It was the beginning of a New Year and time to walk off all the excess mince pies on our first summit walk of 2010. Our departure point was from Castlerigg Manor, Keswick. We hit sub-zero temperatures of up to -9 on the journey up but the beautiful sight of the snowy mountains kept us excited for our day together. Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany was celebrated in the Castlerigg Chapel before we left and we enjoyed scrambled eggs on toast afterwards which set us up for our journey. It was icy under foot and very very cold. We were lucky as it wasn’t too windy and there was no rain. Ideal weather for winter sports! Today, I was mindful of everyone’s safety with the snow and ice but I knew that we had 2 excellent mountain leaders, Fr Phil and Joe, and that we would look after each other. Walkers today were; Fr Philip Conner, Ruth & Joe White, Alice & Nora Moriarty, Ralph Garcia, Marie Pearson and Lizzie Cavanagh. We set off down Manor Brow for Springs Wood making our way towards Walla Crag. We met some other walkers who told us that the waterfall near Ashness Gill was frozen over and so we made the decision to cut our walk short for safety reasons, as it could have been very dangerous under foot. Derwent Water was almost completely frozen over and we took the opportunity to sit down, have a picnic and enjoy the breath-taking views. As we headed up higher to Bleaberry Fell, it got colder. The hills were completely covered in snow and we found an ideal place to do some sledging! Everyone had a turn with some hilarious attempts. We managed to build up some speed on our bivvy bags, which made excellent sledges and we didn’t really bother with the cold as we were too busy enjoying ourselves. As we started to walk back to Castlerigg, following the route that we had come by, the setting sun changed the horizon once again and we were given another spectacular view to mark the end of our walk. Although this walk wasn’t the most difficult we had undertaken, it was tough on the thighs because of the snow. It was a fantastic day and I know that everyone enjoyed it.
The Scream of the Day Award goes to Miss Alice Moriarty see the Video above and follow this link for great photos
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