Peter called me during the week and said that Steve could not make this walk as he had injured his back so just Peter and myself on this one – or so I thought during the week. Peter arrived to pick me up just after 6.00 am (some excuse about a big accident on the A19!) with the latest recruit to our walks – Archie, his year old Border terrier. As I put my bag and boots in the boot I could see Archie peering at me from the back seat. So we were on the road by 6.10 am, off towards Bowscale Fell and perhaps Blencathra – my nemesis from a couple of years ago!
As we were driving over it was very foggy until we got over the Pennines where it started to clear very slightly. We arrived at our parking spot directly on the A66 at the foot of Blencathra just before 8.00 am and tucked into Angus the Butchers steak and kidney pie. Archie even got a few pieces of steak which he licked his lips at! The temperature was already 16 degrees even at that time of the morning so we knew it was going to be warm although it was still foggy.
Start of the walk
We set off on the path through the ferns just after 8.00 am and the first half hour was a fairly steep climb until we reached the valley where it flattened out a little. By now Archie was off his lead but kept very close to us – right up to the point where he saw a couple of sheep and decided he wanted to chase them!
Archie out with us for the first time
He took off at speed, totally ignoring our calls and whistles. When he was about 100 yards away he gave up the chase and returned to us. We will never know if he just got tired and realised it was a futile pursuit or if he responded to our calls! Needless to say he was put back on the lead for some time after that. We stopped for a quick cuppa at the end of the valley where the path separates up towards the tarn below Sharp Edge and towards Bowscale Fell which was our route today.
First Bait Stop, follow the path up to Sharp Edge
We didn’t stay at the bait stop long as it was swarming with midgeys being by the stream so after 5 minutes or so we headed up the path.
Bowscale Fell Summit
Before too long we reached a crossroads and turned left up towards the top. By now we were in thick fog and could not see very far at all. We were walking through a boggy area and could see the ground was higher on our right and wondered for a moment if the top was there. We kept going until eventually we started to climb until we did finally reach the top. We stopped in a shelter for a proper bait stop and Archie had a drink and a little Scooby snack himself.
Archie having his bait
You can just make out the top of Bowscale Fell in the next photo through the fog. One top down and not even 10.00 am yet.
Bowscale Fell summit
We re-traced our steps back down the track and across the bog to the crossroads. As we approached the crossroads the fog cleared a little so we could see the path up towards Blencathra and I must admit at this point I was happy to have done 1 top and seriously considered going back down to the car. Peter persuaded me otherwise and we started to climb. We took off to the right and skirted around the mountain, climbing slightly as we went.
Blencathra summit
As we started to climb it was getting clearer and warmer. We reached the top around 12.45 and whilst it was not perfectly clear, if was sufficiently clear to have a great view of the surrounding area, one of the best tops I have visited with a great view.
Blencathra summit – Peter and Archie
Me on the summit with Archie
We could also clearly see the path we were going to take back down to the car. We started back down just after 1.00 pm and straight away I could feel my knees were much better than they had been on other walks. We got back to the car at 2.00 pm exactly, Archie lay down straight away but he had done great for his first walk – the new mascot. Just time for a very refreshing pint at the
Sportsmans. Next walk planned for 2 weeks time, weekend of 11th/12th July.
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