Sun 21 Feb - Wasdale winter round

**CANCELLED** due to weather - strong winds, and rain/snow + low visibility don't lend themselves to high-level walks

Meet time: 08:30 – 08:45
Walk start: 09:00
Start point: National Trust car park, NY182075

Distance: Approx. 10 miles / 16km (will vary depending on conditions)
Time: Approx. 7 hours
Grade: Strenuous & technical
High point: Pillar (892m)

Leader: Alastair (07584 300306).

Please contact me by Friday as I am likely to be out of signal on Saturday & unable to respond to messages

Description:
This is a fairly ambitious high-level walk with a few options for making it longer (or shorter) as conditions & progress on the day dictate. As it is high-level & we can expect there to be snow & ice underfoot, please bring ice axes & crampons, as well as extra warm clothing, packed lunch & head torch.

Route - from the valley we will ascend towards Napes Needle & Great Gable, and cut across to Beck Head to gain Kirk Fell from where we will head to Black Sail Pass & on up to Pillar before dropping down to Wind Gap. If we are making good progress and want to continue at high-level, we have the option of continuing to Little Scoat Fell and Red Pike before dropping back into the valley just before Yewbarrow, but we are likely to descend at Wind Gap into the valley and back along Mosedale to the start, via the inn. NB if we are really struggling then we can also descend Black Sail pass before Pillar.

Alternative routes.
If the weather is poor, then the route may be changed on the day (maybe traversing the Wastwater screes & coming back over Whin Rigg or heading up Over Beck & back down by Nether Beck).

Sun 14 Feb - Crummock Water, Rannerdale and Mosedale

Meet Time: 9.15am
Walk Start Time: 9.30am
Start Point: Lanthwaite Green Farm. Grid Reference NY159208
Car Parking: Free parking next to the farm on the right just after cattle grid
Description: From the farm we follow the road down to join the path that will take us into Rannerdale where we will follow Squat Beck up to the head of the dale (and the highest point of the walk). The route then descends down giving good views of both Buttermere and Crummock Water, and then follows the course of Mill Beck via Ghyll Wood down to Buttermere village. From here we will head across Scale Bridge and head right towards Crummock Water. Branching off from the main path along the lakeside we will ascend towards Mosedale (we can do a mini detour here to take in Scale Force, the highest waterfall in the Lake District - the water plunges 52m in a single drop). Following a grassy path then track through Mosedale we descend to Loweswater where we follow the road to Lanthwaite Wood and back to the cars.

The terrain can be very wet through Mosedale especially so be prepared for some trudging through boggy areas. (If it has been particularly wet in the previous week I may choose to stick to the lakeside path)
Distance: ~9.5miles
Highest Point: 300m
Grade: Moderate (but only due to pace because of the shorter days, and the wet conditions)
Time: 5 hours

Notes: If the conditions are bad I reserve the right to modify the route or cancel the walk.
Contact: Please let Mel know by 6 pm on Saturday if you are coming on this walk 07584303975 or meggleton9@hotmail.com

Sat 6 Feb - ?

Leader: Sarah