Thursday, September 07, 2017

Another day in the Lakes

The TF has almost finished her Wainwrights and following last month's very successful outing to the Far Eastern fells, she decided to arrange another trip. There were two options, four peaks in the Northern fells if the weather was good, or six in the Western fells if it wasn't.
The forecast was dire and the whole trip was in doubt until late Monday when it was decided to risk the Western option and so I picked EtU up at our Jn 36 rendezvous, and we met up with the TF in Keswick about an hour later. Last month we travelled by boat to the start of our run, this time it was by bus, which I would highly recommend; scenic and relaxing.
We arrived in Buttermere and set off round Crummock Water in "that rain what gets you wet." Conditions underfoot were no better and within half a mile we had all given up trying to avoid the wet sections as we were already soaked. A long and slightly tedious slog up to Floutern Pass ( which can only be described as a morass) was followed by an enjoyable climb to Hen Comb, our first summit. We then had to find our way in very poor visibility to Gavel Fell and were temporarily confused by a small hill called Floutern Cap, but the TF is an excellent navigator and she soon had us on the right path to Gavel Fell, Blake Fell and Burnbank Fell. The weather had improved by this stage but we had fallen behind schedule due to the weather and the conditions underfoot, and a decision was taken to abandon the last two peaks (Fellbarrow and Low Fell) and head for the Kirkstile Inn instead.
A much needed cup of tea and a warm by an open fire revived our spirits and we jogged the last 1.5 miles to catch the bus back to Keswick. The TF is now down to 4 Wainwrights left to climb, and EtU and I are looking forward to joining her when she completes them.
Watch this space.

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