Sadgill to Kidsty pike March 18

Its been a very white winter,but alot of that has come with big winds giving hard trips and drifting up the snow on lee sides to sometimes waist deep snow..today was not one of those days and was made even better by the return of my mate Lee,to the hills 

We chatted about a route and i came up with this one as it gave us both a chance to bag the Birkett, Castle crag. Even if our start point was not overly close to it 

It was a stunning morning a little cool and the falls were alive with small birds and full with the nights rain 

At the top of Gatescarth we stopped for a drink and take in the views, although theres been a massive snow loss there were still some very big drifts in places and along some of the dry stone walls 

Spot the fly fishing man 

To say the least its a very steep pull up to this little summit,there were some complaints.....but for a small peak it gave a cracking view 

Haweswater stretching away

Our route now took us round onto Low Raise and High Raise..but we had already decided,with the light winds, we would camp on the summit of Kidsty Pike

High street looked huge with its patches of snow 

For this trip we took our Mountain Laurel designs Supermid 

Theres no escaping it the Supermid is huge inside 

With the slight,but cold wind behind us,i opened both doors and what a cracker jack view to lay back and take in while the stove warmed up water for our first brews 

A Bla Bland meal from Basecamp foods sorted out my tea

We were treated to a rather nice sunset too 

There was a cracking gloaming after sunset but the wind picked up a bit and my fingers were aching from taking pics 

The wind picked up in the evening so i only took a few night pics,the moon was bright too which was washing out the stars a bit 

There was a good overnight frost and the wind had freshened up but the day started as good as you could wish for.......bacon wraps were just perfect for such a stunning morning 

Dawn was none to shabby either 

The route back took us over High street and then over the pass to Harter fell, then we walked along the ridge to just before Kentmere pike.From there we dropped down to have a mooch around the old Mosedale quarry and pick up the landrover track back to Sadgill

Lee and his new Tramplite pack taking in the view to Windemere 

It was a cracking route and great to catch up with Lee after his forced absence this winter due to being unwell...ill sort out a video off the Gopro over next few days ..thanks for looking Peter 

Screen grab of route,red being Saturdays bit

                     Day 1 came in at 13.2 k and 1119m ascent

                     Day 2 came in at 12.0 k and 405 m  ascent

Two links to the video ive done, please select 1080 and a large screen for viewing,much better than viewing on a phone     

Safe travels Peter


                                                       https://youtu.be/svYXFMH0_5M

Coniston fells,wild camp Feb 2018

I had a message off Darron,saying he was coming up for a few nights in the Lakes and did i want to meet him.I had planned to take the Friday off and have two nights out with him,but the forecast was pish,so we agreed to meet Saturday morning instead

A bit of confusion over where i said to meet and we set off under grey skies just before 9 am,hence the lack of photos 

We entered the clag well before reaching the top of the Walna scar track and didnt get any views after that, which was a shame as Darons not seen these views yet

We followed the line of mountains northwards with the wind being fresh and temps low it was nice to have the wind to our backs

After reaching Swirl how we dropped down towards Great carrs and made a visit to the old Halifax crash site,i had to take a compass bearing from here to help us find the col below Great Friars summit 

Once at the col we searched out a running water supply,which involved us listening and kicking through the snow, with the extra weight we headed up,then searched out a pitch for the night

We both shoveled out a pitch while Max watched on,just after the shelters went up we got a very brief 2 mins of late sunshine,then it was back to clag 

      I did a short timelapse of us pitching our shelters 

https://youtu.be/o8qr_cTt4HQ

We were still hoping for the weather to clear and give us a nigce night sky,but sadly it wasnt to be 

Not long after breakfast it looked like it would finally clear out,but sadly it was only a brief few minutes 

" Leaving no trace " at our camp spot was a bit hard this morning,we walked back unto Swirl how where we parted company Darron to carry on back the way we came and me to drop down the prison band and over Wetherlam to my car 

Im pretty sure this cairn at col between the Prison band and Wetherlam is much bigger than this ! 

I'd lent my map to Darren and given the thick clag and huge amount of snowfall i'll admit it was hard work navigating over to Wetherlam and off it again

Not that clear now but you can still make out some of the old miners ? carvings in the stone as i regained some views and dropped back into the Copper mines valley 

It was good to meet up with Darron and Max again,but a shame we got no views....still a good few miles in good winter conditions  

Thanks for looking and safe travels Peter

Langdale pikes Feb 18

Had a cracking day out on the Langdale pikes so just did a small google album.


https://photos.app.goo.gl/tPEp1Nd1LHCP3oiA2