We got off the Caldbeck Rambler near Binsey Lodge on Saturday. We were going to do a few of the northern fells and pitch on the Burnt Horse Ridge. Light rain and drizzle, low cloud, along with strong winds were forecast so we knew it wasn't going to be a great day for walking.
On the footpath on our way toward Overwater Hall
Fantastic the fells were free of cloud, totally unexpected
Passing by Overwater Hall
We noticed some cows in the field and they started to run toward us. As they got closer we saw they were young bullocks. Luckily there was a prostrate tree a little to the right of us so we walked to the other side of it. It would give us some protection if they charged at us. They stopped for a while and looked at us then they raced off toward the hotel and we carried on unscathed on the footpath to Orthwaite.
Orthwaite ahead
On the way up Great Cockup, the first fell of the day, Dead Crags in view below Bakestall
It wasn't raining at this point but it was very windy
Great Cockup western top ahead
Dash Falls
Beefy on the western top of Great Cockup
Beefy on the summit of Great Cockup
It had started to rain a little now and we could see it was clagging in. We dropped down to Trusmadoor and sheltered behind the big rock near Burntod Gill to have an early lunch. We got our waterproof trews on and another layer, it felt cold now. The cloud covered all of the tops so we knew most of the day would be in clag most likely. Well at least we had one top not in clag!
Beefy in the clag on Meal Fell
Next was Great Sca Fell and the rain had got much heavier and the wind even stronger. I forgot to take a shot on the summit I was too busy studying the map and the direction we would be going in to reach Knott. I actually used my tablet and viewranger, it was quicker than getting the map out and taking a compass bearing, the weather was awful, so I cheated
Beefy on Knott
The wind and rain was in our faces as we left Knott toward Great Calva. Our morale and enjoyment of the day was at its lowest here. The wind and rain decreased as we got to the col below Great Calva and it was nice to have some respite for a while. We were getting tired as we climbed Great Calva and we saw the first person we'd seen since we got off the bus four and a half hours previously. A runner was on his way down from the summit. We had a banana break in the summit shelter and rested our legs for a while.
Beefy on Great Calva
Still no views. The wind was really strong on the top and we descended as quickly as we could toward the Skiddaw House supply road.
Beefy on the way to Skiddaw House
We saw the second lot of people here, two men with shotguns, one touched his cap when he said hello to me, very polite! We secretly hoped they weren't very good shots and whatever they wanted to shoot survived the day.
At Skiddaw House we looked back at Great Calva. Typical, now free of cloud
Looking south, High Rigg in view
On the way up the Burnt Horse Ridge
We knew Karl had pitched here before so we guessed any idiot could find a pitch here
It was slow progress, the slope wasn't that steep but we were flagging a bit. We were quite dry by now, the wind had blown dry our jackets when the rain stopped.
On the Burnt Horse Ridge
We saw two more people, a couple who had descended from Lonscale Fell. 5 people in 7 and a half hours, very quiet on the fells today. We spotted a likely pitch but we needed water so we dropped down to the col below Lonscale Fell. We found some to the left in one of the feeders to the Glenderaterra Beck. We climbed back up the Burnt Horse Ridge but this time on the other side of the fence and pitched after we'd got our water on to filter.
Beefy and the MSR on the Burnt Horse Ridge
The cloud had broke a little and we got a bit of blue sky. The wind wasn't that bad here, it was sheltered from the worst of it.
Blencathra still has a little cloud cover
The MSR, Beefy and Bakestall in view
We had a brew then had some food and opened the wine. It had been a long day and we enjoyed relaxing in the tent.
No sunset but we had a cloud and mist show
Two curious locals
It started raining and the clag enveloped us, we were in our bags and had the rest of our wine. Despite the awful weather and no views for most of the day we'd still really enjoyed the walk.
Day 1 was Near Binsey Lodge - Overwater Hotel - Orthwaite - Great Cockup - Meal Fell - Great Sca Fell - Knott - Great Calva - Skiddaw House - Burnt Horse Ridge. 18.5km with 1061m of ascent, 760m descent.
It rained all night and didn't stop. The wind got stronger for a while and then died down again. We were still in clag and we thought we would head down to Threlkeld, this was the closest place to a bus stop, 5 miles a way. We packed the tent away and the rain had stopped for a while. It started again as we made for the Guidestone and the wind was blowing it right in our faces.
Beefy and the Glenderaterra with a lot more water in it than of late
Waterfall on the way to the Blencathra Centre
We were very wet when we got to Threlkeld but the next bus was only ten minutes wait. A very kind lady stopped in her car and asked us if we wanted a lift to Keswick. We were soaked so we said thank you but no, we didn't want to spoil the inside her car. How nice of her, this doesn't happen very often, people being nice
When we got to Keswick we had over an hour an a half to wait for the 554 so first stop was Mrs F's for tea and cake
Lovely, Beefy had chocolate fudge cake and I had lemon curd cake
We haven't tried all of the different cakes yet or the soup or scones. We will be back, the cake is fab
Afterwards we looked at waterproofs in a couple of the outdoor shops. We nearly always get unwanted advice and today was no exception. All we wanted to do was just have a look for ourselves and not have a salesperson try to convince us to buy something. A saleswoman in George Fisher was particularly irritating and continued to prattle on at us even though we'd said we just wanted to have a look ourselves.
We'd had a pretty good weekend despite the weather, Day 2 was Burnt Horse Ridge - Guidestone - Blencathra Centre - Threlkeld 7.65km with 113m ascent and 521m descent. It was sunny of course when we reached Carlisle. Right we have had enough rain now, can we have the nice summer weather back for next weekend please?