Thursday 3 February 2011

A TALE OF TWO WALKS

From our Walk on the Wild Side correspondent

I parked at Braithwaite in heavy rain. My initial plan to do Great Gable or Scafell had been rethought as neither of these is particular forgiving towards solo walkers in bad weather and the gloom had triggered my Lion of Oz syndrome. Coledale seemed a safer option, with the possibility of Grasmoor or Grizedale Pike if the weather lifted. But visibility dropped to about 10 metres as I started to climb past the disused mine, and the going became increasingly fraught as I crested Coldale Hause two hours later into the teeth of a gale. I decided to go for my merit badge and headed up the steep scree slope to Hopegill Head, only realising I had arrived when I stumbled up to the edge of the adjacent gullies. Many of these are precipitous and still held banks of dirty snow, glowing spectrally through the thick mist. But no time to dawdle as I had promised myself a cuppa on the summit of Grizedale Pike, lurking somewhere above me in the clouds.

Scafell had a great barrel-like summit crown, Helvellyn has a wonderful cruciform shelter cairn, Thornthwaite Crag Beacon and Dale Head both have elegant stone towers. Grizedale has a 50mm metal bead stuck into a small lump of rough concrete. Pretty thin fare and slight reward for someone who taken 2½ hours to claw his way, puffing and steaming, up to this point. There was still a bit of tricky scrambling to negotiate but gravity was on my side for the return to the car.

A week later I was having a more leisurely walk along Hadrian’s Wall by Crag Lough and Steel Rigg, taking in the tree where Kevin of Sherwood first heard of the Sheriff’s evil doings. Cold, light, airy. A totally different day. I defy any landscape photographer to be bored in this country.

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Dennis Hardingham February 2011

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