Bowscale Fell

A shorter walk than usual as we don't want to wear Breeze's boot out - her foot has healed nicely since our last fell walk, but it hasn't had chance to harden yet, so the boot is a necessary precaution

We parked at Bowscale and walked along the road to Mungrisdale. Then it was steep, steep, steep up Raven Crag. Mungrisdale an be seen below us (that's Mr B's rucksack)

The boot doesn't make any difference to Breeze's speed or where she goes. She does look a bit embarrassed about it though doesn't she!

Striding out along Bowscale Fell. That's Blencathra with a cloud just hiding the summit

We are above Bowscale tarn at this point. We will descend along the ridge that runs from left to right in this picture

Bowscale Tarn comes into view

And here it is from a bit lower down

Mr B and Jay spot something on the rock

It's a cup and ring mark. Prehistoric art, the likes of which can be found all over the North of England and Scotland

From the tarn, it's a nice gentle walk back to the car which is down there in the sunshine. just 6 miles today, but a lovely walk in another of our favourite places minutes from home.

Awesome!

And today's walk........................... is a belter. Prepare to sit through a lot of photos! To see them at their best, double click on the first one and scroll through the lot.

We parked at Braithwaite on what was turning out to be a better than forecast morning and headed off to meet the miners track. Causey Pike can be seen in the distance with it's distinctive knobles.

As we look back, Skiddaw Little Man has a fresh dusting of snow

and as we reach the miners track we can see more white stuff on the summits ahead

Force Crag Mine comes into view at the end of the track. We are aiming to the left of the mine to head over behind the top of Force Crag

As we climb up, we can look down into the mine. A Defra funded project is constructing a passive water treatment system to remove heavy metals from water before it enters Coledale Beck. You can see the plant machinery working !

Add capFrom above Force Crag, looking back to Skiddaw and Blencathra. The miners track we have come up is to the left of the beck.

Then it's uphill, over Sandhill and onto Hopegill Head. Our next summit will be Grisedale Pike, the pointy bit left of centre

But first we have to walk along the edge of Hobcarton Crag (Time to go on the lead Breezy!). We will walk along the edge of the face you can see here

Until finally reaching the main objective of today Grisedale pike. A nicely positioned cairn with a nice flat stone to stand the camera on gives the opportunity for a rare family photo

 And then it's time to soak in the views. Looking south the Langdale Pikes, Scafell Pike (just under that wisp of clould) and everything else in between

Add caZooming in on the Langdale Pikes - the camera was getting a bit cold and suffering from a bit of condensation, hence the hazy picture!

 Looking East across Derwent water and the Eastern fells

Then it was time to start the tricky descent. Frozen solid it was a bit tricky in places, but nice and steady, we made it over the worst section while Breeze just charged up and down without a care in the world

 Looking back from further down, our path was on the snow side of the ridge seen here

Then back onto easier going and Bassenthwaite comes into view in the afternoon sunshine. Nearly back at the car

What a fabulous walk. Just short of 9 miles. Awesome views and we had been in sunshine for pretty much all bar the descent from Grisedale Pike. The only negative from the day is that the ice snd snow have had the same effect on Breeze's pads as dry hot ground. She now has a hole in one foot. Trust us to get a dog that runs so far and fast it wears it's feet out!

Mummy's Little Princess

It seems a while since breeze has put in an appearance, so just to keep her fans happy, here are a few of her looking adoringly at her Dad

 And not to be outdone - her tongue puts in an appearance again.

Perfect Day

Not many people know this, but my favourite record of all time is 'Perfect Day' by Lou Reed, who sadly passed away last week. That song could have been a soundtrack for today. Days don't come much better than this. Cool, clear, snow on the high peaks and no-one else for miles.

We parked at Dobgill car park and headed up through dappled woods along Dob Gill to Harrop Tarn. The Helvelyn ridge behind us all the way had a light dusting of snow which had fallen on Saturday night.

 Carrying on along the forestry track. Autumn in woodland on a day like this takes a bit of beating

 But as we reached the top of the ridge the views started to open up all around - the western fells with just a wisp of cloud on the summits

 Zooming in - what an amazing day

 Blea Tarn, not quite still enough for reflections

 And Scafell Pike (on the horizon - left) - the top of England. A little snow up there today too. Great Gable still has the thinnest bit of cloud at the summit.

 Standing in the same spot but a panoramic shot this time - I just can't stop taking photos today

 Looking down over Watendlath. Bassenthwaite is just in view on the right of the picture

 High Tove summit cairn

 On our descent of  Cockrigg Crags, Great How and The Dodds across Thirlmere

 Looking back towards Swirls across Thirlmere from the Lakeside Path

It really was an amazing day. 9 miles, clear blue skies, not a breath of wind, 360' views and the only other people we saw were at the car park when we started and at another car park which we walked through on the Lakeside path.

DeJa Vu, and again

We should run a bus company. We hadn't walked along the Glenderaterra since 2006, and then in the space of two weeks, it gets three visits. Jay and I were here on our last walk, and then on Saturday - for a change Mr B and I decided to head up here just to walk the dog. We've had a fair drop of rain lately so the track which we walked out on is a tad damp. Breeze had a fab time charging backwards and forwards through the puddles. Mud lark that she is.

 The Autumn colours are looking spectacular, quite interesting to be able to look back to last week and compare. Looking back towards Derwent Water.........

 Roughten Gill was in full spate. It's not hard to see why there is a Hydro Electric plant going in.

 As we were only doing a short dog walk today, we turned round just after Roughten Gill to take the lower path back. Only problem was that we had to cross the Gill again. Hmmmmmmmm maybe we'll go back up to the bridge

 As we head back up to the Blencathra centre, this windswept Larch gives a clue to the prevailing weather around here.  Just 4.5 miles, but what a place to exercise your dog.

Then today .......  Thursday is one of my riding out days, so we couldn't start out from home till getting on for ten. The weathermen were forecasting showers (getting heavier after lunch) and gales in the afternoon. we had a few route options planned, but decided to stay low level and close to home. Mr B opted for the walk that Jay and I did a fortnight ago, so just to make it a bit different, we reversed the route. Looking up the Glenderaterra valley from Brundholme, the colours just get better and better.

The sun lights up Bassenthwaite

And then St John in the Vale

And then it lights up Derwentwater

Ever feel like you're being watched?

About 7 miles today, but it's such easy walking here it feels far less.

Girls On Tour

Today was the only day we had free this week, but Mr B often plays golf on a Friday and fancied a round today. So Jay and I decided that we would walk without him! We started out at the Blencathra centre at Threlkeld, on a relatively low level route as there was a bit of cloud around and the likelihood of rain later in the day. Not a bad day as we set off though. Here you can see Derwent water as we look out towards Keswick

 A nice easy track along the side of Blease Fell. Breeze is back and forth at full speed as always. Did I ever mention the length of her tongue?

There is an Hydro Electric plant under construction at Roughten Gill - to provide electricity for the Blencathra centre. Two mini 360s were busy on the track, as you can see from this shot back as we approach Roughten Gill 

 After crossing the Glenderaterra Beck and starting back along the Cumbria way, the Hydro plant comes into view across the valley

 Another clear, easy track takes us below Lonscale crags and over Whit Beck

Walking through Brundholme gave us a view back up the Glederaterra across the Autumn trees. We had walked up the right hand side of the valley and back down the left hand side.

 A really lovely walk, and only 10 minutes from home. The promised rain held off until we returned to the car and the temperature had been spot on for walking. 7.3 miles, but so many alternatives to make it shorter or longer. I think this might become a regular through the winter.