Wednesday 31st Dec, Codale Tarn and Blea Rigg

I was out with Lucy again today on her third day of guiding walking in the Lakes. Our route today was from Grasmere village up to Easdale Tarn and Codale Tarn before climbing up to the ridge leading to Blea Rigg from there we descended to Silver Howe before returning to Grasmere.

The valleys were covered by an amazing inversion of freezing clouds all day although the fell tops were clear, calm and enjoying some winter sunshine. We had set off early again to get ahead of the crowds on a popular Lakeland walk and were able to watch the sunrise as we passed through the fields below Sour Milk Ghyll. Much of the Ghyll was frozen with large ice formation on all of the falls. The paths were also covered in thick ice and we had to pick our route carefully in places.

We were rewarded for our early start when we arrived at Easdale Tarn to enjoy the solitude of the tarn with a mirror like surface and reflections of the surrounding fells without any other walkers present. After a short break we continued up towards Codale Tarn diverting briefly to scramble up the ridge of Belle Knott before visiting the Tarn.

From here our route was up onto the ridge of Blea Rigg were we had some amazing views of all of the Lakeland fells in near perfect conditions. We stopped at the Shelter Stone for a well earned lunch break before completing our walk over Silver Howe. We descended out of the sunshine back into the freezing cloud and a very grey Grasmere village.

A great day on hills in wonderful weather.

Tuesday 30th Dec, Fairfield Horseshoe

I was out on Fairfield Horseshoe today with Lucy for the second day of guided walking in the Lakes. Our route today was an anticlockwise circuit of the Fairfield Horseshoe starting from Rydal Hall. We set off early again to miss the large numbers of visitors to the Lakes and enjoy the early morning sunrise over Windermere.

The day started very cold with temperatures of -6 degrees C on the car on the drive to Rydal Hall. Visibility was good to begin with as we ascended up the ridge towards the first of our eight Wainwright tops we would visit today. By the time we had reached High Pike the cloud had come in and visibility was poor. The wind also picked up and it became very cold. When we finally reached the summit Lucy had rime ice growing out of her hat and jacket.

To stay warm on the summit we used a boothy shelter, to get out of the cold wind, for lunch. After a short break we headed back down the ridge eventually dropping out of the clouds just before we reached Heron Pike. The temperature increased also as we dropped and we enjoyed a leisurely bumble for the remainder of the walk.

Monday 29th Dec, Helvellyn by Striding Edge

Today I was out with Lucy on a guided walk, our route started in Patterdale and we took the path from Grisedale Beck up to the Hole in the Wall on Birkhouse Moor. Our early start managed to get us onto Striding Edge ahead of the large groups that were on the hills today. The ridge was in good condition despite the recent frosts and most of the rocks were free of ice, although we did travel carefully.

On the final steep ascent to the plateau we stopped to watch the groups we had seen earlier begin to make their way across the ridge like little ants.

We completed the climb and headed over to the summit for a short break, the summit was very busy with approx 50 people and a few bicycles all lying about basking in the sun.

Our next stop was Nethermost Pike and then onto Dollywagon Pike. The conditions on the felltops today were excellent with good visibility.

We descended down the zigzag path to Grisdale Tarn before following the path down the side Grisedale Beck past the Outward Bound Hut to the valley and Patterdale.

Sat 27th Dec, Hayeswater and High Street

Today we were enjoyed a circular walk on the fells above Hayeswater. Our route started at the village of Hartsop and followed the line of Hayeswater Gill before climbing steeply up onto Grey Crag. It was a cold frosty morning and as we reached the ridge we were exposed to the effects of the cold easterly winds. The route then followed the ridge along to Thornthwaite Beacon, all the way along we were able to watch the wave clouds rolling over High Street and into the valley below.

From the Beacon we followed the route of the old roman road up to the summit of High Street, unfortunately by now we were in the clouds and not able to see much. After a brief stop at the summit cairn we headed towards our next top, Kidsty Pike. Our route then contoured round the valley to the summit of High Raise before heading back over Rampsgill Head to the summit of The Knott. We finally dropped back out of the cloud and enjoyed the last of the after sunshine on our descent to Hartshop.

Thursday 25th Dec, Wansfell

Today we went for a short walk with my daughter Vicki, who is back in the Lakes over Christmas from Barcelona.

Our route started in Troutbeck and followed Nanny Lane up onto the fell before joining the path to the summit of Wansfell. It was a nice day with some strong winter sun and a cold wind on the tops quite a few folks were out walking and the Lakes seemed busier today than earlier in the week with a few Father Christmas about on the fells.

We returned to the car by the same route. Before heading home for Christmas lunch

Wednesday 24th Dec, Langdale Pikes

Todays guided walk was in the Langdale valley. Our route took us up to Stickle Tarn which had some fantastic reflection in the still water. Before walking round the tarn for the final ascent up to the summit of Pavey Ark. After a short break to enjoy the views we headed over to visit Thunacar Knott ( a Wainwright top) before heading back to Harrison Stickle. The fells were very quite today and it was good for our group to enjoy the tops to themselves.

Our next top was Pike of Stickle and the easy scramble to its top, before we got there we spent time looking down the valley towards the site of the old stone age axe factory.

After another short break we headed towards our final to of the day Loft Crag before begining our long descent into the valley where we had left the cars. The Wainwright baggers in the group managed to tick off 5 hills on our walk today, only another 209 to go!

Thursday 18th Dec 2008, Sgor Gaioth

I was out again today with Rick in the Cairngorms winter walking. Overnight the weather had worsened and we saw much of the snowpack melt due to higher temperatures and heavy rain. The winds also continued to be very strong.

We had decided to attempt Sgor Gaioth although Rick's leg was still occassionally giving him some problems. Again we set off from the car park in Glen Feshie before sunrise and started on the gradual ascent up the hill. Unfortunately after we reached the 650m mark Rick's leg problem flared up again and we made the decision to descend and return home. Perhaps it was good timing as shortly after we returned to the car we were caught in a very heavy downpour of rain for almost 30mins.

Wed 17th Dec 2008, Braeriach

For the next few days I am winter walking in the Cairngorms with Rick. The route to Braeriach is a long walk and we set off before sunrise to give us plenty of time. We followed the path from the bends on the ski road and quickly reached the Chalamain Gap just as sun was rising. We were treated to some fantastic early morning light on the hills around Sgor Gaoith before we descended into the Lairig Ghru and the long pull up to the summit.

We crossed a number of large snowfields before arriving on the top of Sron na Lairige by now the wind speed had increased considerably. As we crossed the summit Rick began to have problems with his leg muscles cramping and we decided to head back to the car although we were just short of the summit at this point. The strong winds and Ricks leg made this part of the journey increasing difficult and it took longer than we expected.

After we returned to the car we made a short visit the Avalanche service at Glenmore Lodge where we were abe to check the maximum wind speed recorded at the weather station on top of Cairngorm, during our time on the hills, as 101mph.

Monday 15th Dec, Sergeant Man Helm Crag

I set out from Grasmere and followed the track up past Sourmilk Ghyll to Easdale Tarn gradually climbing above the clouds that were hanging in the valley. After a steep climb up to the summit of Blea Rigg I followed the ridge up to the Sergeant Man, higher up the ground had a good covering of snow and by now the sun was out and we enjoyed beautiful clear blue sky's. My route back to Grasmere took me into the upper reaches of Far Easdale and onto Calf Crag before following the ridge along past Gibson Knott to Helm Crag. After a quick scramble to the summit of Helm Crag it was back to Grasmere.

Sunday 14th Dec, Lingmoor and Yoke

Not an obvious choice of hills to join together but there was good reasons.

The day started at Elterwater and a gentle walk up onto Lingmoor through the old mine workings. The valley was in cloud but as we gained height we gradually got above the clouds and enjoyed a some sunshine. Despite the good weather few people had seemed to venture out this morning onto this popular hill.

After reaching the summit we dropped down to Lingmoor Tarn before traversing across the hill to Side Pike via The Squeeze. A narrow gap between a spike and the crag that you fit through to reach the summit.

After dropping back into the valley we followed the route of the Cumbria way back to Elterwater and the end of our first walk.

Having arrived back home and just sat down to enjoy a coffee the Mountain Rescue Pagers went off. Some walkers had become lost and seperated from their group in the cloud on Kentmere horseshoe. We were tasked with walking the ridge towards Thornthwaite Beacon from Garburn to try and locate them whilst another team searched from the Kentmere Valley towards Nan Bield Pass. We had just reached the top of Yoke when the missing party were located in the valley. The remainder of their group turned up in Patterdale and got a taxi back to their cars in Kentmere. It was a nice evening for a walk as we watched the last of the sun setting on the way back to the Landrovers

Wednesday3rd Dec, Winter Climbing, Helvellyn Massif

We headed from Thirlmere up to Browncove Crags, on Helvellyn, today for some winter mountaineering in the gullies, there was lots of snow about but it has not consolidated yet and was still very powdery. Lots of ice about and the turf , when we dug down to it, was very good for axe placements. There were a few teams about climbing on the buttresses but we choose to stay in the gullies.

After a few ascents of some gullies we headed up to the top of Helvellyn to get some sun and watch the views over the Lakes in the late afternoon sunshine. Striding Edge loooked inviting so we quickly descend down to the ridge and made a crossing with very few people about. To get back to the car involved descending to Red Tarn and making our way over Swirrals Edge back to the summit of Helvellyn. By now it was late afternoon and the cloud had started to come in as we made our way up the ridge and back to the summit.

Just as we summited the cloud broke and we watched the sun setting over Morcambe Bay before making our way back to the car park,using the moonlight to show us the way back down to the cars.