Fairfield by the side door

There are just so many options of nice short jaunts from Ambleside but we'd decided on Fairfield in the hope we'd get some nice sunset shots. As I'd spent so much time drooling in the gear shops in the morning it was going to be a quick dash up from the A591 rather than the full classic horseshoe. Arriving at the lay-by just before 2pm we headed up towards the side of Tongue Gill aiming for Grisedale Hause.

Seat Sandal, Great Tongue & snowy Fairfiel Brow

The weather peeps had promised that as the day went on it would clear but we still had lots of dramatic clouds floating about with glimpses of blue sky. Amazingly for a Lakes wander we had been going for about 45 minutes before we started meeting people on their way down. Those that we spoke to appeared rather high from getting down through the snow - what were we about to encounter? From Grisedale Hause it was just a straight pull up the snow covered Fairfield Brow to the summit plateau. Crampons weren't required as it was certainly soft enough for kicking steps but there was lots of evidence of slides. Maybe that was why those people we'd met were feeling a bit high!!

Looking down Tongue Gill

St Sunday in the sun

Dollywagon Pike & Grisedale Tarn

Seat Allan from Fairfield

The summit was the quietest I've ever seen on Fairfield with just another couple of folk and a skier about, the joy of the late ascent :-) Unfortunately for us the promised clearing of the clouds didn't happen. It was just the opposite in fact. Not to worry. We enjoyed the views that we had and headed off towards Great Rigg for our descent. There was one last good patch of snow that us kids could have a wee play before heading over to Stone Arthur and back to the road. What was nice was the fact that the route over Stone Arthur ended up being a wee bit more craggy than I had figured for - nice :-)

Fairfield summit with St Sunday behind

Looking west from Fairfield summit plateau

Looking towards Great Rigg

Heading down Great Rigg

Playtime :-)

Stone Arthur

Comments

Salomon Mission GTX Boot

I've had these on a few times now and so far they are just what I've been after to get me through the winter for most of my days out. Salomon describe them as being perfect for "light hiking" - take that whatever way you want ;-) They come in at 1210g for the pair and feel fairly easy on the feet. They've handled saturated grassy stuff without me applying the famous arse plant (so far!!). They even seemed to be OK on rocky stuff too. Where I have been really impressed with them is how they handled the snow on Na Gruagaichan. It was hard enough that we were kicking steps. This was easy enough for Steve in his Scarpa SL's and Iain in his La Sportiva Nepals. Initially I followed their steps then decided to give it a go myself. I occasionally had to kick a couple of times on some of the really hard stuff, probably more down to my poor technique than the boot, but they managed well on the cover we had for the ascent. As my balance is rubbish I decided to apply

Creag Meagaidh MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

Creag Meagaidh has been on the to do list for so long. The past couple of years have seen us have to abort at least three attempts at the last minute because conditions weren't for us. So were we going to get it done this time................. YES The weather bods said mostly dry with a risk of potential showers later in the day. It was warm so even if it did rain it would be warm. Off we set having smothered ourselves in factor 50 and Smidge. Warm they said.......... baking I said!!!! We had decided our ascent would be via Coire Ardair and The Window to ease us into the walk on a good path. It felt more like a slow roasting. It is a gorgeous walk out to Coire Ardair on a very good path but as soon as we were out of the forest the heat and humidity kicked in. When we reached Lochan Coire Ardair there was only one thing on my mind, getting my boots off and getting in. It was at this point I began having major doubts as to whether we would get this done. Bre

Mullach Clach a'Bhlair

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Blethering Blonde

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