29th December 2007 - the end

This was it. After 23 years of mountain walking, I was finally going to be able to say that I was a Wainwright completer! The fellrunner had recommended Loughrigg Fell as a good final mountain and so it was that at 13.30, a group of us were parked at Red Bank ready to climb up the mighty Loughrigg. The party consisted of me, Mr Blogwalker, Mr Blogwalker's mum, the fell runner, both my aged parents and my uncle who has accompanied us on all of our final Wainwright walks.

The rain had decided to stop by the time we were out of the car which made up for its mean behaviour on the day before. We headed along Loughrigg Terrace for a short time before turning right and heading up a steep path past the Grasmere cairn. Despite the steepness of the ascent, everyone did it very well indeed and we were amazed by the beautiful views that we had as we climbed. The sun attempted to come out and we were presented with a lovely rainbow as we made the final climb on to the summit at 1101 ft.

It was freezing cold on the top but I didn't notice as I touched the summit. We had a celebratory glass of champagne, mince pies and chocolate biscuits and admired the views: They were magnificent!

Above are the 4 Wainwright completers!

After standing at the top for a while, we soon got cold and so decided to head back down. It was a simple walk back down to the car and we did it in no time. We then went to Grasmere where we ordered 7 cream teas and ate until we felt stuffed.

Now I just need to think about what comes next. Before that, though, we have the Welsh 3000s to organise!

New fell: Loughrigg Fell

28th December 2007

With the next day being planned for the final Wainwright ascent, I still had Tarn Crag left to do. Therefore, the fell runner, Mr Blogwalker and I decided to stop in Grasmere, on the way back to Whitehaven, to climb this fell.

Pleased to see that the weather was similar to the previous day, we set off and parked in Grasmere at about lunch time. The rain had caused an incredible amount of flooding and we were soon wading through streams pretending to be paths. We headed along Easedale Road and then took the path up alongside Sour Milk Gill. The rain was holding off and it was a beautiful walk up along the gill which looked spectacular after the heavy rain of the day before.

Things became less good when we arrived at the tarn and realised that the stepping stones we needed to use to cross the tarn were under water. Being tenacious, we attempted to cross the tarn at various points using rocks, but none of the routes got us entirely to the other side. So we decided to wade across. Yes, that's right, wade across IN DECEMBER. As we were removing our boots and socks, it started to rain which we thought was a bit mean. Just as Mr Blogwalker was half way across and the fell runner was just about to lob his boots across, I decided that it was madness and refused to go any further. So we climbed out, put our shoes back on and decided to walk all the way around the tarn. So that's what we did.

The walk didn't take as long as we had feared and we were soon scrambling up a steep slope to get on to the ridge. From there it was a pull on to the top at 1801 ft and we did the last bit on our hands and knees as it was too windy to stand up.

We decided to follow the ridge all the way back to the bottom rather than going along the gill. It was a tough descent at the top but soon became easier and shallower and we were back down in Grasmere in no time at all.

Then we went home and had fish and chips. Excellent.

New fell: Tarn Crag

27th December 2007

Aahh, there is nothing like working under pressure, and by now I was certainly feeling it. With another aborted walk on the 22nd due to very treacherous conditions in Grasmere, I was seriously running out of time. Christmas in Yorkshire had prevented any Lakeland walks since then and I was beginning to worry. So, ignoring the appalling weather the aged parent and myself decided to get up Cold Pike regardless.

We set off early and tried to ignore the persistent rain and howling winds and were chuffed when we actually made a successful arrival at the top of Wrynose pass. All we had to do was scoot up the front - no problem.

We pulled up and immediately put on every item of clothing that we had with us and laughed hysterically at the noise that the weather was making. Dragging ourselves out of the car, we realised that it was probably going to be tougher than we had expected. Slowly we made our way along the path to Pike O'Blisco before turning left on to the less distictive path up to Cold Pike. That was when it began to hail. It lashed at our faces causing certain members of the party to mumble about completing these things in July. However, we perservered and, with the help of the GPS, found our way on to the top of Cold Pike (2259 ft).

The summit was completely covered in mist and was incredibly cold, so we decided to head straight back down after a quick photo. This we did quite quickly. After about 10 minutes, however, the aged parent said 'I don't think that tarn should be there' and we realised that we had headed east instead of south and were going the wrong way. We headed back and tried to start again. This proved to be quite tricky; despite using the compass we soon found ourselves on the edge of Wrynose Breast and looking down a cliff, oops.

The good news was that we could at least see the car, it was just a bit further away then we had hoped. However, with very little grumbling, we followed the contours around the side of the fell and soon made it back to the car. We were cold, saturated and wind burnt but also happy that we had completed the walk.

We then headed back to Ambleside to meet up with the Fell runner who had been taking part in the Wansfell Fell race and with our mum. We decided that what we all needed was a massive lunch in the Mill Inn at Ings so we had one. Very nice it was too.

New fell: Cold Pike

21st December 2007

So, with the date for the last Wainwright set for the 29th and with Christmas coming up, I was beginning to feel under pressure to get the 3 outstanding fells completed in time to do the very last one. I had travelled up on the Thursday with a view to doing Tarn Crag in the afternoon. Unfortunately, an enormous crash on the M6 had meant that it had taken 2 hours extra to get to the Lakes and so I had not had enough time to climb anything.

I was pleased, therefore, when I awoke on the Friday to glorious sunshine. The aged parent and I decided that it would be a perfect day to climb Cold Pike in the morning and Wetherlam afterwards. Therefore, off we set to Wrynose Pass, going through Ambleside as we had heard that the pass was shut on the Coniston side.

We only felt a little bit concerned about the incredibly cold weather as we both had the right gear and knew that the climb would warm us up. What we didn't consider was the state of Wrynose pass in these conditions. When we arrived at the pass, by the cattle grid, we realised that there was no way my little 1 litre car would make it up the pass due to the ice! We had to abandon the Cold Pike plan and focus all our energies on Wetherlam (2502 ft).

Therefore, we parked up and headed up by Greenburn Beck, past Birk Fell and up the steep climb to the summit. The path at the beginning was incredibly icy and we had to put on our spikes early on. However, over the grassier bits it was absolutely fine and it was a thoroughly enjoyable climb. What was interesting was that the last time I had been in the Coniston area it had been packed. Today we saw nobody at all!

We made a quick descent down - more as a way to keep warm then anything else - and were soon back at the car and on our way home to warm ourselves in front of the fire.

New fell: Wetherlam