March

Route

	Walk Leader		Ron
	Route		Keswick (Lakeside Car Park) – High Brandelhow – Cat Bells – Portinscale - Keswick.
	Weather		Sunny periods, warm low down, cloudy at times with a fair breeze on top which made it chilly.
	Walkers		Ron, Sandy, Ashley,Carol, Michelle, Evelyn and George B
	Excuses		Bernie - running a B & B establishment Michael - visiting his mother in hospital
	Comments		Very expensive car park (£6). We took the ferry from Keswick to High Brandelhow. Saw a girl in a bubble on the lake at Ashness Bridge. The ferry did not call at Lodore because the water level in the lake was too low even after a bad winter. Strong smell of oil after we landed due to oil spillage. It was a long hard climb up to the top of Cat Bells and an even longer and harder descent. As a result we got strung out going up with Ashley well out in front. When the rest of us got to the top he was found chatting up a Kiwi girl – we felt like party poopers. Scenic lunch at the top with good views over Derwentwater and Newlands Valley with snow covered peaks in the background. Carol did not feel safe on the slope. Two ravens were reluctant to come too close to take some bread. Lots of people and dogs coming the other way, including a very small boy, a very small dog and a man being pulled uphill by a bull terrier. Lots of different accents. On completing an arduous descent we stopped for a rest at a cattle grid equipped with a bus stop (3 buses a day) and watched several cyclists speed over it – one actually cleared the grid completely but had to brake very hard before a sharp and steep bend. Took afternoon tea (and delicious scones and teacakes) at a tearoom in Portinscale, which had an eclectic selection of goods for sale (e.g clingfilm, lemsip, a book entitled “Know your sheep”) and two screaming kids (not for sale). On the final stretch we had to make a detour as a suspension bridge was closed, approach thoroughly welded up. Long traffic queues coming out of Keswick and heavy traffic on the road home due to the Hadrian’s Wall Beacon Event (1600th anniversary of Romans leaving Britain). Ron, Sandy, Carol and Michael caught in traffic jams before reaching the Robin Hood for the final denouement. Wildlife / Flora / Animals: Birds : ravens, gosander, pink-footed geese, Canada geese, mallards, greater crested grebe, meadow pipit, bullfinches, robin. Heard a wren and a woodpecker. Mammals: three deer in a field. Insects: moths. Flora: snowdrops, purple crocuses, lots of moss on saplings.
	Meal
	Meal		Robin Hood. Utter disaster – worst service ever. Quote Ron “Definitely not a contender for meal of the year”. We waited nearly two hours for the main course. Carol walked out in disgust. At least we did not have to pay for the food.
	Photo Gallery		March walkers

Ducks

On board

Ferry landing

Water balling

Arrival

By Derwentwater

Ascent

Cat Bells

Climbing Cat Bells

Lunch

View

View from lunch

Mountains

Hindscarth and Robinson

Bassenthwaite

Cat Bells

Descent

Group on top

Another descent

The way we came

Forest

The way we should have come

Bridge

Forest's Ferny Floor

bridge

Closed Bridge

sandy

Sandy and the Chipmunk

Hadrian's Wall Beacons

Beacon

Meal

A long wait

Sign

'Nuff Said

Ski Supplement

Also in March, six of us became 'Gazelles of the Piste', with a skiing trip to Serre Chevalier in France. We stayed in the Chalet Montalambert, which we shared with two other groups, who were very good company.
	The weather was on the whole good, with plenty of sun and excellent snow conditions. One bad day sent four of the party scurrying back to the chalet, while George and Evelyn braved it out.
George and Evelyn invested in helmets this year.
	On the last two days, though it stayed sunny, the wind became very strong. There was an icy spindrift at the top of the mountains, making skiing uncomfortable at times. The temperatures plummetted, and the snow was scoured off the slopes in exposed places.
You can tell how cold it was from how well we were wrapped up on the last day! Left to right - Lance, Ashley (posing as usual), Ron, Sandy, Evelyn. George was taking the photo. All in all a very enjoyable trip.