Having gone to a Buzzcocks gig the previous night with friends in Kendal, somehow we all managed to get up and gather ourselves and our gear in the morning to drive over to Kentmere late morning for a circular walk.
Once we got onto the ridge, we put our crampons on, as it became quite snowy and icy underfoot. It was quite windy on the tops as well.
The condition of the snow was not the most pleasant for an extended ridge walk – your feet would keep breaking through the surface crust, landing with a jarring thud onto the ground below, but you could not tell most of the time if this was going to happen or not. Where the snow was still quite solid, the walking was much more enjoyable, providing a smooth surface where you did not have to watch each step in case you might twist your ankle on stones. The rest of the snow felt soft to walk in, with a texture like dry sand into which your feet would sink.
It felt strange to have a good number of hours to complete the horseshoe route in wintry conditions, as I kept feeling as though it should have got dark by about 4pm.
It was good to have had the opportunity finally to use the crampons for the day, rather than for a short section of a walk. They did feel quite heavy on the feet, and with my sock combination not quite right that day they pulled on my boots, giving me a blister by the latter part of the walk, so that in the end I had to stop to put a blister plaster on the affected heel. I enjoyed the day all the same.
Map of walk route
View Kentmere round – Mar 2013 in a larger map