High Street

13 km 800m ascent Map

The plan today was for a shortish walk before I drove southwards so I went back to Brothers Water and parked by the village of Hartsop.

Starting off from the hamlet, the view up a side valley did not look very snowy

But then we all know that looks can be deceiving!

Within half an hour I was walking on this

And I could not resist another selfie

From the top of the ridge the views were just wonderful

There was a cold wind but it was not the kind of beast where you struggle to stay upright. It was the kind you have to adjust your hood so the blown snow does not sting your cheek.

There is a striking cairn on the summit that is called Thornthwaite Beacon. An appropriate name

The stone wall was covered in ice

A few hail showers blew by but nothing to make navigation difficult

The top of High Street was icy, the snow had melted yesterday and frozen overnight.

This is also an appropriate name for the mountain because the roman road went over here. The big white band is the snow covering the line of the old road.

Didn’t romans wear sandals and tunics? Brrrr.

There were patches of sunlight making the snow sparkle

Back down in the valley it seemed like a different world

It was a stunning walk, a completely unexpected gift from the mountains. Thank you.

My tally of hills I have visited is now 117 and there are 97 left on the list that I have yet to climb.

I am off down south for two weeks now to do some visiting and some painting and decorating. My plan is to return to the Lakes in mid March when the weather is wonderfully Spring like and the days are warm (!) and I will camp instead of staying in Youth Hostels.

However I suspect that in two weeks time everything will have changed and perhaps it will not be a good idea to venture out from the house too much if this Corona virus takes a hold.

So who knows when I will post another blog in the mountains?

So for now, I guess it’s

Au Revoir

Lingmoor Fell

5 km. 270m ascent Map

60 mph winds were predicted on the tops today so I bagged a low hill just above Blea Tarn between Great Langdale and Little Langdale. I dream of walking in the hills on days with little wind and not having to wear so many layers. Today the temperature was 2 degrees and when the wind is strong enough to make you struggle to stand up then a pair of long johns, trousers that are two layers thick and a pair of thick waterproof over trousers feels just right.

View from the car park

I spent a bit of time sketching this view, eating an early lunch and generally wasting time. The wind occasionally gusted strong enough to rock the car and I wasn’t keen on going out and fighting the wind. But as I was here I might as well go out.

It was only a shortish walk to the top (40 minutes?) and the last bit was in the full strength of the wind. I sat down on the summit (!) to take this picture of the Langdale Pikes

I descended the same way as my ascent back to the road then walked around the tarn below.

The view over the tarn is famous – there is a very shapely group of trees in the middle distance that is so distinctive. Here is the famous view.

The afternoon was still young so I had a walk around Rydal Mount where Wordsworth lived for 37 years from 1813 to his death in 1850 at the age of 80.

It has the feeling that it has hardly changed since the great man’s time. It is still owned by the Wordsworth family – part of it is a private house. The garden is 5 acres! This is the view from the great man’s bedroom window, the view he would have looked out on every morning.

It really felt like I was walking in his footsteps.