A week of changeable weather as we wait for the forecasted
snow.
The high pressure brings cold dry winter days which are a delight,
but it didn't last.
This is a selection of very different walks and very different
weather which had characterised this week in Loweswater.
Loes and I were looking for a walk to celebrate
the fine weather
so we opted for the low level traverse under
the southern end of Low Fell, which includes several highlights
along the way.
Dylan is limping a little so we drive to the
Mosser track, walk up past "John's Chair"
and onto the old high level footpath that connected
Loweswater to Thackthwaite.
At the highest point is a shapely rock similar
to the famous alpine peak, but more akin in size to a similar
outcrop on Gray Friars Fell near Coniston.
After the dogs posed on the rock I pursuaded
Loes to join them . . . but I might have to help her up by the
look of the angle she's sitting !
The path stays high and circles round to the
Lonesome Pine
where we had lovely views of Whiteside and Grasmoor
(that 'The Mob' climbed last
Sunday).
Great visibility all the way up past Crummock
and Rannerdale to Great Gable in the distance.
- - - o o o - - -
Loes has driven back to Harewood for a few days
and so I was taking the dogs on a small after-lunch
walk up Mosedale
when the sun came out.
Suddenly the traverse path appeared beneath my feet
and in no time the dogs and I were on the top of Mellbreak's
northern summit
and were technically above the snow line (by a couple
of feet) :
Click here
or on the photo above for a larger
annotated panorama.
Unusually we descended by the northern side of the
fell
and caught this 'View Round the Corner' on the way
down.
Few photos because I hadn't really planned to take
any !
- - - o o o - - -
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The weather a day or so later had turned cold
and now the clear morning skies gave several
beautiful sunrises at the top of the valley.
I couldn't stay in on days like this so I enjoyed
a walk with both dogs across to Loweswater and The Bothy.
This is the view back towards the high fells.
After our lovely Mob walk this week, every picture
seems to include 'Grasmoor' somewhere in it.
- - - o o o - - -
Close to where Holme Beck reaches the lake
there's a rather special tree.
Recently it seems the fine weather
had encouraged the Goblins to give their front door
a new lick of Woodland Green paint.
- - - o o o - - -
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There's Grasmoor again . . . a great view if
you get up early and have a walk around your tree before breakfast
!
Two days with zero temperatures overnight and
blue skies by day . . . but still no snow !
- - - o o o - - -
. . . but with a forecast like that it couldn't
stay away for ever.
Not as heavy a fall of snow as in other parts
of the Lakes, or for that matter Scotland, but snow down here
in the valley nevertheless.
When I walked out around my garden before breakfast
I had a different view from that at the Goblin Tree.
Gone were the high fells and all the colours
were dulled.
By lunchtime the snow had turned to sleet and
then heavy rain . . . still the dogs need their daily walk whatever
the weather.
- - - o o o - - -
Before the light faded I walked them down to
the Crummock.
I managed to get a dry walk in that last hour
before the evening darkness descended.
The lake was looking very different from just
a few days ago when it was reflecting a clear blue sky.
Fear not . . . give it a twelve hours and the
weather will change again as more high pressure is forecast.
Let's hope it brings those blue skies back again
. . .
- - - o o o - - -
Great 'Matterhorn Rock - cam
! . . . . . Ed Jackson.
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