Day 2 – Lucky Horseshoe

After a night’s rest in Bowness is was a 9 am start for the Fairfield Horseshoe, clockwise from Rydal. Unbelievably, the sun was shining and most of the sky was blue, with the high tops covered in snow like the icing on a cake. Margaret must have been pulling a few strings with the powers-that-be up there. Not knowing whether it would be icy or not, the crampons were packed in the rucksack - just in case. A stiff climb soon got us to the top of Nab Scar (1450’), with its precipitous view down to Rydal Water, and then we carried on along the ridge to Heron Pike (2003’). Most walkers on the Fairfield Horseshoe would then keep going to Great Rigg, but we made a detour west off the ridge, losing precious height, to take in Stone Arthur (1652’), a tiny pimple on the subsidiary ridge above Grasmere.

Then it was a long slog back up to Great Rigg (2513’), where we rose above the snowline and then continued to the top of Fairfield, at 2863’ the highest top of the day. By now it was getting busy, with lots of people enjoying the fine weather. This was the fifth time I’ve been to the summit of Fairfield but only the first where I’ve been able to see further than about 20 yards. The views were superb, across the Lake District fells to Scafell and High Street,and even as far as Cross Fell, highest point on the Pennines (where I was driven back by Arctic conditions whilst walking the Pennine Way 11 months ago). You could just see the white ‘golf ball’ on the adjacent Great Dun Fell.

The snow was clean, fresh and soft, so the crampons stayed in the rucksack as we traversed Hart Crag (2698’) and Dove Crag (2603’) before dropping down below the snowline again to High Pike (2155’) and the final top of the day, Low Pike (1657’).

The rest of the descent seemed to take for ever, even with the prospect of the obligatory pint in the Golden Rule, but eventually we found ourselves enjoying one of Robinson’s best in front of the fire, wondering whether we had caught the sun. We had. A cracking day, but would the good weather last?