The Winter Wanderings of the Lakeland Meanderer

Right, lets get Sunday's little jaunt out of the way before we get out today. Nothing too strenous startng with the gentle climb upto High Sweden Bridge which I have done before but not at this time of year. The views upto Fairfield and across the higher fells was amazing so clear was the day. Blue skies and reasonable temperature with snow on the high ground, not that we were gonna get anywhere near that. Wandered past High Sweden Bridge for half amile or so but could find a way across to the track i wanted so becktracked to the bridge and made the usual descent back towards Ambleside. Took a detour up through Rydal Park to Rydal then across the river Rothay towards Rydalwater but verred off back towards Ambleside along the road aptly named Under Loughrigg, because surprisingly it runs along the botom of Loughrigg Fell. Time was well on our side so we turned off up a footpath towards Loughrigg Fell which turned out to be a lot steeper than we expected but as we were there we carried on. On reaching the top he sun was getting quite low so we decided to make for the Pierhead to try to catch the sunset but it did not happen. Not enough clouds and too much clear sky. So a trek back into village was followed by a jolly hour of general inane banter and insults with landlord in the Golden Rule before picking up a Chinese tak-away. Well over 300 images were downloaded to the laptop and hopefully a few may be worth doing something with. The general contrast of the day with such bright and low light made for some amazing viewing but very difficult exposure problems.......will have a proper look when i get home next week.

Today looks like being a hike up on to Loughrigg across towards grasmere and replan from there depending on time and light. Time of next update unsure but thre will be one!!!!!

This is getting boring.......sun, sun, blue skies and more sun!!! Certainly makes a change from the the last few threads. However it is certainly making for better walking and the ability to actually see things. Image contrast is a bit of a problem but we'll see about that when I get home. Monday saw us on a 7-8 wander around Loughrigg fell and back along the upper level track above Rydal Water. Several RAF planes were seen  as this is avery popular area for their lowlevel flying training. Always a grear sight and the sound echoing round the fells is amazing. Rydal Water we took the track back to Ambleside through Rydal Park and surprisingly ended up for a couple of pints in the Golden Rule......another definite habit forming here. An hours general banter with the landlord and a few locals was followed by fish and chips. We do have the makings in the cottage to make a curry which may happen tonight......but we will wait and see how the day goes.Somewhere in the region of 300 images were dropped onto the laptop again so a lot of work is looming when I get back home. And I haven't even finished the North Yorkshire Railway pics yet and they were taken back in October! ! ! ! ! 

Today is gonna be a choice between Grasmere or Keswick....yet to be decided. Today's forecast is sun again all day but a bit colder than the last couple of days and with any luck the winds might be a bit lighter.

More sun and blue skies was the order of the day 0n Tuesday….. plus an unexpected knee high paddle in a freezing tarn which is definitely not to be recommended.....

Parked up in Grasmere around 10am and headed off towards Easedale Tarn. Half a mile on road then off onto more enjoyable tracks, fairly level for about half a mile then gradually uphill albeit not too steep to start with. The temperature gauge in the car had been showing -3c but it certainly did not feel like that in the bright sun. By the time had reached the waterfalls of Sour Milk Gill we were both actually sweating, which was quite amazing considering it is only 2 weeks from Xmas ! ! ! ! ! The trek on to Easedale got a bit steeper but still enjoyable in the wintry sun. Half an hour later we were regaled with the vista of Easedale Tarn and the surrounding crags and hill of Grasmere Common. In order to make descent back to Grasmere we had to Sour Milk Gill as it emerges from Easedale Tarn. The only crossing is by stepping stones! ! ! and one of them was more slippery than the rest and some idiot slipped and ended up almost knee high in water coming from the tarn which was covered in half an inch of ice!! A few choice words were heard ringing through the fells around Easedale Tarn as I rapidly extricated myself from the freezing water. I was soaked upto my knees, but the camera was safe and dry. For all the water was cold I was not too worried as the sun was out and so would help dry the trousers off a bit as we made our way back to Grasmere, and I have wet feet several times before.  The first mile or so of the return journey to Grasmere was via a very rocky, slippery and in places quite indistinct path but as we both already had wet feet the straightest line between two points was sometimes the quickest way to go. Eventually it opened out onto a much easier and obvious path which then took us back into Grasmere. The short drive home did not take long and I was straight into the cottage for change of trousers and shoes and we took a stroll around Ambleside not forgetting of course to make the now obligatory visit to the Golden Rule. After a pleasant hour and few pints it was back home and make a curry, which was amazingly good…….followed by a drop or two of Grouse.

Wednesday is a bit misty and overcast as I scribble this so an easier day is on the cards with probably a drive down to Bowness for a trip round the piers and the marina plus a look round the outdoor shops to try to find a bargain or two. A pub meal is also on the cards as one of the pubs does a cracking carvery at a price not to be sneezed at.

If anything exciting happens it will be relayed to you all later on but one thing certain there will be another visit to the Golden Rule somewhere along the line later in the day

The Golden Rule sounds like my sort of pub, no music, no TV, no food which means no 'little darlings' running round out of control whilst their parents cheerfully ignore them.

Enjoying reading Dave, looking forward to seeing the photos  

Today looks like another good day but forecast for Friday is wet, but can't really complain. Wednesday was very dull and misty with very flat contrast so not much in the way of photos other that the possibility of some black and white work. But as always wait til I get home and have a chance to look properly. Considerin my serious doubts back in September, I did manage to salvage a few reasonable jobs, so who knows!!! As to the Golden Rule Ruth, it really is a super place. Both kids and dogs are allowed and there is never any problem with then. But that can be said of all the pubs here really.

Yet to be decided is today's dstination which is a choice between Tarn Hows near Coniston or Keswick and up to Ashness Bridge. And as I do the driving I think Tarn Hows may just tip the balance..... 

 So judging by the weather forecast for Friday this may be the last days walking and photoing but as always you never know here until you open the curtains in the morning.

Well Thursday was the last good day as expected……but what a day, blue skies and sun all day. And this proved a major part in what should have been a 7 or 8 mile walk ending up as around 4 ! ! ! !  Tarn Hows was the destination and is just a few miles from Hawkshead and Coniston. Left the car in the car park just off the Ambleside to Coniston road and set off up the climb to Tarn Hows. My first indication the walk was gonna be curtailed was very early on this trek up when we stumbled across a waterfall quite resplendent in the early morning light with a good amount of water falling. An added bonus was several bushes which had branches overhanging the stream where festooned with icicles. Needless to say quite a bit of time was spent around this waterfall. Photo opportunities pretty much exhausted we carried on up to Tarn Hows and were not disappointed. The relatively low sun gave amazing views of frosted grass and a completely frozen tarn. He ice in parts being upto an inch thick! And NO! neither of us tried to walk on it….. The track round this man made tarn is maybe 2 miles so normally about 40 minutes walking taking into account stopping to admire the endless view available at every turn. But as it was so spectacular this day we took almost 3 hours to get round, which did include a half hour stop for sandwiched and a spot of rock throwing although not one rock broke the surface of the ice. And as it seems that men never grow up the next task was to see who get a lump of ice to skim the furthest across the ice…..it has to be said that it was great fun even if amazingly childlike. I think the furthest we got was probably within 20-30 yards off the opposite shoreline which at that particular point was about 200 yards away. The sound of the ice skimming across the surface and the rocks bouncing off the surface was incredible and resonated to all points of the tarn. Just wish it was a sound that we could have recorded….. We eventually reached our starting point at the tarn, long since having given up the idea of the original walk. We wouldn’t have the same views anyway so don’t think anything was lost. Looking at the map we found a slightly different route down to the car which was much easier than the climb but Rob managed to end up on his fat backside due to looking at what he wanted to instead of where he was putting his feet. Fortunately for him he was on dry land as opposed to my unplanned paddle of a few days before. As there was still a bit a light left in the sky we made a quick detour to Elterwater to try to capture the Langdale Pikes which did look as majestic as ever but I seen them better on previous visits. I think the sun had maybe dropped just a bit too much. But Rob was well happy with it as he has not seen them before. So it was a short drive back to the Ambleside, park the car, have a half hour sort out of various bits then off the Golden Rule which was very busy when we walked but eased off after a half hour or so and we eventually got a seat. The usual entertaining banter with John the landlord, locals and other visitors was followed by a walk to the Chinese and a takeaway carried back for tea. About 350 photos were dropped to the laptop and once again already have the feeling of some good ‘uns. I reckon from the 5 days out and about I have got enough stuff to keep me busy well into next year……so you could be looking at this visit for a long time to come.

 But oh dear, Friday has been exactly what the forecast predicted, wet, wet and wet. Started raining around 1030 and not stopped yet 1500. Looks pretty set in but should ease overnight so we may be OK for the usual early start to go home. Did get out into the village to make a purchase or two but only for an hour or so. Got back to the cottage had an early lunch, got 90% packed ready for the morning, caught up a few e-mails along with this rubbish and just about to make the last visit of the week to the Rule which will almost certainly be followed by another Chinese.

 So that is about it for this week, albeit possibly the best week for weather that I have had for several visits. Hopefully it has entertained you, cos it’s certainly been good for me.

 Don’t know when the next visit is gonna be but I am thinking of trying April next year in the hope of maybe better weather plus of course a different season of the year…..Lambs, blubells, daffodils and maybe a day or two of nice warm spring sunshine. . . . .