“It’s not rained here like this for about 6 weeks, you know” said the local in Coniston on Friday night. Great, thanks!
Earlier, I had arrived in Windermere and into not-so-much rainfall as like being stood underneath Niagara Falls. And the forecast for Saturday and Sunday was terrible. The woman in the outdoor shop in Bowness cheerily told me we could try something low grade (on Dow) – then corrected herself by pointing out how polished it would be and wouldn’t fancy it herself. Yep, Dow Crag was going to be out of the question, so we decided to console ourselves with bagging Wainwrights. However, as this was meant to be a rock climbing trip, I’ve decided to write up the log in a largely climbing style…

August 1st.

1. Sour Howes (Diff) – Dave, easy solo, some route-finding difficulties on the final pitch (in the clouds)
2. Sallows (Mod) – Dave, another solo and straight-forward once the correct route had been located. It was “all there” as they say…

August 2nd

3. High Rigg (Easy) – Dave and Che, alternative leads from St. John in the Vale. Surely one of the easiest routes in the District [the forecast was still terrible].
However, it started to brighten up (a little), so…
4. Harter Fell, Eskdale (Hard Very Severe) –  Calmly and brilliantly led by Che, despite us not being able to locate the scramble on Brandy Crag. Indeed, I’m not convinced we were even at the right crag! Greeted on the summit by rain so hard I thought it was hailing…
5. Green Crag, Eskdale (Deep Water Solo grade more applicable). Again Che led this, and quite possibly a First Ascent as we soon lost any resemblance of a path in the morass that is Ulpha Fell. Still, something very strange happened as we gained the summit – the sun came out, and we had views and everything!
This surely has to be a unique set of Wainwrights anyone has done in a single day?

August 3rd

6. Troutbeck Tongue (Ascent Easy, Descent E2). The weather had now settled into a pattern of a vicious shower every 15 minutes, so staying low was the only option. Dave led the ascent via the very pleasant north ridge, while Che led the scrambling descent, always choosing the hardest option with a pathless finish bashing through 8 feet high bracken on steep ground. Made it “interesting” anyway.
The overall feeling was that we definitely made the most of the conditions and had a great time. And needless to say, liberal quantities of tea and fags were enjoyed, despite having to save Giant’s Crawl for another day…