Team Outing: Blencathra and Outlying Wainwrights
David met with Julian, Paul, Greg, Chas, Andrew and Michael to add to Chas' list of Wainwrights. The walk was similar to one David and Jacinta had done last year but included a couple that we hadn't done. We started in Mungrisdale and effectively reversed the route Jacinta and I had done, walking up the south side of The Tongue and up to the saddle between Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crag.
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| Bannerdale Crag to the left, Blencathra dusted with snow to the right |
We duly went to the summit of both Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crag and then down to the coll between Bannerdale Crag and Blencathra.
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| Blencathra (with "Saddleback"), Paul, and my thumb |
From there, we went on to Mungrisdale Common- the summit only discernible by a pile of stones, typically in a puddle. We probably wouldn't have gone there if Wainwright hadn't included it in one of his guidebooks.
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| The "Summit" of Mungrisdale Common |
The summit of Blencathra is only marked by a minimalist trig point and, as it was cold and windy, we only stayed long enough for Chas to take a summit photo.
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| Blencathra's Trig Point |
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Blencathra Summit: Julian, Michael, Paul, Andrew, Greg and David |
We made our way down to the east towards Scales Fell, the clouds lifting enough for us to enjoy some views.
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The Sharp Edge ascent of Blencathra
 | Descent from Blencathra- Souther Fell furthest away
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The last fell we climbed was Souther Fell- we missed an easier slanting descent that would have avoided a rather frustrating loop away from our starting point and the cars!
Nevertheless, a great day out with good company. 11.7 miles, 1100m ascent.