Grab it While we can - Round Souther Fell

Not a particularly good forecast for toady, but we are on standby to go and look after an injured relative should he be discharged from hospital, so we decided to go out whatever and grab a few hours for ourselves and Breeze. Plan A didn't work as the hunt had the same idea and we didn't want to be getting in their way so we found ourselves at Mungrisedale and set off up Bannerdale with Souther Fell in mind

Still much evidence of Storm Desmond in Dec 2015

No repairs have been carried out round here yet - although we understand they are now in the planning stages. This bridge has been officially closed since the storms - I don't think it has stopped anyone using it though

Unsurprisingly the cloud base is low. It's not unpleasant though, and so nice to be out among the fells after a fairly long absence

Looking back down Bannerdale

We crossed the Glenderamackin at the plank (which used to be a bridge - until Desmond) and immediately stopped for a bit of lunch - soup and a pastie, traditional winter fell fodder (for us anyway)

Off we go to Mousethwaite Comb. At this point we decided that it was stupid going over Souther as it was completely in the cloud (above Breeze). We wouldn't be able to see anything; we've been up there countless times and we are not here to tick off summits. Instead we opted to go straight over the Comb and take the winding track down to the gated road.

Definitely the right decision. It was pretty windy here and still damp (spots on the lense) but there was brightness around and views to be had

Although the auto focus on the camera seemed to quite like the moisture on the lens!

Heading round Knotts

Down to the road.

I put the camera away at this point to save it from getting any more wet, but a nice gentle 3/4 of an hour wander along the gated road took us back to the car at Mungrisdale. We had walked just over 6 miles and from getting out of the car to getting back in, we hadn't seen another human being.
We might not have climbed a single fell and the weather was far from perfect, but sometimes it is just so good to be out.