Sunday 21st November 2021
Day 2 of my much needed clomp round the hills saw me meeting up with Paul and Colin for, what I can only describe as a meticulously planned, well thought out and perfectly executed meet.
Starting with Colin standing sentinel at the entrance to the parking spot because Paul had wandered off to round me up, thinking I’d go and park in the wrong place. ‘Fraid I can’t fault that logic.
It was an absolutely stonkingly glorious day. My car’s temperature gauge said 0 degrees and a snowflake and there was wall to wall sunshine and blue skies. A complete contrast to yesterday.
We decided to go up Graystones first as it would be the steepest bit of the day and probably better in ascent than descent. Though after seeing it, there was no “probably” about it. Paul suggested we meander up the forestry track to gain some height in a more dignified manner before tackling the final third of near-vertical “up”. A forest track is a forest track and I didn’t take any pics. We eventually left the track for a, erm, less trodden path. Luckily this was short and sweet and we arrived at a wire fence. Apparently there used to be a stile here but it had been replaced with more wire fencing. Colin, being the tallest, tried a bit of DIY castration as he climbed over it. Based on that dynamic risk assessment Paul decided to stay this side, and so did I.
And so started the unrelentingly steep bit. Obviously with us all being serious walkers we strode up the hillside confidently and will vehemently deny any suggestion that any of us used the wire fence to cling on to/haul ourselves up by
Looking down the steep hillside:
The views were coming along nicely and I stopped frequently to admire them
We reached a corner in the fenceline but luckily this had a wooden “thing” that could be climbed over with relative ease. Well, I climbed over it with relative ease. Colin was already on the other side of it. So that just left Paul..
Up ahead, more up. And a little rocky clamber. And about 3 false summits later we actually got to “the top”. Oooh the views
Having reached “the top” I assumed we were on Graystones summit. I have no sense of direction. Just sayin’
Apparently there are two summits – the real one and the Wainwright one. So we bagged them both to be on the safe side.
Scotland looked very close from here. My camera didn’t pick that up
:
But, had there been swirling cloud, I’m sure these Shadow Monsters would have been amazing brocken spectres instead.
More views:
What actually was I looking at there? Already I was completely disorientated-ish and when Paul checked his gadget-mi-bob I just pretended that the direction he wandered off in was exactly where we were going anyway
And from part way up Broom Fell (I think) looking back:
I could quite happily have bounced around on all the frost-tickled, frozen puddled lumps and bumps of these fell tops all day. It was a proper rosy-cheeked, sparkly-eyed (and runny-nosed) sort of day. My absolute favourite walking conditions
Broom Fell:
We stopped here and had a snack stop. I’m liking that the summit shelter has seats on both sides and we nabbed the in the sun, sheltered from the wind side, leaving the shaded, unsheltered side (but had better views) for the family with delightfully vocal child to enjoy.
Skiddaw with Bassenthwaite Lake peeping into view:
The original plan was to do Barf too but I was conscious of the time and, after a bit of a conflab, decided to miss it out
It looks superbly lumpy and bumpy and I will be back.Sadly, all that remained now was to get off Lords Seat and wander haphazardly through the forest where hobgoblins and pixies live. I’ve no idea why I didn’t take any pics of the wonderful mossy woodland floor. I’m not normally a fan of pine forests but this, the forest floor at least, was quite enchanting.
I was feeling another snack stop sort of urge and as we rounded a corner and came into the sunshine I spotted a nice log bench to sit on. Except a couple coming the other way got there first (how dare they!) So we carried on, looking out for something similar before we lost the sunshine. Colin spotted some tree stumps next to the track which looked as good a place as any, so we perched and snacked, in the last of the sunshine.
I can’t make my mind up about forestry tracks. On the one hand, it’s easy walking on gentle gradients, which is very welcome at the end of a walk, but on the other, it’s a bit dull, particularly after the stonking good views from “up there”.
Fleeting glimpses of the fells:
And looking the other way:
But the path was closed for forestry/maintenance work(?) so we retraced our steps and headed back to the cars.
Well I thought it was an absolutely smashing day and a great way to end my little mini-break in the Lakes. Thanks guys for the company, chat and chuckles … and the, umm, navigational assistance
Thanks for reading.