How(gills) Wet Was That!

The rolling assembly for Sunday's outing worked to schedule and the four of us (TF [instigator and driver], SN, YJ and self) left Bamber Bridge for the Howgills bob on time at 08:00 hours. A brief comfort break part way had been programmed in and we reached our launch point near Fairmile Bridge, betwixt the M6 and the Howgill massif, well before our target 'feet on fell' time of 10:00 hours and we actually set off 15 minutes early at 09:45.

The forecast had been for heavy  rain from the outset, but initially we were only faced with fine drizzle. The first stiff climb affected a number of calves but we persevered and were soon rewarded with a fine view of Black Force, a feature not typical of the main rolling contours of most of the Howgills:-

We skirted the top of the Force and swung south to Breaks Head. By then both the wind and the rain had become more severe and despite us all being well clothed we opted for discretion and veered south west back to our starting point, passing over Fell Head, the highest point on our route at a little over 2,000ft:-

We were out for just about two and a half hours and covered a little over 5 miles, so not a mega outing, but a challenging and exhilarating one nevertheless.

Many thanks to all my companions, especially TF for playing the part of mover and shaker (is that what they say?). I think our appetites have been whetted and we will be back as soon as we can expect some better weather.

For those that haven't already guessed, the above photos were not taken on this outing!