Wednesday March 30th

 Snow today- on the tops of Martindale and eventually lower down. We started from St. Martin's Church- less than ½ mile from Howegrain Lodge and ascended the hillside to Brownthwaite Crag and skirting Gowk Hill.

Ascent to Brownthwaite Crag. Howstead Brow and Place Fell in the background

There were plenty of the hardy herdies to admire on the way.
The hardy Herdwick sheep, native to The Lakes

As we turned northwards towards Wether Hill, it started to snow but we were well kitted-out and remained nice and warm.

The snow starts...

The summit of Wether Hill was more or less entirely elusive, with the Harvey and Ordnance Survey maps giving different locations for it. David insisted in visiting both possibilities but, as the entire area was more or less level, wet and boggy, it was good for the soul and little more. Having found a small pile of stones beside the path (hardly a summit cairn), we stopped for a snack and, for Jacinta, some hot Heinz Cream of Tomato from her flask.

Jacinta enjoying Heinz' best, hot from her flask

We made the decision to go on to the trig point at the top of Loadpot Hill and, as it made sense, made our descent the same way down as from Bonscale Crag on Monday via Mellguards House. We stopped for our proper lunch on our way back to St. Peter's Church at the top of The Hause. There was quite a lot of snow higher up, less in the valley making for an atmospheric walk. It was nice to come back to a warm cup of tea and then, a little later on, a Booth's Hot Cross Bun.

A little under 7½ miles and just over 700m ascent.


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