- Barrow Fell and back from the Coledale Inn -

Date & Time: Christmas Day, Tuesday 25th December 2007. 11.50 am start.

Location of Start : Road end above Braithwaite, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 230 232 )

Places visited : Braithwaite, High Coledale (ruin) Barrow Door, Barrow Fell and back.

Walk details : 2.5 mls, 1090 ft of ascent, 2 hrs.

Walked with : Gareth, Ann and the dogs, Harry and Bethan.

Weather : A fine start but a shower mid walk dampened things down a bit.

Another fine morning, but the last of the frosty ones at Loweswater for now

Christmas Day and our son was with us in the Lake District for a few days.

The weather was basically fine but unsettled today, so we decided on a smaller walk. Barrow seemed a good idea as the views should be good.

Starting point - the road end above Braithwaite Village

Across the valley, Skiddaw and Little Man had a slight covering of cloud.

The hill known as Kinn sits neatly behind Braithwaite Village.

A little smoke from the houses hangs in the air above the frosty fields and valley.

A wider panorama of Skiddaw

as we walk up the track towards the old High Coledale farm.

Gareth and Ann passing the small group of trees hiding the old ruin.

Harry pauses / poses in front of Grisedale Pike.

As we climb the view past Blencathra widens to reveal the distant Pennines.

Climbing into the sun towards Barrow Door, the hause between Barrow and Outerside.

After a large passing cloud, the route is in sunshine again

with the shadow from Barrow now being cast on the bracken in front of us.

It's a popular shorter walk for a day like today and we pass one or two groups of people who had the same walk in mind.

Looking back to Outerside on the last part of the climb up Barrow Fell.

Mr and Mrs 'Merry Christmas' and their Reindeer on the summit.

Blencathra, Keswick and Derwent Water from Barrow Fell

Click here or on the photo for a full 360 degree annotated panorama.

Below us, the Swinside Inn looks closed for the day as there are no cars in the car park.

Patches of floating ice can just be seen on the lake behind.

Helvellyn, seen over the slopes of Catbells and Bleaberry Fell, looks like a cold place today.

An approaching rain shower gives Causey Pike a surreal look.

Maiden Moor is starting to look wet too. Time for waterproofs I think.

The shower passed, now it's Braithwaite's turn to get a little damp.

The rain continued on across the valley and fell as snow on Skiddaw according to friends, David and Jennifer (Hall).

Binsey in the background stayed in the sunshine the whole time !

Clear weather again as we descend back to the village.

The cold weather of recent days still leaves it's mark in the frozen water on some of the the paths - take care !

A final sharp descent takes us down to the head of the wooded part of the valley.

A short hop across Barrow Gill . . .	. . . and we're nearly back to the start.

Time for a quick call into the Coledale Inn for a warm glass of Christmas Cheer before lunch.

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Technical note: Pictures taken with a Canon G7 Digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . a glass of Christmas Day Mulled Wine.

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Previous walk - 22nd December 2007 Ullock Pike - Onward and Upward

Last Christmas Day - 25th December 2006 Candles, Tinsel, Inversions and Altitude

Next walk - 30th December 2007 St Sunday Crag with Jo and John