When I opened the kitchen door to take the milk in at 5.30 this morning
it was drizzling at which point I very nearly returned to bed but hope
triumphed over experience and 45 minutes later I was on my way (and it
was still raining). I ran out of the rain on the way and as the dawn
approached as I drove into the Lake District it dawned on me that that
yellow shiny thing on yesterdays BBC forecast was going to be a lot
closer to reality than Metchecks solid cloud at 2000 feet.
95 miles and 2 hours after leaving home I was first into the car park
below Grasmoor but not by much. By the time I had my boots on 2 others
had arrived. As soon as I got out of the car I put my sweater on on the
assumption that I needed its protection on a cold winters morning. How
wrong I was, it was off a few minutes later to spend the whole walk
under the lid of my rucksack waiting for the need that never arose.
When I had first climbed Whiteside it had been an afternoon walk with
several Wainwrights already ticked off and a bit of a struggle. 16
months on and it felt just as hard without any tiring hors d’oeuvre and
estimates were quickly scaled back. It was however a glorious morning
for a steep slog. Cool but not cold and with an extensive view marred
only by an indistinct horizon. When Grasmoor no longer hid the sun it
got even better. From the 1st summit onwards there were the occasional
small patches of snow but nothing of any consequence.
My expectation of having the fells to myself that early in the day was
soon thwarted. As I approached the summit of Hopegill Head I found it
already occupied by a couple who also appreciated the emptiness in early
morning.
The only ‘must-do’ summit of the day was to the North of Hopegill Head -
Ladyside Pike - my last remaining SWEAT in the Lake District. I was
actually following the Nutallls walk 2.2 and they had already planted a
seed of doubt with a description of the trip out and back as “the
descent over steep rocks is a little awkward, the re-ascent is a
pleasant scramble”. In the event it turned out to be a diabolical
descent with the rock so slippery the you just had to stand upright or
not at all and even the surface of the scree was trying to emulate a
skating rink. The ground wasn’t particularly steep so it wasn’t easy to
face inwards and climb down and in several places I had a crisis of
confidence and resorted to 5 point contact. The seat of my breeches
stuck to the rock in a manner neither my hands or boots could manage.
I tarried awhile on the summit o Ladyside Pike and even took some
photographs. The return trip to Hopegill Head took less time than the
descent but even going up it was necessary to place every foot with
care.
The summit of Hopegill Head was again occupied, this time by 3 friendly
lads from Newcastle and we chatted for a bit before I set off for Sand
Hill. I hadn’t gone far before 2 of the lads came galloping past. The
3rd, who described himself as a tortoise rather than a hare was
proceeding only slightly faster than I was.
Just before I left the path and headed up towards Grasmoor I bumped into
one of the 2 other early morning occupants of the car park doing a
circuit in the reverse direction and on the upper slopes o Grasmoor I
saw the other at a distance avoiding the actual summit.
The summit of Grasmoor was also occupied, this time by a solitary walker
and his dog but he was off before I had as much as unslung my camera (in
a no doubt vain attempt to capture the feeling of a very fine day).
From Grasmoor on it was mostly downhill which was a good thing as I was
beginning to feel tired and my knee was twinging. Lunch was taken on
Wandope which was otherwise unoccupied (one dope on Wandope?) but by now
there were walkers almost everywhere including at least a dozen near the
summit of Grasmoor.
After Whiteless Pike I abandoned the Nuttall itinerary and traversed
Rannerdale Knotts. A fine ridge for such a small hill. I discovered as I
descended the steep path back to the road that when I had previously
done that peak I hadn’t picked the best way up. This time there was no
dodging gorse bushes and scrabbling on steep earth.
All that remained was a mile and a half of road walking most of it
gently uphill but by this time I was so tired that it was as much as I
could do to keep going. Luckily for much of the way the actual road can
be avoided by a path on or near the verge but unfortunately the traffic
fumes weren’t so obliging. I returned to the car park just after the
walker I had seen at a distance on Grasmoor.
I had left the boot of my car open and as sitting in the passenger seat
taking my boots off when something rattled the now vertical boot cover
but before I could investigate my attention was distracted by a
parascender (who had been floating around beneath the summit of
Grasmoor) landing just the other side of the road. Then a dog owner
started calling out for her missing dog and I suggested it might well be
in my boot. And there it was, firmly ensconced and not at all willing to
be dragged out by its owner. Appears it had been spooked by the
approaching parascender and taken cover in the nearest available hole.
There were a lot o chatty people about today. During a conversation in
the car park someone suggested that you don’t get many days like today
in a Summer. I am only sorry I wasn’t fit enough to make the most of it.
According to the gps it was 11.4 miles and 4188 feet of ascent in a
couple of minutes over 6 hours (Walking for 5-19). Is that Naismith I
hear quietly sniggering in the background?
--
Roger Chapman so far this year 17 summits
New - 11 (Marilyns 0, Sweats 1, Outlying Fells 10)
Repeats - 6 (Marilyns 1, Sweats 2, Wainwrights 6, Outlying Fells 0)