Mikes weather bits & Photo Blog: An end to Arthritis pain & Snow joke on Scafell pike

The express has "another" miracle cure for arthritis sufferers! - - -

The trip to walk up Scafell Pike looked to be interesting as the weather forecast indicated the freezing level to be 50 metres lower than the summit the day of our walk!
It was raining hard as John and I left Matlock and the downpours on the M6 only left us wondering what the Lakeland weather might have in store for us.
As we left the M6 though the weather brightened and when we stopped for lunch at the Wateredge Inn Ambleside things were looking up

having had a bite to eat we strolled around Ambleside before making our way up to Keswick and on up the Borrowdale valley

we stopped at the NT car park on Derwent Water and here John gets a panoramic pic of the sunny scene

swinging my camera just to his right i mention that the weather down south into Borrowdale is taking a "turn for the worse"

as we recce the 3 camp sites on offer the wind is howling and the fells are obviously taking on rain. Here we are driving near Thornythwaite farm when i notice a curtain of rain advancing down the valley.

the weather clears quickly as we settle for Seathwaite Farm site where the campsite sign propped against a barn indicates "No modern facilities". But hey! we've roughed it before in the Army! years and years and years ago!!! We pick the site which is nothing more than a soggy field because we will be able to "get up and strt the walk immediately the following morning. The tent is pitched in the lea of the wall because the wind is still blowing

with this water course close by we can see how much rain has been falling on the fells as the water roars its way down the mountain side.
we drive back to Keswick for dinner and returning to the tent we settle down for the night. Having read the reviews about the tent i have doubts if it will be 100% waterproof. During the night we are subjected to high winds and frequent very heavy downpours.

mercifully the tent is dry as we get up at 05:00 and have a quick cup of tea and some instant porridge before setting out for the summit, we notice there is snow on what will be our return route!

the weather stays rainy as we cross Stockley bridge but clears a little as we pass Styhead Tarn and reach the Stretcher box with the corridor route stretching away up into the mist and cloud. We had decided to have the stretcher box and a distant re-entrant in the corridor route as points where we would decide to turn back if the weather was too bad!

at the second point some time later we decide the weather is "with us" and forge on.

We hit the snowline and the foggy conditions well before the summit, as we join the route up from the Wastwater side i had thought we might see some 3 Peakers but we are still alone as thankfully we follow the line of cairns upwards

visibility on the summit is dreadful and we take a few minutes to locate the trig point and huge cairn

the Temp is a cool 0.8c and the wind makes it much colder my weather gizmo indicates a +40 metre error on the true summit altitude of 977 due to the barometer movement on the way up the mountain.

the difficult bit then begins as we follow the cairns off the summit and walk gingerly across the boulder field heading for the Esk house cross tracks. John gets a debilitating cramp in his inner thigh muscles and i give him "lots of sympathy!" . I join in with a couple of tweaks of the same cramps and this slows our progress making me realise we are on the edge of a dangerous situation as the weather turns to driving snow.

our situation doesn't get any better as my appreciation of the distance travelled on the map is suspect and we take a turn away from Esk house. Finally a combination of a glimpse down into the valley as the weather momentarily cleared and a realisation of our current location put us back on the right track as at last we get below the snow line

with "Great End" in the background we head for Esk House cross tracks, where we see another walker, and would you believe it the weather starts to clear up behind us. "No big deal" says John

we make the short detour to one of Wainwrights delightful spots at "Sprinkling Tarn" before heading down the track to descend the mountain.

as we descend there's a great view down into Borrowdale valley with Derwent Water and Keswick in the distance. Behind us the weather is distinctly in and out of rain as we experience the odd shower

As we pass a couple of walkers on their way up and delight in telling them how bad the snow is on the summit John gets another attack of the painful inner thigh cramp. I sympathise with , "well what can you expect at your age". Waiting for John to stop messing about and "get a grip" i look down at my New Boots and also pronounce them a "good purchase", my feet are bone dry even after the hours of bad weather rain and snow!

by the time we make it back to Stockley Bridge the weather is improving and we saunter back down to the van and make our way into Keswick for a well earned lunch. How long did it take us for the walk, - - - er well - - - slightly longer than planned!

here we have a well earned, well we thought so, lunch of fish and chips in the NT car park by Derwent Water - - - not sure what John has in his right hand? - - -

over my shoulder the weather by now, of course! is brilliant and we can see lines of figures wandering the sunny hills on the other side of the lake.

the lambs on the farm seem to be having a great time and the old guy on the quad bike in the background, who had said "camping?, your'e brave" when we first arrived cheerfully takes our camping fees of £5 per night per person. We settle down to another night in the tent where the weather this time is dry but the wind attempts to flatten it, once again it survives and is pronounced a "good purchase".

getting up early the next morning and watching the house martins already whirling about the sky above us we breakfast on "Beef Pho" noodles

with a last glance up at the gathering rain clouds on what was our route down we head for home

in the gathering dawn Lake Windermere looks fantastic and we join the M6 later and the "Whacky Racers" in their "Rat Race" commuting - - - thank goodness we don't belong in it any-more!

All in all a great trip and I'm already planning a return to the "No Modern Facilities" Borrowdale campsite!