Today it is wet and windy; so was yesterday the last of winter? I hope not. Anyway, the sun shone on a beautiful Lake District. The air was crystal clear giving wonderful distant views and the ground underfoot was frozen so we could ignore the paths and walk wherever we liked.
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| Skye only lay and looked 'cos I told him too! |
Anne took some persuading to drive over from Leeds on Saturday morning the conditions were so horrid but she was rewarded with an unmissable day on Sunday. We drove up Borrowdale under a clear blue sky and parked below Thorneythwaite Fell. As we approached the ridge the sheep busy feeding took no more notice of Skye than he did of them. As we climbed the ridge the view behind us gave us plenty of excuses to stop and gaze. A green Borrowdale with snowcapped Skiddaw in the distance.
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| snow capped Skiddaw in the distance |
As we gained height there was a bit of snow around and any water was frozen. At the top of Combe Head the temperature was about -2C but it felt colder in a brisk wind.
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| view down Borrowdale from Combe Head |
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| Summit of Combe Head with Great Gable in the distance |
After a quick coffee in a sheltered hollow we headed across to Glaramara. The frozen water allowed us to take a direct route across the wet area to our south and pick up a snowy ramp up to the eastern ridge of Glaramara. After taking in each of the summits we headed southwards to Allen Crags exploring several tarns on the way which would normally have been too wet to do. The ice, however, was much too thin for walking on the tarns, and even on the streams care and speed were needed at times!
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| Great End from Allen Crags |
After Allen Crags we soon dropped below the snowline and cloud was beginning to build up. A steady descent of Grains Gill avoiding several icy bits brought us down to Seathwaite Farm and along the Allerdale Ramble back to the car. Looking down Borrowdale we could see that the snow on Skiddaw was almost gone.
