Monday 26th January, Night walking Helvellyn and Striding Edge

Ian and I set of late on Monday afternoon for a night walk over Striding Edge to Helvellyn and returning by descent of Swirral Edge. We had hoped for a clear evening but unfortunately by the time we reached Red Tarn we were walking in the mist.







Todays pictures are not as good as I had hoped for due to the mist reflecting the light from the flash.


As we left the valley we spoke to some skiers who had just come down from the ski hut on Raise and they estimated a snow covering of 1m between the snow fences. The snow conditions on Helvellyn are the best I have seen for years and both ridges were plastered in good firm snow.The plateau was very wind swept with just a fine covering snow.


Having arrived at Red Tarn we climbed steadily up the hill side to gain Striding Edge and our route to the summit.

The ridge looked very different with most of the usual landmarks buried in deep snow. The route had an Alpine feel to it this evening with good snow and deep dark drops on either side. It was a nice still evening so we were able to stay on the true ridge line for most of the traverse.









At the chimney section we found this to be banked out with snow and an easy downclimb kicking snow steps got us to the bottom.

The final pull onto Helvellyn was quickly dispatched and we headed over the plateau to the shelter for a brew. Unfortunately the shelter was banked out with snow and was not the best spot for a brew stop tonite. Visibility in the mist was poor as we made our way across the plateau to the Trig point and the descent cairn on Swirral Edge.





There appeared to be a greater concentration of snow on Swirral Edge compared with Striding Edge and all of the rocky steps on the ridge had been filled in with snow. This made for a very easy but enjoyable descent on good snow before we left the ridge and headed back down to Red Tarn and the short walk back to car in Glenridding.

We had pleasure of enjoying Striding Edge, Swirral Edge and Helvellyn without meeting any other groups.

Saturday 24th January, Lochnagar

This weekend I am in Braemar with Rick hoping for good snow conditions for some winter mountaineering. Our route today started from the car park at Loch Muick up to the main path towards the col beside Meikle Pap. We had great visibility on our walk in with the early morning sun shining on the hills. The wind was a strong southerly and lots of snow was being blown about as we walked in.

From the col we had a good view of the crags and gullies on Lochnagar and there appeared to be some very large cornices present at the top of most routes this combined with a avalanche forecast of Cat 3 on all N facing slopes encouraged us to change plan and we carried on up the hill following the corrie rim towards the summit cairn.

The cairn was covered in some amazing rime ice formations and we managed to find some shelter from the winds to enjoy a quick brew.

Our Plan B for the day which had been developed the previous evening involved us snow shoeing over the plateau and following the line of the Glas Ault burn down to the waterfalls. We had a pleasant afternoon playing around on the snow shoes and watching other walkers sink up to their knees in drfting snow.

It had been well worth the extra effort in carrying them up hill today.

We descended down the line of the waterfalls which were partially frozen and joined the jeep track near the lodge at the far end of the Loch Muick. Before heading back to the car park at the other end of the loch.

Tuesday 13th Jan, Meall Nan Tarmachan

Today I am winter mountaineering in Scotland with Adam on Meall Nan Tarmachan, near Killin. After the past few stormy days the weather has settled down again to give us a cold frosty start to the day with fantastic visibility.

We set off from the car park as sun began rise over the hills giving a nice pink glow.

As we gained height on the path we were able to look over into the crags of Cam Chearg and pick out a few gully lines which we could to explore today.

The thaw had removed a lot of the snow and ice from the gullies so we had to resort to mixed climbing on many of the routes. We managed a total of 5 routes and a traverse of the Tarmachan Ridge today and didn't meet any other walkers or climbers all day

Adam topping out on one of our routes

After our final climb of the day we walked over to the summit of Meall Nan Tarmachan and were fortunate to see a Broken Spectre of our shadows and the cairn on the clouds below.

On the east face of the summit we found some easy gullies we could use as a descent route and followed those down towards the main path back to the car park.

Sunday 11th January, Kentmere

Today I was out in Kentmere with a group training for an overseas expedition. After a prolonged period of good weather in the Lakes it finally changed to being cold, wet and very windy. Due to the poor weather conditions I did not bother taking any pictures today.

We set off from Kentmere Church in relatively calm conditions and headed off up the Garburn Pass before climbing steeply up the gully to reach the flat ground below Yoke. The wind speed had picked up by now and the group were being blown around by strong gusts of wind. The walk up to the summit of Yoke was difficult and after reaching the summit we decided to drop back down into Kentmere valley and go for a low level walk instead.

We found some shelter in an old building at Calfhowe Crags for lunch before continuing up the valley to Kentmere Reservoir. The route back followed the track on the east side of the valley and was walking into the wind and rain for most of the journey back to the cars.

After a quick discussion at the cars we make a group decision to head for Wilf's Cafe for some hot drinks and food.

Tuesday 6th January, Mountain Biking in Grisedale

We awoke to another very cold day in the Lakes, with temperatures at Shap only a few miles away of -10 degrees C.

Today Scott and I decided to have a day off from walking and headed over to Grisedale Forest to play on our mountain bikes on the North Face Trail.

This is a man made trail running though the forest and being mid week it was relatively quiet. Temperatures never got above freezing but we soon heat up as we worked our way round the trail. We managed a few runs before heading home.

Monday 5th Jan, Blea Tarn and Lingmoor

We awoke to another cold and clear day, overnight it had snowed in the Lakes and the Eastern fells had slightly more snow than in the centre and western side.

Our walk today was from Blea Tarn up onto the ridge and then along the tops to the summit cairn.

We made a short detour to the Lingmoor Tarn and Oakhowe Crags to take some pictures of the Langdale valley before rejoining the ridge down towards Side Pike and the descent to the car park.

The paths were still very icy in places but these sections could be easily passed.

Sunday, 4th Jan, Crinkle Crags

Another cold and frosty day in the Lakes with clear skies and sunshine. Today is the final walk in the series of festive walks we have been running over the holiday period. We have a large group and I have been assisted today by Sarah.

Our walk started at The Old Dungeon Ghyll car park and headed up Oxendale, before starting the long steep climb up to Red Tarn. This part of the route had lots of ice on the path and we had to choose our route carefully. The hills were much quieter today than they have been recently despite the good weather and we seen relatively few groups.

From Red Tarn we followed the path up past Great Knott to the ridge of Crinkle Crags. From the top of the first Crinkle we had some wonderful 360 degree views of the Lakes and beyond. Our planned route included an ascent of The Bad Step and we made our way across the ridge to the foot of the large rock step.

The group easily managed to scramble up the step and the made their way up the remaining part of the scramble to the summit cairn for our well earned lunch break in the afternoon sun.

The descent route involved traversing the remaining Crinkles towards Three Tarns and the long path down The Band. As I discovered yesterday this route has a number of large patches of ice covering the path in places and care is required at present to avoid slipping.

When we reached the valley and the ODG car park some of the group were keen to test out their head torches. So a smaller group set off up the hill again to Side Pike. Our route here would start in the Blea Tarn side of the hill and after climbing steeply to the col we traversed the hillside to pass through "The Squeeze" and onto the summit by some easy scrambles in the dark. The descent back down to the cars involved a number of short down climbs and everyone had the opportunity to test their headtorches before we completed our day in Great Langdale.

Saturday 3rd Jan, Esk Pike and Bowfell

Another cold day in the Lakes with some good visibility although none of the sunshine we have been enjoying recently.

Todays walk started at Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel and we followed the path into Mickleden before ascending the new path up Rossett Ghyll. The path was very icy in places and care was required to cross these patches. At the top of the ghyll we turned left and made our way to the summit of Rossett Pike to enjoy some views back down the Langdale valley. A cold wind was now blowing and extra layers were needed to keep warm.

As we descended towards a frozen Angle Tarn we watched a group playing on the ice in the centre of the tarn hoping that it was strong enough to hold them until we were past.

From here our route climbed again to Esk Hause and then onto Esk Pike. The hills were busy again with lots of groups moving around and most heading towards Scafell Pike or Crinkle Crags.

Our route descended to Ore Gap before the long traverse up to the summit of Bowfell and our lunch stop. The route down was by descending the great slab onto the climbers traverse path below Bowfell Butress and following this back to the Band and the path back down to Stool End Farm. Sections of this path were particularly icy and great care is required.

Another enjoyable day on the hills.

Friday 2nd Jan, Troutbeck Tongue

Another cold and frosty day in the Lakes. Our walk today was to Troutbeck Tongue a quiet fell top situated in the shadow of the Kentmere Horseshoe. I was with Myra and we left the car near the Queens Head pub in Troutbeck before descending into Town Head and following the line of Trout Beck towards the Tongue. At this point we headed right into the valley of Hagg Gill and followed the line of the old roman road towards High Street. The valley has many old slate mine workings on the side of Yoke and Ill Bell.

For a short time today it tried to snow but it was only very light flakes and it did not last. After a few kilometers our route swung left up onto the ridge of Troutbeck Park from where an easy walk back along the ridge takes us back to the summit cairn of The Tongue. The views down Windermere are good from this viewpoint despite its modest height. A steep descent back down the nose brought us back onto the track near the farm and an easy walk back to the car.

Thursday 1st Jan 2009, Fairfield Horseshoe

Happy New Year, we started 2009 with one of the Classic Lakeland Ridge walks in cold but clear conditions. I was out with Chris, from St Annes, today on one of our guided walks.

The route started in Rydal near the Church from where we climbed steeply up the path to the summit of our first top The Nab. We had started early and enjoyed watching the sun rise over Ambleside and the frozen valley below.

Once on the ridge the walking was easy on the frozen turf and we soon reached Heron Pike and Great Rigg. A short walk took us to the summit of Fairfield and a well earned stop for a brew. A few other walkers began to appear from different routes to join us on the summit but it was much quieter than a few days ago.

After a short break we headed across the plateau towards Hart Crag and Dove Crag. From this point we followed the line of the old wall along the ridge towards High Pike and Low Pike before descending to the Old Coffin Road and an easy walk back to the cars at Rydal Hall.

Another wonderful day for walking in the Lakes.