wainwrights. The Northern Fells seemed like the place to go since the number of fells I had never been near has always been far greater than in any other book and nearly 2/3rds of the remaining tops were in this group. 8:15am saw me at Longlands on the edge of the Uldale fells and ready to go. It was all very easy walking and very quiet - I was passed by a solitary fell-runner as I approached Brae Fell and met another walker as I dropped down to Trusmadoor from Meal Fell but apart from these two I was on my own. With six tops done I headed round to Dodd and just managed to get back to the car inside the time allotted by the car-park ticket.

Sunday was another bike ride - Skipton - Ilkley - Otley - Greenhow - Appletreewick - Skipton: about 60 miles including the bits to and from home. There were just seven of us but there were lots of other cyclists out enjoying the autumn sunshine. We held a steady pace but even so I struggled quite a bit on the bigger climbs like Norwood Edge so my lungs haven't fully recovered.

Two Down, Five to Go

With fine weather promised for Sunday it was time for another trip over to the Lakes. This week's target was to finish off the tops in Book Six - The North Western Fells. I'd only five left to do but they were spread out in four groups so no simple pickings.

I've reached the point where walking poles are a necessity not an affectation but I'd forgotten where we'd stored them so quite a bit of time was spent locating them - senility!

The advantage of early starts ( 5:30AM!) is that the roads are pretty clear so getting over to the Lakes is relatively painless. So it was before 8am when I left Buttermere for the first top, Rannerdale Knotts. There had been some spring snowfall on the higher tops and with the sun yet to reach the valley it was pretty nippy for the first climb. Once on the ridge it was simply a matter of traversing the false summits to the true summit. Being separated from the main mass of fells means that it is a wonderful viewpoint and with the snow on the high fells it was a classic Lakeland spring scene.

Look up towards Buttermere from Rannerdale Knotts

Back to the car then up to Newlands Hause for the Ard Crags - Knott Rigg ridge. Apart from the initial climb this is very easy walking, slightly spoilt by having to retrace my steps as there's no sensible alternative return route. I was finally getting used to the walking poles. Again these are small summits set apart from the main tops so the views are better than you'd expect.

Pillar and the High Stile range from Knott Rigg

Then it was on to Barrow - parking close to the wonderfully named Uzzicar Farm. Finally I began to see other walkers on the fells - I'd begun to think that there was a ban on stepping away from the road. The last top in the book was Castle Crag in Borrowdale, the lowest top in all seven books. Unsurprisingly this was the busiest with a large and noise family at the summit.

Skiddaw from Barrow

My current tally of fells from the seven books is:

Book One: completed

Book Two: 4

Book Three: 8

Book Four: 2

Book Five: 19

Book Six: completed

Book Seven: 9

I had originally considered doing a hill or two out of the central fells book as well but my legs felt I'd had enough so headed home among the crowds on the A65.

Wild Wet Westerly Winds

Well after a year or two of pestering, Steve Brock finally decided to try the Bob Graham this year. With Andy Kitts getting round last week the pressure was on, the forecast however wasn't looking too good with high winds for the whole day and rain promised for the late afternoon.

He tried to move his midnight start time forward so as to avoid the worst of the weather but he couldn't get hold of all the pacers so it had to be the original plan. After seeing him off from the Moot Hall (along with Gavin Pattison) I decided to head up on to Mungrisedale Common to try and get some long exposure shots of them in the back O' Skiddaw. I was there in time but the wind was so strong that I had to hold the tripod down! As a result I didn't get the shots I wanted. Need to sort the technique out I think.

At Threlkeld Gavin was about 15mins up on Steve who was on schedule. A quick changeover then he was off on the Helvellyn leg with Toby, only to reappear a couple of minutes later to get a map for the following leg?! By Dunmail Gavin was about 20mins up on Steve but Steve was still on schedule as they headed up in to the clag.

I go a Text once I'd got home to say he'd finished in 21:59 so well done to Steve.

After a bit of breakfast I headed off to see various family members whom I hadn't seen for a while before heading homewards to meet up with Cath and Claire as they were going to spend the night at home before continuing on their LEJOG.

This morning it was an early start to drop them off where I had picked them up before I nipped up on to Leck Fell to have a look at The Three Men of Gragareth - three ancient cairns. Next agenda for the day was Wild Boar Fell which I've never been up before. I had to wait a while before the rain stopped and I could get out of the car to get changed! Eventually I set off in to the teeth of a gale, it was quite a struggle in the stronger gusts. A bit of lunch in the shelter around the trig point then back to the car and off to Temple Sowerby to meet up with the women.

Seems like the forecast is for more wind and rain but at least the wind will be on their backs rather than having to fight their way in to it.