Red Squirrels

We followed the Landrover track up the Glencoyne valley. We'd often seen Red Squirrels in the woods around here and so we kept a canny eye out for them. It wasn't long before some made an appearance. One surprised me by lifting the lid of a squirrel food box with his head and then scuttling out. I'd no idea how he had squeezed into such a small space; I bet it was cosy though. We watched two chase each other among the trees. They provided good entertainment. At the end of the wood, we headed upwards to the col below Heron Pike. The sun made a determined effort to break through the clouds, but failed and disappeared again.  At the top of the col, we headed up on a track below Heron Pike. I'd not been on this track before, but it seemed to offer the quickest route up to the top of the crag. 

Sheffield Pike

Although the track was sometimes a little vague, it did indeed provide a good route up to Heron Pike. The mist was drawing in as we reached the summit, but we were just able to get a superb view along Ullswater before the veil dropped completely. The track to the top of Sheffield Pike was boggy but it didn't take us long to get there. We took a break here since there was now a strong wind and the crag at the summit did offer a degree of protection from it. The mist had settled in for the day and I suggested that the Kapitan might want to take advantage of the conditions to test his navigation skills. I told him that we needed to get to White Stones. He hunched over his map, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth, and took a bearing.  A few minutes later the Kaptian strode off from Sheffield Pike's summit with great confidence. The Cabin Boy and I followed in his wake.

White Stones Spectacle

I had the feeling that we were heading down into the valley towards the mine workings. 'Are we heading in the direction?' I asked the Kapitan. 'Yes, I took a bearing on Sheffield Pike' scoffed the Kapitan. 'What bearing did you take?' I enquired. 'Well, to White Stones, like you said' replied the Kapitan. 'I said that we just needed to get to White Stones, not to take a direct bearing for it.' A direct bearing would take us through the deep and dangerous quarry on the east of Greenside. I got the map out and had a consultation with the Kapitan. A few minutes later we were back on track again.

The weather was awful when we got to the top of White Stones. There was now driving rain. We stopped to put our over-trousers on. I couldn't see a thing with my glasses on since they were covered in droplets of water. As usually happens, my zips on my over over-trousers were getting caught in the material and so I put my glasses on a rock so that I could see to sort out the problem. 5 minutes later we had our over-trousers on and we set off to Sticks Pass. After about a 100 metres I realised I didn't have my glasses on. They were still back on the rock! Shit! We traipsed back to White Stones and searched the many white stones to find the one with my spectacles on. There seemed to be a lot more stones now than before and I thought they might be lost forever. Amazingly, I found them. Amazing, because I can hardly see without my glasses on. I put them on and vowed to always put my glasses in a pocket in future.

Stakes Pass

The Kapitan did a good job in getting us to Sticks Pass. I had intended going up Raise on this walk, but the conditions were so awful that I suggested to the Kapitan and the Cabin Boy that we just head back down the valley to Glenridding. The Kapitan and Cabin Boy willingly agreed. I heard some voices. Crikey, some other poor sods were out walking today too! One person went westwards to the Thirlmere valley and two others overtook us on our descent eastwards. We couldn't see much because of the mist, but from what we could see, the waterfalls were quite impressive. 

The Greenside mine works seemed quite spooky in the mist. We crossed the footbridge and descended down the stone track towards the Youth Hostel. We were surprised to find one of the houses up for sale near the Youth Hostel. Later research revealed it to be on the market for £660,000. I'm not sure I'd like the bumpy drive up from Glenridding and so I'll leave this particular property for somebody else.

Return

At least we'd dropped out of the mist now. There was even a patch of sun on Place Fell at the far end of the valley. It didn't last long though and it soon disappeared. In Glenridding a farmer was rounding up sheep in a field and we were surprised when a Herdy came scooting past us at great speed. The last we saw of it, it was in the Traveller's Rest, sat in front of the fire with its feet up. In Glenridding we saw that the derelict shop and accompanying house was up for sale. All yours for a tidy £750,000. Shopkeeping is not really for me and so I'll decline this opportunity too. 

The trail alongside Ullswater was slippery with fallen leaves. It was past 15:00 and it felt like dusk was descending.  Some kayakers were out on the water at Glencoyne. They'd need head torches if they'd stayed out for much longer.

In truth, the walk had been a little disappointing. Most of it had been completed in mist and rain. The highlight was probably the view of Ullswater from Heron Pike. The lowlight was nearly losing my glasses. The forecast for tomorrow is better and so we are crossing our fingers.