Walking with Gertrude

At the end of December, we lost our wonderful dog and were heartbroken. We decided to do something different in January, just to break the month up a little and take our minds off things, so we booked a long weekend in Keswick.

We had a meeting just outside Penrith on the Friday morning, so driving up on Thursday meant we could have a full day's walking on the Saturday and drive home on Sunday. Perfect, except for the weather...Storm Gertrude was brewing and dire predictions were being made about driving into the eye of a storm (mainly by Mum). The journey of four and a half hours up the M6 was in beautiful sun and we made it all the way to Shap before the rain started, but even then it was only patchy showers. The wind did buffet us on the exposed section over Shap Fell, but nothing too bad, although we did take it steady.

Friday was beautiful all day - lovely bright sun and not too cold, but the wind was still blustery, so we endured more buffeting on the M6 heading towards Penrith but it was much calmer on the way back to Keswick. Saturday was clear, sunny and calm and all the fell tops had a fresh dusting of snow which we love.

We decided to tackle Long Side, Carl Side and Ullock Pike as they were only a 10 minute drive from the hotel and a ridge walk in winter in a looming storm was something we probably wouldn't have tackled with an older dog. We parked at the Old Sawmill Tearooms and set off up through Dodd woods. It was lovely and quiet; no wind, rain, ice or snow and no real flood damage that we could see although one of the trails had been closed. As the gradient eased and we approached the 'Dodd Summit' sign, Gertrude hit us full in the face, but it was still dry and relatively warm.

The views were lovely as were the clouds racing over Derwentwater as we began the climb up to Carl Side. Once we reached the summit, Gertrude made her presence felt again in quite an aggressive way and it got more than a little nippy, so we stopped to don water/windproof jackets and trousers and warmer gloves; I say don which sounds very civilised and calm, but let's just say the air turned bluer than it was already. A slug of freezing water completed the preparations.

The views were beautiful and we were in full sun. Now properly clad, we were perfectly warm and debated for about two seconds whether to veer off up Skiddaw, but Gertrude was playing rough and we still had Longside Edge to do, so decided against it. Gertrude was rushing about at around 45 miles an hour, so not so strong you could lean against her - although we tried - but enough to make you stagger, which is not a good idea on an Edge, so there was a lot of bracing with the walking poles. It was actually quite good fun and we were sensible, digging the poles in when a strong gust hit side on.

It still wasn't really that cold and looking behind us, Derwentwater was shrouded in mist and gloom, so we felt we'd had the best of the weather. It was a fabulously exhilarating walk that blew the cobwebs away. Gertrude had behaved herself, despite being a little pushy at times!

Outdoor Ramblings

‘The greatest adventure is what lies ahead’

Walking with Gertrude