Life can be difficult and for the past two weeks I've had too much
work to do in both my job and private life. I woke early yesterday
morning, the weather forecast was very promising and I thought it was
time I had a day to myself on the fells. By the time I'd got ready the
sun was shining and I headed off through the Kendal rush hour to
Sadgill in Longsleddale. Mine was the only car in the parking area at
that time and I set off up the steep fellside at 8:40. Once up on
Great Howe I knew the steep ascent was over and the much more gradual
climb to Grey Crag seemed effortless. There was a bit more breeze up
on the top but I stopped for something to eat without getting cold. A
shirt and Paramo Cascada were quite enough to keep me warm. There were
lots of hazy clouds around, visibility was not good enough for decent
photos but it was wondeful to be out in the sun.
I continued to Tarn Crag which has a survey pillar about ten feet tall
left over from the construction of the Haweswater aqueduct, and on to
Branstree. On the descent to the head of Gatescarth pass I spotted the
first fellwalkers of the day but they had gone by the time I got down
there. Harter Fell was the last serious ascent of the walk and as I
sat by the cairn a walker strode up from Nan Bield. He was the first
person I'd seen to speak to and he was someone I'd worked with until a
few weeks ago, a remarkable coincidence. I was busy doing an equipment
test. I'd long wanted to take soft fruit like peaches or nectarines on
my walks but never had anything to keep them protected. Banana lovers
have their Banana Guards - perhaps they should have been called
Banana Armour :-), but I've only recently come across the Fruity Face:
lakeland.co.uk!11078Open ↗
which allows you to store your soft fruit inside an inflatable ball -
jut put the fruit inside and blow it up (no! not with Semtex). I'd
taken a ripe plum, the only fruit I had to hand, and it had been kept
in perfect condition. I'll try a nectarine next time.
I continued over Kentmere Pike and down to Shipman Knotts with my
erstwhile colleague, left him there to have his sandwiches and got
down to Sadgill at 14:20 where only four other cars had joined mine.
My only regret of the day was that I'd forgotten the sun block!
John D.
--
John Dawson at home in Kendal, Cumbria.
Lake District Walks Web Pages http://www.lakedistrictwalks.com/
Kilimanjaro trip at http://www.lakedistrictwalks.com/kilimanjaro/
Egypt trip at http://www.lakedistrictwalks.com/egypt/