03/01/15 - Cat Bells, High Spy, Robinson Crags - (me)

Set off in drizzly weather, felt very pleased to have my GPS as visibility was very low. There was still no snow, but I needed my waterproof trousers for the first time (well actually I should have used them up Helvellyn, but I didn't....). The going was pretty steep at first. The views almost appeared, but never quite.

I realised after a while that it was going to be the longest walk I'd done in a while and with a lot of ascent and descent along the way.

About midday the sun started to appear and the weather suddenly became like that of a warm October day. The GPS gave me confidence in route finding and I did quite a bit of optional scrambling along the way.

The halfway point took some time to reach and the sun was gently getting low, I was pleased I'd packed a couple of torches. I was surprised to see a group of mountain bikers at the top of High Spy - I watched their descent, it looked like a lot of fun, they clearly knew what they were doing.
The sun was starting to set, the light and temperature continued to be pleasantly autumnal. Only the distant hills had snow (I worked out later that these were Scafell, Skiddaw and Helvellyn).
The main descent was steep and long, I considered sliding down the valled on a steep path, but decided against it. I did slide at one point (deliberately), and another point (accidentally).
When I finally got to the valley floor, I realised I needed to ascend a bit again in order to reach the car.

My knees ached for days after, but it was a great walk.

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