First of the white stuff
At last it has snowed!
Seriously wondering whether winter was ever going to happen this year,
we have had a covering, may be ever briefly in Cumbria
Having planned to get out for a hike anyway,
I headed up to Langdale, where an equally snow smitten friend and I, ooed and aaaed going into the Langdale valley as if we’d never seen it, or snow, before.
It wasn’t even a blue sky day!
Just the kind of day with enough mist and murk to put off most walkers, yet not make navigating the familiar totally impossible.
Looking down to Langdale from the Wrynose road
The snow wasn’t even deep enough to disguise the grass. But it was snow and that’s all that mattered. We set off up the side of the National Trust campsite to Pike O’Blisco. A route that avoided the road for the most part.
As we went up the Herdies looked on hopefully. Turning disdainfully when not presented with hay.
Herdwick sheep
Plodding on and up the grey wrapped around us denuding what view there was. Footsteps turned to a soft squeak as the cold crept around. Sounds muffled and though hardly in the middle of nowhere, we could, at times, have been the last people on earth. One of two others did cross our path. Everyone happily taking a long awaited opportunity.
Browney Gill
It may not last. We’d planned, before the snow, to continue to the Crinkles, but being as it was even Red Tarn was hazy and hidden. So cut things short and enjoy a leisurely end to a day away from communication and the dreaded B word
It’s difficult to analyse the attraction of being out in the snow. Where there is nothing to see, when its cold. Cold enough for hypothermia to set in without appropriate clothing. Add in a steep climb and a few scrambles up slippery surfaces and it does read as a completely crazy thing to do.
Oxendale Beck
I guess you just like it or you don’t. It takes a very ‘special’ kind of person to enjoy nature in its raw form.
GPS available here
