July
Route
Walk leader | Michael |
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Route | Uzzicar Farm – up to the col – Causey Pike – Rowling End - Stoneycroft. |
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Weather | No rain, in fact a mini drought by this year’s standards. Windy and cool in places. Cloud cleared later on to give a pleasant sunny early evening. |
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Walkers | Michael, Michelle, and George. |
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Excuses | Ashley and Bernie- Inaugural Monkey Hangers Hash in Hartlepool. Joint winners Excuse of the Year. Ron and Sandy - Preparing to go on holiday in Spain. Evelyn - being a Romantic Novelist in Penrith. Olwen - in Wales. |
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Comments |
A nice, relatively quiet walk of nearly six miles, over more rugged terrain than we had encountered for a while. We were taken aback by how dry the ground was. It was dry enough to sit on in many places. There was a long steady pull up to the col. Michelle was hit by the lurgey on the climb up, and after lunch, decided not to continue and did a shorter walk up the Barrow, a grassy hill, before returning to the car. However, we kept in contact using the walkie talkies. We stopped to admire the zig-zags on Sail, before proceeding along the Causey Pike ridge. Two lively spaniels passed us, who went on to enjoy a swim in a tiny tarn. There were good views of Derwent Water, Langdale Fells, Great Cable, Great End, Wasdale Fells as well as the fine symmetrical V-shaped valley, of which the ridge formed one side. Our tea stop was on top of Causey Pike, before we had a challenging descent down a twisty and steep, rocky path. We were glad that it was not wet as the rocks were polished. We summoned a lift from Michelle to save wear and tear on our knees by walking along the tarmac road. There was an attractive modern house with a round stone turret and wood fascia up Newlands Valley. We ended the walk with shandies in the sunny garden of the Derwent Hotel in Portinscale. Wildlife/Flora/Animals: Birds: chaffinches, blackbirds, ravens, goldfinch, skylarks and a meadow pipit. Plants/Trees: heather and wild thyme. Mammals/others: nothing except sheep and cattle. |
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Meal | |||||
Shepherd’s Inn, Melmerby – enjoyable meals, although they were a bit short on vegetables. The large Camembert starter made a dessert an impossibility. |
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Photo Gallery |
Sail zig-zags
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Path through the heather |
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View from the Ridge Photo of the Year |
George in action |
Descent
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On the Ridge
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