A PERFECT STORM
THE FIELDS ARE SOGGY and damp, the footpath hard to find. But overhead the views along the Vale of Keswick are framed by Blencathra on the right and Clough Head on the left, both topped off with gleaming fresh snow. At the glen end, half-clouded Grasmoor hills close off the view.
Got the midwinter blues? Get yourself out into the grey-and-white. A white icing turns even the dumpling hills of the Mell Fells into some sugary Christmas confection.
On a good day, you can romp across the tops, crampons crunching in the refrozen surface, bright sunshine above and a freezing breeze in your face. But in winter, the bad days can actually be the best of all.
HOLLOWS AND HEIGHTS
On an iffy weekend, with soggy snow, low cloud and quite a bit of wind – and forecast of rain for tomorrow – the thing is to have a proper plan. Cross the tops, but then drop into some shelter. Take in some lower heights; and also the half-height places, the places you never go in summer because you’re heading for Helvellyn.
And so I come up with a two-day hearty walk. Or, rather, a Harty walk
