Last of winter? an icy but sunny Glaramara

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.

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.

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.

view down Borrowdale from Combe Head

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!

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.

Keswick Mountain Festival 2011

Been too busy!! but at last an update on this years Keswick Mountain Festival.......

All of Keswick Rambles Walks went really well in spite of it being a really windy few days as you will see on the photos.  That led to minor route changes but all walks went ahead and everyone enjoyed themselves and is looking forward with anticipation to next year's Festival.

Here are a few photos to give you a taste of this years walks

On Wednesday and Sunday I took groups up Catbells.  Most people were new to walking in the Lake District and enjoyed the challenge of scrambling up the north ridge which was rather breezy although the wind didn't really hit us until we reached the summit.  On Wednesday Derwentwater was rather choppy giving us somewhat damp rides across the Lake but on Sunday the waves were too big for the boats to go out and we had to use a taxi at the start of the walk and return to Keswick by bus. (gave us time for tea & cakes at Shepherd's Caf!)


hold on to your hat

On Sunday we had every sort of weather - rain, wind, hail and sunshine - a wonderful introduction to Lake district walking


Sundays group on the summit of Catbells





view up the lake as we crossed the boardwalk









Thursday was my biggest walk of the Festival with a group of 12 up Great Gable and it was the day with the best weather. We started up beside Sour Milk Gill into Gillercombe and then took off up the grass towards the Hanging Rock and up onto the ridge of Base Brown. The glorious views back down Borrowdale from Base Brown gave us every reason to stop and turn around but soon we were looking forward to Green Gable and Great Gable as well as across to Great End.  There are so many superb views on this walk, the peaks we could see are too many to list. From the top of Gable we dropped down to Westmoreland Cairn to marvel at the view down Wasdale and onto the top Napes Ridge at our feet.



View north from Base Brown



some of the group

Friday was my day for Ullock Pike - windy again but a late start meant we missed the worst of the early rain. By the afternoon the cloud had lifted and the sun came out giving us lovely views across Newlands and Derwentwater as we descended from Carlside.  Up Dodd for more super views and a gentle stroll across the fields to Keswick - minor excitement when Skye disappeared for 10minutes in Dodd Wood!

up a windy ridge - rain has already stopped

Super view from Whitestones on the way down Carlside

On Saturday I went up Bessyboot, Rosthwaite Fell and Glaramara - one of my favourite walks, especialyy on a clear day.  Luckily we were sheltered from the wind for most of the way up and had it on our backs
as we came down Thornythwaite Fell.  A great day was had by all and we just beat the rain as we reached our cars!

Great Gable to ourselves!

Sour Milk Gill in spate

By choice I probably wouldn't have chosen Great Gable - but the plans had been made and the Weatherline forecast said the wind was expected to drop and the cloud to lift!  So using a route which should keep us sheltered from the predicted 40 to 50mph south westerlies we set off from Seathwaite Farm alongside Sour Milk Gill. The waterfalls were impressive and the path was running with water too. Into the cloud by the time we reached Gillercombe but the rain stopped and we just felt damp from the cloud.  Green Gable summit to ourselves - Great Gable too - but we met one couple ascending as we went down towards Sty Head. I spent a lot of time pointing at invisible hills, calling to an invisible Skye in the mist and admiring geological features which were accentuated by the water!!

Here is a view of Scafells from the top of Great Gable to remind me of what we missed this time!