Long time waiting

Been meaning to get these on the blog for ages - wouldn't have bothered now but the pictures justify a belated post.

Bank Holiday (Easter) Monday

Having planned an outing for Easter Sunday in the Lakes, the weather forced cancellation and found Ian and I back on Winter Hill doing a brisk round of ‘The Climbs’. However, things were looking up for a trip to the Dales on the Bank Holiday Monday. Approaching Ingleton for an 8.30 start there was a bit of a surprise at how much snow there actually was on the tops.



Ingleborough in all its splendour

An outing with our good friend Keith a winter munroist completer and out to test his 'speed work' as part of a build up to his 8th LDWA Hundred, which this year covers the Yorkshire Dales. Setting off in sunshine and sheltered from the wind was a relief after the conditions on the last three days. Friday in particular saw us battling against strong winds on the Caldervale 10 mile road race. Saturday -Scafell Pike cancelled - conditions on a winter round of Coopes’ Dozen with EtU and YJ saw FSS and me retreat two thirds of the way round.

Today, stunning views in every direction were the order of the day. However, the ascent onto Ingleborough was slowed by the amount of snow on the ground and we soon found out that the wind hadn’t dropped much. Exhileration on the summit sadly gave way to a sinking feeling as darker clouds rolled in from the north-east and a bitterly cold wind pursued us all along the ridge and into a snow storm. Unbelievably, the final descent was in bright sunshine and to top it all a train conveniently appeared to perfect the view to the Ribblehead viaduct.

A stop for sustenance taking advantage of the wall below the viaduct saw us ready to tackle the ascent of Whernside. More snow arriving for the final pull to the summit with the snow cover increasing with height and much of it blowing over the wall along the top. The 'cloud cover' turns out to be spindrift and produces some spectacular photographs. Path is pretty busy now with plenty of people stopping for lunch below the summit and enjoying the sunshine.

NLN in spindrift on Whernside summit

Long slow run off through snow made the decision to leave Gregareth for another day a good one. A grand day out measured at just short of 19 miles with just under 4,000ft of climbing.

Sunday 30 March – Foraging for a walk over Fairfield

Again, meeting Keith for a ‘speed and hill’ session. The plan - meet at Threlkeld to leave a car then drive back to Rydal to go over Fairfield, picking up the BG route from Seat Sandal, over Helvellyn dropping down to Threlkeld again.

The reality – Arriving in Threlkeld in the pouring rain it didn’t take long to persuade us all that morning coffee in the Horse and Farrier would be a good alternative to what was planned. 10.30 saw the rain still pouring and finding us in the outdoor shop at Windermere where Keith found a sleeping bag replacement. Finally we park up at Dunmail Rise where a descending runner tells of the white-out hell on Helvellyn and how Fairfield is probably unreachable so we decide to have a look at our options from Seat Sandal’s summit.


Looking over Dollywagon to a snow capped Helvellyn Summit and to the right Striding Edge with Catsye Cam beyond
FSS & NLN – normally a trickle, the effects of the morning’s heavy downpour on the waterfall at Hause Riggs on the Old County Tops Fell Race route?


The wind is really strong and cold as we reach the summit where we decide to make Dollywagon our next summit and then on to Fairfield now that the summit is visible and the cloud base lifts. Straight down to the waterfall at Hause Riggs which is spectacular in the driving wind. A steep climb back to the summit of Seat Sandal and back down the almost vertical descent to Dunmail. We made the best of the conditions which were bitterly cold even when the rain had stopped. Only 7.5 miles… but 4,650 feet of climbing – a good afternoon on the hill.