Monday 29 October 2012

Abandoning Wetherlam


Wetherlam on a sunnier day!
The morning weather did not bode well.  Heavy rain and gusty winds were forecast and it turned out to be spot on.  A Twitter walk arranged by Gina was planned though and they are always fun whatever the weather so Tilly the black Labrador (who is staying with me for two weeks again) and I packed our sandwiches and waterproofs and headed off to meet the group at Tilberthwaite.  The plan was to start with Wetherlam and then head up the Prison Band to Swirl How and follow the ridge to Coniston Old Man.

Starting out
As we all arrived, we discussed what we should do in light of the weather. Should we abandon Wetherlam and do a lower level walk?  Just do Wetherlam?  The most critical question being of course – how long until the pub opens?  Given it was 9am we had a good few hours so we decided to stick to Wetherlam on its own.  After all donning our waterproofs (see “Girl from the South Heads North Episode 1” for the accuracy of the label on my “waterproofs”) the 11 of us headed up the path alongside Tilberthwaite Gill.  The thought of Gina’s legendary chocolate brownies was a good incentive.  I took a group photo just as we left and the rain drop on the lens says it all!

Tilly at this point had a decision to make.  She prefers to walk in front so she can see what is going on.  She is also very loyal and wanted to walk with me, but I am invariably at the back having frequent “Tanya stops” so it was a choice between leading or being with me.  After a short stint ahead looking back, she decided to walk with me, however far behind I got.  She is so sweet (the fact I was carrying the treats I am sure was irrelevant to her).

Gushing waterfall & autumn colours
Not at the back! Yay!
We ploughed on through the rain and wind, passing beautiful waterfalls with the white rapids contrasting strikingly with the autumn colours of reds, oranges and browns.  Rain has compensations and fabulous waterfalls are one of them.  The views were not great but having climbed parallel to Wetherlam to reach the summit of Grey Friar in glorious sunshine the day before at least I could imagine what I could be seeing.  Gina took a photo at one point on the way up and I have included it in the blog as I am not at the back of the group! Hurrah!  It was a brief but satisfying moment.

River crossing on the way back down
As we reached a plateau, the wind got really strong and it was a battle to keep moving forward.  Tilly was drenched, her ears were flapping in the wind but she was loving it.  However, I remembered the route we were doing and I had reservations about the ascent of Wetherlam Edge.  It is a steep scramble in places and if windy, can be quite dangerous.  I did it in similar conditions last year at the tail end of Hurricane Katia and whilst I made it to the summit on that occasion, it was too windy to stay there for more than a minute or two and although Tilly is good at scrambling, I decided on balance we would be better making a retreat.  I let Dave and Andy (who had been kindly taking it more slowly to keep me in sight) know I was going back and arranged to meet them all in the pub at the end (well I may be abandoning the walk but that did not mean I had to abandon the pub!)

The "I would like a chocolate brownie please" look
Tilly and I made our way back down towards Tilberthwaite.  Then a horrible thought struck me.  We had not just abandoned Wetherlam, we had abandoned chocolate brownies!  Tilly looked particularly distressed at this but after toying with the idea of chasing back up the mountain, we decided that one look from Tilly’s eyes in the pub would secure a brownie each.  We were right!

Wet, blurred & bedraggled - braving the camera timer!
It was great to catch up with everyone at the end of the walk in the Black Bull in Coniston.  Great company and even though Tilly and I did not make it to the summit, a great walk.
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16 comments:

  1. very nice read Tanya, great waterfall/AUTUMN COLOURS pic :D i would be proud of that one!

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  2. Great to see you and Tilly,pity about the weather being so bad. You didn't miss much by way of scenery but we still a few laughs and no one got hurt so all in all a success..
    Maybe see you on the next outing....

    Jim

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    1. Great to see you too. And Lassie! Sad I had to turn back but didn't want to risk Tilly! Besides - in such weather, everyone having to wait for me all the time is not good! Hope the weather is better on the next one! :-)

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  3. Hard luck, but the mountain is always there for another day. In company and dry weather, try the Steel Edge route up it. I've come down it twice & it's a pretty good route. Sorry I missed the pub, I need to get in there.

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    1. Si mentioned the Steel Edge route. I will try that next time. The pub was good - Bluebird beer!

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  4. Lovely autumnal colours. Shame you didn't get up to the summit BUT, let's face it. There were only two important items in this blog - Tilly's eyes and brownies!

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    1. You have hit the nail on the head Tracey and Tilly and brownies were enjoyed by all in spite of abandoning the summit! :-)

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  5. Always a pity having to abandon a route but sometimes it just becomes not worth it - especially when you've done it before AND there's a warm dry beer-serving pub waiting :-)

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    1. Yes the warm, dry, beer-serving pub made up for everything :)

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  6. A happy ending then... Sometimes the weather is a lot more powerful than we are!
    Glad to see Tilly again.

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    1. Where chocolate brownies and a nice pub are involved, the ending is always going to be happy! Tilly loves being back. It is her holiday home! :)

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  7. Great read. Me and the new missus need to get on one of these twitter walks but kels injury still haunting us. Maybe next year :)

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    1. Well she could always keep me company at the back! ;-)
      Hope to see you both next year then :-)

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  8. Nearly abandond my own walk up wetherlam earlier this year! Lucky for us it turned into a good day. http://reasonstogonorth.com/wetherlam/

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    1. What a contrast! Lovely clouds and sunshine at the end!

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