A couple of months ago I did my usual trip to the Lake District with my son. And leaving home, on the way to pick him up I hurt my back. Now, it might have been wise to spend the first few days resting, but we were only there for a week, and on the first full day the weather forecast was tolerable, whilst for the rest of the week it was forecast to rain. So I thought we might as well, back or no back, do a proper walk on that first day as that might be the only good one of the week.. And so it was that every day the forecast was for it to rain tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. The only time we actually got rained on was one evening coming back a half mile from the pub to our hotel. Painful, yet we were well rewarded.

So this entry and the next few will be the story of that first day walk, a triumph of perseverance and ibuprofen over common sense; starting with 2 images.

We started by driving from Portinscale to Ullswater, then along Ullswater and started heading up towards Kirkstone Pass. Our target for the day was a peak called Stoney Cove Pike, the highest point on Caudale Moor. And as we drove the clouds were tumbling across the sky, with occasional glimpses of the Sun, and at least it was not a uniform dull grey so it was very picturesque. And the second of these pictures were taken as we headed past Patterdale; I put it second simply because I prefer the other; but it all tells the story. The clouds were spilling down the valley from the pass and the impact was a most unusual cloud formation; we could see the mountains, yet also see the clouds down almost at valley level.

We got to the pass, kitted up, and started off for the lower slopes leading up from the road. And we were in quite thick cloud and we thought seriously about calling off the walk; after all it’s not smart to walk in that visibility; too easy to take the quick and fatal way down the mountain, and if you arrive safely you cannot see anything. But we set off and said we would see how it went. And as we moved from the slopes we had to climb up a cloudy rocky gully. Yet at the top of the gully we could see a golden glow in the cloud, so we climbed and as we got to the top of the gully we emerged through and above the clouds. The views were gorgeous, truly Gaia dancing in great form.