Ennerdale

On Tuesday we were on a work party at Ennerdale, well Andy was. On Saturday with the thaw we had tried to drive over to Bowness Knott to look at the wildlife cameras but it was still very slushy & icy on the approach roads so we turned back. Todays work party was based near Bleach Green so Andy participated & Karen set off on the 1.5hr over to the cameras. The thaw has left a mottling of snow on Pillar Looking down the valley, Crag Fell Here at Irish Bridge the track is still very icy And further along the road

The lake is frozen here too

The cloud lifts off Pillar, Scoat Fell & Steeple

Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures from the cameras this time, however Andy's work party was able to create a path through some of the forest & create 4glades where local school children can have outdoor lessons (when it warms up I guess)

A Snowy Walk Up Dent

Today in the beautiful sunshine we set off from home to walk up Dent. We had another couple of inches of snow on Monday night & with the temperatures struggling to get above freezing it is still packed on the ground. There is a pond somewhere under there

The snow perched on the branches

The dogs are loving this weather

Across the snowy fields to the River Ehen

And across to Dent our summit for the day

Blake Fell round to the Ennerdale Fells

The cycle track has been well walked but as it is so soft & powdery it almost looks untouched

Crag searching for the stick

Zooming in on Blake Fell

We are now starting the climb up Dent

It's very cold in the forest as we are out of the sun

Looking back through the trees onto Cleator Moor

Out of the trees & nearly back in the sunshine

You can see the snow on Snafell on the Isle of Man

A panorama west

Zooming in on Cleator Moor

Plenty of snow up here

Our feet are sinking deeper in now as we approach the summit

A panorama from the summit

Blake Fell to Great Borne

We couldn't believe how many people were on the fell today & we were soon joined at the summit by 8 people. We stopped for pictures but some just continued on

Scafell Pike & Sca Fell in the distance

Pillar in the distance

Karen as we start our descent

A very snowy Bess

Sinking deep into the snow too

Where it has drifted it is quite deep

A short clip of Karen having fun with the dogs

Scotland in the distance, it appears they have had a lot less snow than us as it is only on the higher peaks

The heather is covered

Time for some snowball catching

Think Andy was having fun too

More please

Gonna catch this one

Job done, that must be cold

That's better

Bess's turn Good catch

Crunched

There was a cold breeze on the summit so we retreated to the bench near the forest for our lunch. We watched this guy come down really quickly & thought he was skiing

It turned out he was cycling!

We had a great walk on a lovely crisp winters day if the forecast is right we should expect to see it thaw in the next few days, it hasn't started yet as it is -6.3 at the moment (19:45)