Eel Crag,Sail and the Zig Zags Twitteratti walk pt3

 Continuing from i phone sledging

Having reached the summit of Eel crag and met up with the rest of the group it was time for a group photo ,  i very rarely seem to be in these shots for some reason    lol

here we have the "Shadows"   next to the summit trig point

              take note of the "Nutter" in the t shirt  haha     sorry Steve . everyone else was wrapped up warm but truth be told we didn't need to be, it was relatively warm in the sun/snow

Now it is time to traverse this ridge, which looks very icy!  from Eel crag across to Sail.

                                       the summit of "sail"  out next destination.

here we go.........   it is very icy and narrow with steep drops either side!   single file only

taking it very carefully we are making our way across the ridge , momentarily take my camera out of my bag to take this image , love the light in the valley!

while negotiating the narrow ridge , the group spread out considerably taking time on the ice and snow covered rocks . it was only when reaching the other side, upon looking back at the ridge it really shows how narrow and steep it actually was!   looks scary from here!

                                          the view from "Sail" looking towards Eel crag

amazing view from on Sail summit looking down to keswick. we are now heading towards the Zig Zag path to take us down to head to Outerside  , i think 

Causey pike ahead of us ( i think ) but we are going to turn left at the bottom of the zig zag path and head towards Outerside and back to Braithwaite.

    looking back at the " Zig Zags"   will look better when weathered in, bit of an" ice saw " at the moment !    haha
it was extremely slippery , and even walking off the path ( sorry Tanya)  most of us slipped at least once!

We are now on Outerside , magnificent views of Grisedale Pike on the right, which should have been our first summit of the day.

                         Skiddaw looking lovely with setting sun and snow on the tops.

well!  there is the valley path we walked along early this morning and the snow capped summit of  Grisedale pike we MISSED!   Oooops

Looking from Stile End to Bassenthwaite lake in the distance , the fields are still covered in frost, amazing since the sun and blue sky we have had all day!    shows how cold it is , but we have not felt it all day .  now the sun is setting it is feeling very cold , my hot chocolate is cold after about a minute  lol

 we finish of the walk back down to braithwaite and the Pub ,the Coledale inn  with a lovely atmosphere and x mas tree .  were talk of the sledging i phone continued . never to be forgotten  ever!
this has to be the best walk of the past year.  thank you to all my new friends .

i- Phone Sledging and Laughter on Twitteratti walk Grasmoor pt2

Continuing the story of the Coledale horseshoe walk that went wrong :)

the First part ended with the group at the base of Grasmoor , we started climbing up the steep slope which was icy with a frozen crust on the snow.

                                           a breath taking view of the Helvelyn range in the distance.

                                                    icy slopes and superb views :D

            we made our way up towards the first summit cairn which was where all the fun began :)

just as i got to the summit , almost last as i was taking loads of pics on these slopes, i had just shot this  wonderful image WHEN!

It was brownie time, Dave took the box from Gina , handed the first to Tanya then a cry  "my phone"  was heard as Gina's beloved i-phone in its Shiny red case slipped from her hand and started its very own imitation of a bob sleigh heading down the steep slope towards impending Death!
Dave immediately started running/sliding after it, unfortunately he was still grasping the box of brownies!  surely more important than the phone at this moment in time :0   "Don't drop the brownies Dave" rang out , everyone was in fits of laughter as Dave disappeared down the slope amazingly without falling.   Gina shouted , "it wont get over the ridge Dave"  just as it flew over the ridge and picked up speed :D
it was at this point Tanya noticed that she had the only brownie that might be left , and was thinking of departing fast in case we all wanted it   hehe

 animation click here  First run

eventually , much to every ones amazement Dave caught up with the phone and with a flying leap TROD on it!  with hands aloft in triumph :D

   unfortunately , a few brownies escaped at this point and started sliding down the slope also!
Dave picks up the escapee brownies  animation click Picking up brownies

                                 as you can see in this image, Dave actually travelled a long way!

after the brownies had been retrieved, eaten and much laughter rang out around the fells, the group split, half of us started heading towards Grasmoor summit, while the others headed towards Wandope in Tanya's case and Eel Crag the others.  i took the opportunity of shooting the small cairn we where at with its magnificent backdrop. Skiddaw on the left and the Helvelyn range to the right.

as we started walking towards the summit, the path, well what might have been a path under the snow .was on a very steep slope and Sian decided it was a little too tricky and decided to turn back and head towards Eel Crag with Paul where we will all meet later.    it was a bit scary actually , i shot this image looking back at the others behind me ,as you can see, it is a steep slope that i don't think any of us would make it back up if slipped!      and yes, Steve did slip and laughed nervously :D

any how we have all negotiated this section and realised the top is completely flat!   why on earth didn't we just take this easy route?    Doh!

                here is Gina on Grasmoor summit plateau with an ice sculpture and  Crummock water

 superb views from here ,Skiddaw at the back and Grisedale pike left front ,  yes that's the pike we should have climbed if we had taken the correct path out of car park   Oooops!

Heading back now across the flat top, someone commented that we were all spread out like mercenaries in a James bond film  !  hehe

                                            Playing in the snow :)    "snow angel"

         Gina,Dave,Steve & myself are now heading up the slopes of Wandope ,  looks wonderful all the pristine snow :)   while the rest of our group are heading straight up to Eel crag to join the others .  we have to "Bag" the Wainwright after all .

              love how the light catches the humps.      heading towards the summit now, its only a short detour then we can head over to Eel Crag to meet the others.

                                        great views over to the Scafells from here

Finally we have reached the summit , only the second all day!   Ooops  but that doesn't matter in conditions like these with amazing views .  my fav image of the day

                                                     what the............................. 

looking at Eel Crag from Wandope, the ridge right of centre that evidently we have to traverse to get to the next summit "Sail" over to the right.

heading across towards the Eel Crag path now , i remarked how crusty the surface was and how everyone was crunching through it except me being so light , when i crunched through a deep bit and ended flat out in the snow !  Oops    so funny.     luckily no one snapped a pic  . in the image below ,Grasmoor is on the left where we where earlier and we are now heading right up the steep slope to Eel crag now to meet the rest of the group.

                                                                              great skies :)

               walking up the final steep slope to the summit we have super views of the Scafells :)

                                        the story will continue in part 3 :)  too many images lol

The Best Wrong Mountain climb ever Dec 2nd 2012 pt1

Well it was the day of another Twitteratti walk, i drove up to the lakes to meet friends for a walk around the Coledale Horseshoe, or at least i thought we were! 

 driving along the a66 towards Keswick the view of Blencathra came into view, snow capped and lit up in early morning sun , as i stopped to take an image a flock of seagulls appeared and what a super image it made :D     view large  HERE

 we all met in the car park in Braithwaite near to Keswick early on sunday morning. Gina had sent us all an e mail with the route ,including which path to take out of the car park.   so we all knew roughly where we where going:)
so after a group photo

 what did we all do?    yes you guessed it, took the wrong path out of car park  lol   instead of the small path behind the cars we started walking along the very good wide flat track down the valley!  Ooops
but we didnt realise this fact for another half hour!

walking along the path, chatting and taking some images of the snow capped mountains of Skiddaw behind us , i mention to Jimmy pointing up at Grisedale pike and said " arnt we supposed to be up there? "  he said the others know which route we are taking.

                                                       looking behind us to Skiddaw

i have just taken this image above and having caught up with Tanya ,she has informed me we have gone the wrong way!   Ooops,  Dave did suggest we climb straight up the fell side, but one look and everyone said  No way   haha    it appears everyone followed each other even though a few had already walked this route.   pity Ray wasnt with us , he would have known, and in reply to a txt someone sent him, his reply was " you didnt make that mistake did you? "     Doh

we are carrying on walking down the low valley track alongside the coledale beck  towards the Force Crag mine workings

coming to this stream we found the very smooth wet stepping stones very slippery and it was quite difficult to get across safely without falling in , Sian actually tumbled twice but was unscathed fortunatly, it would be so easy to twist an ankle or worse!

the path is at last taking us upwards , i stop briefly to shoot this image of the sun lighting up a pool of water, the oily surface reflecting the snow capped mountains and tinging the colour

                              and a panorama looking behind us towards Skiddaw again.

looking back towards our intended summit , Grisedale Pike. it soon became clear we were NOT going to climb it!    after a quick discussion it was decided to head towards Grasmoor which appears to be covered in snow  yay :)

gaining height rapidy we have now just past Coledale Hause and here is the view!   what a sight to behold, snow and blue sky ,what an amazing view.

walking along towards Grasmoor the snow is getting deeper and deeper, the surface frozen into a crust which is making walking far easier than soft powdery snow. 
                     Grisedale Pike with a slight covering of snow with Skiddaw in the distance.

                       here are the two"Glam walkers"  Tanya and Gina with Grasmoor behind.
                             please take a look at Tanyas blog HERE  & Ginas blog HERE

                       now loads of snowy shots as we make our way up to the base of Grasmoor :)

          i love how the snow folds across the landscape with the light catching all the bumps :D

      Time for a group shot, at the base of the climb up to Grasmoor summit , i got my silhouette in too

The amazing day will continue in part two , a tale of sledging i-phones,dangerous edge walk and views to die for  :D   which could have happened!