There was a lot of rain in the Lakes in 2012.
For a while, it looked like winter would be much the same as summer -
cold and wet. Now, with the new year, we’re seeing snow on the hills.
And it’s stunning. If you’ve ever seen the sketches in Wainwright’s
illustrated guides, the mountains look like that. Sometimes I wonder if
he did all the sketches when the fells were covered in snow. The
similarity is uncanny. While it’s all very well staying snug and warm in Lake District Accommodation, it’s often good to brave the weather.
I was out for a walk on Sunday. The weather on Saturday was
lovely and clear. Snow was forecast for Sunday evening. So we
thought it would be nice and clear on the tops for most of the day.
Latrigg was our hill of choice. Its location gives some impressive
views of Skiddaw and the Helvellyn range. The aim was to be up and down
before it got dark, so staying relatively low was necessary.
Sunday surprised us. Breakfast time brought with it a few
snowflakes. As the morning went on, the snow got steadily heavier.
By lunchtime, some of it had even started to settle on the pavements,
where it wasn’t too wet. All boded well for our walk.
For the first time this winter, I brought out my winter boots.
Which meant learning how to walk again. They have stiff soles, so a
normal walking motion is pretty much impossible. I also had my smartwool
base layer, fleece and down jacket on. As well as fleece-lined trousers
and overtrousers. In my determination to not go cold, I was boiled.
I ended up taking my fleece off, taking off my hat and gloves and pushing
up my sleeves just to get to a comfortable temperature. If we’d met
anyone, they would probably have thought I was mad.
In the two hours we were out on the walk, it never stopped
snowing. Walking through the woods with the snow settling on the branches
of the trees was just magical. Just goes to show that, no matter what the
weather looks like it’s doing, it’s worth getting out there.
