Scramble/Winter Walk

Hi Everyone – I am monitoring the weather for this festive meet. It looks like it will be dry, even mild, but with a lot of mist, so I will choose a location when there is a more detailed forecast available to try to avoid poor visibility/driving conditions. Something fun but straightforward like Hall’s Fell Ridge is a possibility but I will confirm – in the meantime, anyone interested in this meet should keep it in their diary as I’m reasonably sure we’ll manage something!

Judith

Weather: Both Met Office and MWIS predict a temperature inversion, with summits warmer than the valleys. MWIS predicts mainly clear and sunny conditions at height, Met Office sunny spells. Both predict fog and poor visibility in valleys/lower slopes.

Therefore I’m playing it safe and choosing a route that I should/might be able to locate in a mist – Hall’s Fell Ridge on Blencathra, with the option to extend to include Sharp Edge depending on time and conditions.

Meet at 9.30 at the large parking area just past the Blencathra Centre (Blease Fell Road, past the school in Threlkeld and along minor road. Beware! Immediately past the Blencathra Centre the road deteriorates into a massive pothole, but the parking area is on your right.)

Let me know by e-mail at judithbrown3@aol.com if you want to car share from Cockermouth or Keswick.

The fog on Saturday morning in Cockermouth was so thick, I almost cancelled the meet. Luckily I kept faith with the Met Office forecast. What a gorgeous day it turned out to be with absolutely beautiful views of sun-drenched fells and mists swirling ethereally in the valleys.

After an initial SNAFU with parking, the team parked near the Blencathra Centre managed to rendezvous with the team parked in the village, and 10 KMC members summited Blencathra via Hall’s Fell Ridge. Everyone ended up very warm as the temperature increased with height, but only Jonathan stripped down to his vest!

Lunch was taken on the summit, where our efforts were upstaged by the guy making mulled wine on a camping stove – an idea for next year! After the obligatory summit photos, we descended to Scales Tarn, which was a perfect mirror of the crags above. We had Sharp Edge to ourselves with some sections proving quite exciting.

Back on the tops, new member, Steve, headed straight back down, while the rest of us completed the ridge and down the zig-zags to the Blencathra Centre.

The team was Steve D, Jonathan C, Brendan, Jamie, Aileen, Marks H and W, Ian, Mike K, and Judith. Great turn-out and quality ‘craic’.