Last updated 19:39, Thursday, 08 May 2008

LIKE lots of teenagers, 2008 has been capricious. The weather has ben particularly fickle and unreliable. During a period when a cold, east wind sucked the moisture from the ground, Peter Gorley and I went to Stonethwaite in Borrowdale and climbed to Dock Tarn. The path through the woods has been turned into a steep rock staircase but above the tree-line the gradient eases so that the walk to the tarn is a pleasant stroll.

In good weather this is an ideal picnic spot, but the wind kept us moving to the top of Great Crag, the highest of a number of modest summits in the area. From the top we descended into “the wetlands” between Rosthwaite and Watendlath; fortunately the route was drier than normal and we returned to Stonethwaite dry shod.

By the next weekend the weather had changed again with wind and rain coming from the southwest. Hoping to find better conditions in the east we drove to Glenridding only to find the fell tops swathed in black clouds. In spite of its uninviting appearance, we decided to go to St Sunday Crag so we parked near The Inn on the Lake and walked to Grisedale. Five hundred yards up the valley we left the road and climbed the fell to Thornhow End. The weather was deteriorating the higher we climbed and we were soon into the mist. A couple who were descending told us that it was nasty on the top and so it proved to be. A vicious wind battered us and visibility was down to 15 yards. The inhospitable summit of St Sunday provoked no desire to linger so we headed for Deepdale Hause and Grisedale Tarn. The wind became less ferocious but the mist thickened and the rain increased. A group of walkers loomed out of the murk looking for the Grisedale path. Once we had located the stepping stones at the eastern end of the tarn we sent them on their way, rejoicing.

Conditions improved after we had passed Ruthwaite Lodge climbing hut and we had lunch in the sheepfold below Eagle Crag. It was a disappointing day for views but a case of taking the rough with the smooth, so we plodded back to Glenridding and drove up the Greenside Road for refreshments at The Travellers Rest.