Thursday 25th May 2006
Glenridding
Dodd and Sheffield Pike - 3.2 miles - 1,906 ft Asc.
&
Arnison
Crag and Birks - 4.35 miles - 1,788 ft Asc.
7.55 miles walked with 3694 ft of ascent
The weather forcast for
the weekend following was awful,
and it didn't look much better for the following week so I decided to take
advantage of the beautiful blue skies that were predicted
and go do some of the Eastern Fells I needed to complete.
...
From the very start it
was hard going. Our ascent of Glenridding Dodd.
I think the weekends hike around Dovedale had taken more out of me than I
had first thought.
Jay decided from the off that he would take advantage of every bit of water
he could find,
even if it meant lying in an inch deep stream! Pic on the right is looking
back down.
The one thing about steep ascents is that it don't take long before you have the most amazing views.
A.W. wrote,
"Fashions change. When people climbed hills only for the sake of the
views,
the heathery summit of Glenridding Dodd must have been more frequented than
it is today,
for once popular paths of ascent and now over grown and neglected."
Thankfully since AW wrote the above GD has regained it popularity, but I would
bet it's steep slopes
still put a few people off having a go..
Which is a pity, because once on the top of Glenridding Dodd ...
I couldn't make up my
mind which of these I liked best..
so you got them both...
Ullswater stretching away in the distance..
"Dad.. I can see
a great big bit of water..
please can I go play.... pleaseee"
From Glenriddings Summit
we could see our next 'target', Sheffield Pike..
but there are two flat tops to GD, we pressed on to the real summit.
I made him wait on the hill while I got a head start...
"I need a drink.."
Ok.. lots following off the summit of GD...
"Dad.. there's that water again..."
Just a short distance up Sheffield pike we got a great view of Glenridding Dodd.
"will you get a move on... "..
Eventually we came across a hugh tarn
and Jay jumped straight in..
Well ok, it was a puddle.. a dirty one at that..
The view from here is
stunning..
had I not been on a mission to do as many peaks that day
this would have been a great picnic spot.
He wasn't amused at all when I told him to stay while I took his picture..
A little bit further on we got an even better view of Glenridding..
The old mines behind Jay.
It looks worse than it is.. ish..
Half way up the rocks
This is where 4 legs are better than 2.. waiting for Dad to climb.
Then..
we really did find a small tarn...
and what Jay do...
Mmm
Jumped straight in of course...
From the summit of Sheffield
Pike,
the most amazing views of Helvellyn and Catstycam..
Catstycam is just right of center.
Again.. can't make up my mind which ones to use... blah.. blah..
With Jay, the problem
with a self timer is that when I click it
and rush back over to sit with him, he tends to think he was done something
wrong..
This one I love...
This is a God send even
on a day like today..
bitter wind got up just as we arrived at the summit.
I had a very quick drink,
and we started to make our way back
the same way we had come up, past Jay's swimming pool.
I do usually make walks into interesting cirlces (horseshoes) but today wasn't
a day for that.
ONTO PAGE TWO... My climb up Arnison Crag and Birks
