Oak Cottage - Loweswater

Retreat to the quiet of the Western Lakes

The Cottage, and  the view up the Buttermere Valley
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Time and place : Rannerdale Knotts, Cumbria, Uk. 27th Feb 2004

Occasion : An winter afternoon walk with Pat and Mike, Adam, Gareth, Ann and the dogs.

Walk details : Climbed Rannerdale from the Trust car park at Buttermere, return via The Bridge.

Weather : Sunny and green when we were getting ready. White with snow as we reached Buttermere.

Today was one of those unusual days.

My son had arrived from snowy Swansea yesterday after clearing three inches of the white stuff off his car. We on the other hand had been commenting on how the sunshine was encouraging the first daffodils.

This morning as we got ready for a walk the weather was like yesterday's photo above, and we were trying to find waterproofs "just in case" it should rain on our ascent of Haystacks.

As we set off for Buttermere the clouds were gathering, as we reached Gatesgarth, it was snowing hard and Haystacks and the top end of the valley had disappeared in a big white cloud.

As the roads were starting to get covered we decided on "Plan B".

Buttermere Church - It wasn't like this when we drove past here ten minutes ago.

"Plan B" was to climb something where we stood some chance of a view.

Group photo - family and friends at the National Trust car park, Buttermere

Pat, Mike, Gareth, Ann and Adam.

Ascent of Rannerdale.

 

The ridge of Rannerdale Knotts looking north.

Our house is out there somewhere !

Second group photo by Ann

Just to make sure we hadn't lost anybody in the blizzard.

Boys and their toys

Hey I've got three bars up here - and we're not talking Meusli

Ann looking the part as we make our way back along the ridge.

In the background is Whiteless Pike.

Running repairs to the dog.

The snow built up in great clumps around her leg fur and she kept stopping to chew it off. Here Gareth stops to do the job for her. The snow however didn't build up between her pads as it has on previous occasions - different type of snow ?

We'd brought lunch enough for a four hour walk up Haystacks, so lunch it was to be on our trip up Rannerdale.

No point in carrying it all the way back to the car. Anyway the view was great and the rock provided reasonable shelter.

High Stile Ridge in black and white and in two dimensions it seemed.

 

Holly waiting to take the path into Ghyll Wood above Buttermere village.

 

Keeping one eye on the path and the other on the view.

A slip here would mean an early bath - in the river below.

Reindeer ? No sweetheart it looks more like snow to me !!

A Derry Brabbs sheep keeping an eye on us as we pass.

On the way back home we stopped at Hawes point where we swam in the summer. Not today I think.

Grasmoor is the fell in the background.

Melbreak and Low Fell looking down Crummock Water from the same point.

 

Home, dry and relaxed - it wasn't this colour when we left.

The snow had passed and for a brief moment the setting sun shone on Grasmoor and Whiteside

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with a Canon IXUS 400 Digital camera.

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

This site best viewed . . . with a better weather forecast.

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