Date & start time: Saturday 14th February 2009. 10.30 am start.

Location of Event : The National Trust car park, Aira Force, Ullswater, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 400 200 )

Places visited : Yew Crag, Old Shooting Lodge, Great Meldrum, Gowbarrow Fell, High Force, Aira Force and the cafe !

Walk details : 4.6 ml, 1400 ft of ascent, 4 hours 10 mins.

Highest point : Gowbarrow Fell 1579 ft ( 481m)

Walked with : Ann plus 11 other OFC Members and friends plus our 7 dogs.

Weather : Overcast with light winds, cool. A sight drizzle at one point.

A Dockray field signpost

A high level climb was changed to this delightful lower level walk in view of recent snow.

Dull photographic light and damp ground did nothing to spoil the good company and extensive chat of our group of thirteen today.

We all met up at Aira Force car park, just a little later than we should have.

Ed, Richard, Jo, Ann, Sara, Dave(obscured), Anne, John, David, Gary, Sheena (obscured) and Andrew.

Lyulph's Tower below us as we start to climb across the fell side towards Yew Crags

A winter tree and the wintry fell side of Loadpot Hill behind.

Hallin Fell across Ullswater.

Looking down the length of Ullswater to the snow covered peaks of St Sunday Crag and Birkhouse Moor.

Ahead the group pauses at Yew Crags viewpoint.

" A thank Offering 1906 "	Anne and David cross the stile for a better view.

Sara enjoys the exposed view point of Yew Crag.

Harry's attention was drawn by distant barking and shouting from below.

On the crag were several of the local hunt dogs searching the fell side.

Degrees of altitude . . . Ullswater, Sleet Fell, Beda Head and finally Wether Hill in the cloud.

The old bridge has been recently removed in favour of stone in-fill of the gully.

[ Hold your cursor over the photo to see the old bridge. ]

- - - o o o - - -   We thought that there would have been more snow and ice around today but the recent mild weather has brought an almost complete thaw at this level.   This was the only significant ice we found all day.   The water in the small gully had created some interesting icicles but their beauty and shape were fading fast.   - - - o o o - - -

At the old Shooting Lodge we stopped for a group committee meeting to discuss the preferred route ahead !

Rather than go for Gowbarrow directly, we crossed over the valley and headed for our next summit, Great Meldrum.

Soon reached, everyone gathered at the top to enjoy the rather hazy view.

Great Mell Fell across the way.	To the east, Little Mell Fell over Little Meldrum.

A patch of sunlight across Rampsgill Head emphasises the darkness of the high cloud.

The brightness, though intense, was rather short lived.

A brief walk back across the hause was followed by a short climb and we were on the way to our next summit.

We reached the top only to find Harry had got their first.

Did he climb . . . or was he pushed ?

Great Mell . . . Great Balance.

Time for lunch - Dave opens his magnetic sandwich container.	Jo and Sara have carefully hidden theirs.

Walking the rather damp path off the fell, following the wall down.

Ed looks across the valley towards Dockray Village.

Great Dodd in the background fades away into the clouds.

Nearly back at valley level, the gate is easier than the ladder stile when it comes to leaving the fell.

Riddings Beck as it cascades towards High Force.

The upper of the three Aira Force falls.

The narrow gorge in close up.	Lower down the valley, a second waterfall.

The river enters a ravine . . .	. . . over which there's a useful wooden structure.

Sheena leads the way on down the valley.

The stone bridge overlooking the main falls.

Looking down towards the lower view platform . . .	. . . and the classic shot of the falls from the other direction.

The last-but-one bridge of the day . . . the one below the waterfall.

Me ? . . . taking pictures of people ? . . . surely not !

- - - o o o - - -   There just remains the short walk down the valley back to the car.   The river flows on towards Ullswater despite the fallen trees in it's way.   - - - o o o - - -

Ah, the final bridge and chance to relax even more.

The dogs enjoyed a swim and the people enjoyed time out to chat and apreciate the surroundings.

[ Can we sit for a short while . . . just as long as your cursor roll-over will allow us. ]

David Hall, Anne and Andrew Leaney with Jo's dog Jodie.

Many thanks to Dave (on the right) for organising the walk today . . . Just time for one last thing before we go . . .

Cheers !

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with with my Cannon G7 or Ann's Ixus 75 Digital camera.

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

This site best viewed with . . . a convenient tearoom nearby.

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Previous walk - 11th February 2009 Knock Murton one afternoon

A previous time up here - 14th June 2006 Gowbarrow and Aira Force