For our first visit of the year to the Lake
District, we decided to break with our "traditional" visit
to Grasmere, and stay in Keswick instead. David had found a small
guesthouse, Birch
How, in Station Road, which is owned by a member of Keswick
AC, and it was just the thing we were looking for. The owner was
away, and the guesthouse was being looked after by her friend, Alison,
who is really nice, and cooks a wonderful breakfast!
We started the holiday with a trip on the Friday
evening to Rheged, where we met up with Roger and Ann Hiley for
a lecture by Sir Chris Bonington. This was an excellent evening,
and the time went very quickly - always a good sign that your are
enjoying yourself!
Staying so close by, I could not resist another
walk on my favourite mountain, Blencathra, which I had not been
on for nearly three years. To get me in the mood for the walk, as
if I needed any encouragement, when we arrived on the Friday, I
noticed that Cumbria Life Magazine had a feature on Blencathra.
In the article, Blencathra is likened to Polaris, the North Star,
describing it as a recognisable constant, visible from most parts
of the Lake District and therefore always there to position yourself
by. I could not have put it better myself.
For a change, we thought we would ascend via
Scales Fell and Scales Tarn. Unfortunately, the weather was not
kind to us, and when we arrived in the lay-by at Scales on the A66,
the cloud was nearly down to the road. Determined not to let a bit
of mist spoil our enjoyment, we set off undeterred. |
|
| The footpath to Scales Fell from the A66 |
|
| Still a bit of visibility left as we set off along
the path |
|
| Not much visibility towards Matterdale |
|
| The path is quite steep, but very good and well defined |
| We had not climbed very far, before the views
started to disappear altogether and everything became grey and ghostly.
The wind was very strong, but at least it was not raining - yet! |
|
| Everything starts to take on a ghostly appearance,
as we get into the cloud |
| A little further up, the path splits, with a choice
of going straight ahead for Scales Tarn and Sharp Edge, or left for
Scales Fell. |
|
| The point where the path splits |
| We initially continued along our planned route towards Scales Tarn,
but before too long realised that there would be no views at all,
so we diverted back up Scales Fell. |
|
| On the path to Scales Tarn |
|
| Change of plan as we cut across to the Scales Fell
path |
The path up Scales Fell is grassy, and not
particularly distinctive, but further up it joins up with the path
from Scales Tarn, and a very good, made path zig zags its way towards
the Summit.
Unfortunately, by now, the visibility was so bad, that if we were
separated by much more than 10 paces, we started losing sight of
each other. This was not too much of a problem, however, on a good
path like this, with no real chance of getting lost, so staying
together was not so important as it would have been on some other
fells. |
|
| David looks at what little of the path ahead is visible |
| Unlike our previous January visits, there was
not much snow about, but as we got up higher, there was a little snow
here and there. At one point we even had to walk through a decent
layer, but only for a short while. |
|
| Reaching some snow at last |
As we reached the Summit, there was nobody
else there, and for quite a while we had the Summit to ourselves.
Surprisingly, all the snow was lower down and the Summit was completely
clear.
We were just beginning to think we must be the only people daft
enough to climb mountains in these conditions, when about 10 people
and 3 dogs suddenly appeared out of the mist. We took this as a
prompt to start making our way back down. |
|
| Not a brocken spectre, but David at the Summit! |
|
| David at the Summit |
|
| The Summit Trig Point, and the top of Hall's Fell |
| We set off back down Scales Fell, retracing our
steps through the snow and past Doddick Fell onto Scales Fell. |
|
| Back down at the level where there is still snow |
|
| Walking in the mist on our way back down Scales Fell |
|
| David silhouetted in the mist, as he waits for me
to catch up |
|
| More mist on Scales Fell |
|
| David silhouetted in the mist again |
| For a long while, we descended through the cloud,
unable to see anything except the path directly ahead, and then suddenly
the cloud lifted for a minute or two, and we could see what was around
us. |
|
| David admires the first view of the day |
| But the cloud soon came back down like a curtain,
and we were back to having no visibility. |
|
| The cloud comes back down like a curtain |
| A little further down Scales Fell, we started
getting intermittent visibility again. Unfortunately, it also started
raining at this point. Only a slight drizzle at first, but as we got
closer to the road, it was really pouring down. |
|
| A little visibility again, as we get further down |
|
| Looking across to Clough Head |
|
| Views of Matterdale from where the path splits |
|
| Clough Head from the path back down to Scales - by
now it was pouring with rain |
|
| Getting wet on Scales |
|
| Back at the kissing gate |
|
| Being watched by local Herdwicks, as we get changed
in the lay-by at Scales |
| In spite of the lack of visibility, and the rain
at the end, we both had a wonderful walk on this super mountain, and
it was great to be back in the fells after a 4 month wait! |
