Back in Lakeland

As Gary and I were in Lakeland to see the screening of 'Life of a Mountain' about Scafell Pike on Saturday we decided to take the tent and make a full weekend of it.  The weather wasn't looking great but we were very lucky and managed to dodge the majority of the showers over the weekend.

We set off on Friday morning and popped in at Castle Parks Art Centre in Frodsham where 3 of my paintings are in the Association of Animal Artists Annual Exhibition.  It felt lovely to see my work there amongst so many artists I admire - mine are the 3 above me in the middle.

After my arty fix, we headed on to Lakeland paradise.  It poured down all the way there but once we arrived the sun came out so we headed up Great Mell Fell which is an isolated fell off the A66 between the Penrith and Keswick, one I've passed many a time on my way in and out of the Lakes but not yet climbed although Gary has climbed it before. This lovely little fell is not that high at 537m but what it lacks in stature it makes up for in views - the views over our favourite Lake District mountain Blencathra is stunning from here!

There were two big sticks sticking out of the summit cairn of GMF - one of them you can see here in Holly's mouth!

 There are a few trees like this that have been twisted into the strangest of shapes by the wind!  That's Little Mell Fell in the background.

What a lovely start to the weekend.  We set up camp at Burns Farm near Threlkeld and warmed up some Chilli for tea and with the weather still looking good, decided on an evening walk up Souther Fell just down the road.  I just love this time of year when we have these longer days in which you can take in evening walks like this.

The next photo shows the view from Mousethwaite Comb, the car parked below and Great Mell Fell in the background which we climbed earlier.

Me and Holly at the top of Mousethwaite Comb - every other time I've been up here it's been to head for Blencathra and the fabulous Sharp Edge ridge which you can see behind us - Gary and I love it up here.

Here's a zoomed in shot of the spectacular Sharp Edge

This evening however, we were heading in the opposite direction, to Souther Fell, as I'd not climbed this fell before before.

Here we are on Souther Fell with Bannerdale Crags behind us and Blencathra poking up behind.  I have to say Souther Fell was more like soggy fell, very wet underfoot, but a lovely evening's walk and not a soul about, just us, the mountains and few Skylarks - bliss!

I love cairns and this lovely cairn has been built away from the summit which was marked by a couple of rocks as you can see in the pic above - lovely views again over towards Bannerdale Crags and Blencathra in the cloud

Back at the tent after a lovely day and two new summits for me and Holly

On Saturday we walked two fells which were new for both Gary and I, Carrock Fell and High Pike, situated in one of the more remote areas of the Lakes - the back o Skiddaw -  we saw only one other person on this walk and it was a Saturday too, so you'd expect to see a few more walkers about.  We started this walk from Apronful of Stones on the road which leads from Mungrisdale.  As we left the car we heard the sound of a Cuckoo cuckooing his head off and a Peregrine calling.  We didn't spot the Peregrine but we did eventually spot the Cuckoo as it flew into a tree near us, a wonderful sight to see and we watched it for a good few minutes as it flew in and out of the tree cuckooing away.  I've only ever seen one once before so it was a real treat - unfortunately Gary only had the small point and click camera so didn't get the greatest of photos.

The Cuckoo eventually flew away so we continued the steep climb through crags up on to the fell

On the summit cairn with lovely blue skies behind - the summit is also the site of an Iron Age hill fort

Lovely views ......

Holly leads the way from Carrock Fell to High Pike - which didn't seem that far away from here but as we walked down the ridge it didn't seem to get any closer!

but we got there eventually ......

High Pike summit with it's shelter, trig point with directional dial and behind that you can just see the end of a stone bench!

Then it was just a matter of walking back down, easy peasy until we reached Carrock Beck - lots of water, no footbridge, very slippy rocks which I didn't fancy risking especially after Gary nearly fell in as he was crossing ..... so off came the boots, up came the trouser legs (exposing extremely white legs!) and across I went - bbbrrrrr, cold water!!!

This was a really lovely place to walk, away from the main tourist areas, and two lovely summits.

That's it for now - hope you enjoyed the pics, more piccies to come of where we went on Sunday and Monday