An interesting few days to start off February. We finally had some of the snow that the rest of the country had experienced, John had a trip "dahn south," we finally got on the fells with our first walker of the year, and we showed an Irish journalist around Loughrigg Terrace and Grasmere.
Yes, it finally snowed here, but little sign of panic, although schools closed briefly, and pavements got a bit slippery early in the morning. A few accidents on the fells - you really have to well equipped in icy weather, and have some experience before venturing out in snow. Sure it looks great, but snow comes in several forms from the harmlessly picturesque to the icy and downright lethal, especially when it has been lying for a while. Anyway, now it has almost disappeared completely, and the temperature seems to be going up.
John had a trip down the "smoke" - and survived. He is perplexed as to why London seems to have pubs with no beer, often called "cocktail bars" and shunned these rigorously, although there does, on the other hand, seem to be plenty of places where a decent pint can be bought, albeit at sometimes eye-watering prices. His trip ended up with a 3.5 mile road walk across the Bedfordshire countryside carrying a curry as we couldn't get a taxi home. Good training though, and it worked up an appetite for cold curry!
He also had a trip through the Dales on the drive back to Kendal, and it was good to chat to the charming people who will be putting up our Dales Way self-guided walkers this year, not to mention an excellent sausage sandwich from the stall in the car park at Burnsall.
Meanwhile, Pete had been out on the Lakeland fells with our first guided walker of the year. We had 3 good days walking not too far from Ambleside where she was staying. Pete took her up Wetherlam, we had a day on Helm Crag, Calf Crag and Steel Fell (see below) and John took her up Fairfield, where we had a lovely morning in spectacular broken cloud.
Moan...whilst we were out on the Calf Crag, which is quite a confusing area, we came across 2 charming ladies with a map and route notes that they had acquired somewhere which were totally inadequate. They really didn't have a clue where they were. Now, obviously, we are biased here, as our living depends on offering a service to walkers so they don't get lost - either by guiding them ourselves, or by providing packs with maps, route notes etc. so that people can approach a day put in the fells with some confidence. As it happened, the weather was clear, and the ladies found sympathetic people on the way who could point them in the right direction...we dread to think what would have happened in poor weather, as they simply wouldn't have been able to find anyone at all, unless they were very lucky. Please, if you come walking in the hills, either learn how to use a map and compass (or GPS), acquire a decent set of maps, or, alternatively, get in touch with us (or someone else who knows what they are doing) and we'll sort you out with what you need in terms of recommended routes, maps, route notes etc.
Enough moaning. It's always great to be able to show people our part of the world, and to give them some idea of what it has to offer. We spent yesterday morning with Collette Devlin from the Irish Independent, so if you have access to it, look out for us somewhere in the Travel section - we may get a mention - you never know. Sadly, we didn't have too long with Collette, but the Lakes put on one of its misty, moody mornings, which are just as attractive as bright sunshine. Maybe she'll come back again and we'll be able to take her on a longer and higher walk.
We wonder whether winter may be over now. The fells are quite dry for this time of year, but you never know what will happen in March. Don't forget to get in touch if you need a brochure, or if you fancy one of our self-guided or RTL (Routes less Travelled) guided holidays.
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