A busy Easter week.

I had a very busy and active week leading up to the Easter Bank Holiday. Unfortunately I'm now nursing a sore knee and unable to do much - an opportunity to update the Blog.

On the Saturday before Easter Susan and I headed to Ambleside to do a wee bit of shopping and to walk the Fairfield Horseshoe. It was a gorgeous day with blue skies and warm sunshine, although a cool wind lowered summit temperatures considerably. We did the round clockwise and completed in about 5.5 hours.

Heading up on a beautiful Spring day.

Looking to Langdale.

Looking along the ridge of ascent.

The upper section of the horseshoe.

Looking to Helvellyn and Fairfield.

Cofa Pike and St Sunday Crag from the top of Fairfield.

Myself  feeling the cool wind on the top.

Susan on the summit of  Hart Crag.

Dove Crag summit.

Looking up the ridge of descent.

On the Sunday we had a lie in and then rolled the bikes out for a wee ride from home. We just headed east and made up the route as we went on another sunny day. We covered over 40 miles but at the end my knee was a bit painful.

Below Blake Fell.

Heading for Loweswater.

Looking to Mellbreak from the Loweswater road.

Time for a wee snack.

Riding on the C2C to Lorton.

On the road below Sale Fell heading east.

My knee felt a bit better on Monday so we headed out for a low fell walk taking in Fellbarrow, Low Fell and Darling Fell. This has become a favourite half day route as it gives great views of the Buttermere valley and is only 12 miles from home. The weather was again kind to us and the Skylarks were singing away.

Approaching Fellbarrow summit.

Summit 'selfie' -in  a cool breeze.

Heading for Low Fell.

An improving day - looking back to Fellbarrow.

The Grasmoor range.

Great view of the Buttermere valley.

Low Fell summit shot.

Darling Fell - a great day out.

Looking to west Cumbria and Scotland across the Solway.

Very new born lambs.

On Monday night John arrived for his annual Lake District 'fix'. He'd climbed Latrigg on route and declared himself not very hill fit. This suited me as the knee was a little more painful. We decided to stick to lower fells and this fitted well with the forecast for strong winds.

Tuesday saw us heading to Buttermere to climb Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks. We started from the village meaning a longer walk but it's always good to walk along the lake shore. I've not climbed Fleetwith for a while and had forgotten how long the ridge feels. The views throughout the day were good but it was cold mainly due to a strong wind. John found the climbs hard work but we both enjoyed our first day out - the cream tea in Buttermere added to this!!!!!!

Looking to Fleetwith Pike at the start of the day.

Taking a break and enjoying the view down the valley.

Some steep sections on the ridge require the use of hands.

Looking to Haystacks.

John resting at the top of another wee scramble.

Looking to the High Crag - Red Pike ridge.

The summit view west - worth the effort.

The view east to Langdale Pikes.

Dubbs Bothy - a chance to get out of the wind for lunch.

A civilised lunch spot.

Heading for Haystacks.

Innominate Tarn.

On Haystacks.

Descending from Scarth Gap.

The walk back to Buttermere.

Wednesday morning was a little damp but the forecast for later in the day was promising. We headed to Keswick so that John could do his annual gear shop and sample the delights of Abraham's Café in Fishers. As we ate our scones the weather did improve so we decided to head down Borrowdale to climb 3 lower fells - King's How, Brund Fell and Castle Crag. The route was ideal for building John's hill fitness and for my knee. Although it was again cool and windy the views were excellent and it was another great day - this time rounded off with a Curry in the Bank Tavern so that John could get his annual pint of Jennings.

John climbing King's How.

The summit view across Derwent Water to Skiddaw.

Heading for Brund Fell looking up Borrowdale.

Brund Fell summit view.

Myself starting the descent into Borrowdale.

Heading for Castle Crag.

Climbing Castle Crag.

The summit view down Borrowdale.

The descent view towards Scafell Pike.

Castle Crag from Grange.

For his last day in the Lakes John wanted to 'go higher' so we headed for Blencathra as it was on his way home and can be done in about 4 hours. We parked at the Bencathra Centre and then headed along the base of the fell to climb Doddick Fell ridge. It was again windy and some light rain fell as we got higher. Despite increasing cloud cover the ridge traverse to Blease Fell gave some good views although it was again cold. Before heading home John couldn't resist another scone in Fishers and it would have been rude of me not to join him.

Traversing below Blencathra to Doddick Fell ridge.

On the lower section of the ridge.

A darkening sky above the ridge.

Cloud building.

A clear but cool summit.

Limited views.

Looking to Latrigg and Keswick.

Looking to Helvellyn.

We had planned to head up to Scotland for the Easter weekend to do some long cycles but with a disappointing forecast and my sore knee decided to stay at home. On Good Friday we opted to climb 4 lower fells to the north of Whinlatter Pass - Graystones, Broom Fell, Lord's Seat and Barf. The weather wasn't great as we set off and we climbed the first 3 tops in the cloud with no views. However, as we headed for Barf the cloud started to clear and the sun came out. Rather than heading down we decided to make the most of sunshine  and simply reversed our route over the first 3 tops. We was few people proving that the Lakes isn't as busy as people believe on a Bank Holiday.

Barf and a much improved day.

The view NW across Bassenthwaite Lake.

Lord's Seat - take two - looking to Grisedale Pike.

Broom Fell - take two!!!

The view to Grisedale Pike.

Starting the steep descent back to the car.

As my knee wasn't too bad on Friday I was happy to go a bit higher on Saturday. We headed out early to grab a parking spot below Ullock Pike and were disappointed to see our hills for the day shrouded in cloud. We climbed quickly over Ullock Pike, Longside Edge and Carl Side to keep warm in a strong NW wind. Views were limited and looking up to Skiddaw it looked worse. The wind picked up as we got higher and ice could be seen on rocks on the summit. It wasn't a day for lingering so we just headed down towards Dash Falls.  Typically, as we descended the weather improved - much to Susan's disgust - and it was a different day when we got back to the car.

Heading for Ullock Pike.

A good view of the hills climbed the previous day.

Looking down the ridge.

Into the clouds.

Getting 'carried away' on the summit of Long Side.

Heading for Skiddaw.

Very windy, cold and damp = blurred summit picture.

How often does this happen? - the weather improves as we descend.

Dash Falls.

I'd had 8 consecutive days out by Easter Sunday and unfortunately my knee was really sore when I got up making walking difficult. Susan went out for a wee bike ride and I hobbled down to the coast with her in the afternoon but I knew a rest was needed. Maybe I'm getting a bit old to be out as much - hopefully not!!!!