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Windermere                          12th-14th March 2004

 

Matt, Ian and Nick went up first thing on Friday morning and ended up in Langdale.  From there they headed up The Band and onto Bowfell.  As Nick wasn’t 100% he pottered while the other two climbed into the mist, wind and rain.  Returning to the valley they then moved on to their B&B in Ambleside.

 

The following day before 6am two car loads were on the road to Ambleside.  Len, Les, Derek and Eileen as well as Colin, David, Tony and Debra.  The meeting place at Ambleside main car park turned out to be a mistake as the daily parking fee is the rather expensive £6.  However the day did not seem too bad and we were soon on our way to Rydal and Fairfield.  There was mist and even snow on the ascent and the summit was quite wintry.  Not lingering in the wind we set off for the other half of the horseshoe through the snow with compass bearing.  Before Hart Crag the wind moderated and there were views down Rydal Beck and across to Coniston.  With the mist lifting it was quite atmospheric as we reached Dove Crag where we decided to take in Little Hart Crag and head into Scandale.  Back in Ambleside we all knew we’d had a day on the hill.

 

While Matt, Ian and Nick headed back to Nuneaton the rest of us moved on to the very satisfactory Windermere Youth hostel for the night.  That night it rained and it was still raining purposefully the next day.  Not to be daunted we drove round to the far side of the River Rothay and set out for Loughrigg.  On days like this you get some exercise and your gear gets a good testing but there is little else to recommend it.  We got wet from above and from the ground upwards.  As always the streams were impressive but there was little else to look at and if you lifted your head the water started pouring down your neck.

 

Back at the car the rain was still falling so getting off the worst if the wet stuff we drove round to the main car park and dried off at the toilet block.  No sooner had we sorted ourselves out when the rain stopped!  Still as it was early, time for a pot of tea and cake at one of the many Mrs Miggins in town.  Not a pristine weekend of clear blue skies and warm sunshine but certainly a memorable one.

 

Colin Green