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