A misty night but not the heavy rain that was forecast. My plan is to catch the first 555 bus south from Legburthwaite. It's due about 9:40am but I was sure that I didn't need to leave too early to get down but I wasn't sure how long it would take. I packed up and left at 8am in fine drizzle. It soon got quite warm in my waterproofs so I took the descent steady. Parts are quite steep and very slippery in full pack so extra care was needed. About half way down I passed a female walker coming up. It was quite unusual seeing someone on the fells so early. Even with caution I was down by the road in an hour and whiled away the next half hour in the bus shelter across the road. It continued to drizzle so I kept my waterproofs on. I caught the bus south and bought a £3.60 single ticket to the next stop after Wythburn Church.

There was no point in walking the several road miles so the bus was the obvious choice. As it turned out there was a bus stop at the Steel End branch road and someone was there waiting to get on. I got off to be greeted by heavy rain so it was a good job I'd kept my waterproofs on. I walked in the rain to the buildings of Stenkin where I left the road and headed up the fell side along an old track to the ruins of West Head. I climbed further up and on to an old track that had substantial retaining walls along its sides. As I approached the top of the rise the ground underfoot was a soggy mass of moving water and no matter where I tried to walk I was squelching deep into the moss.I

A small tarn above Nab Crags

The view from my tent on Castle Crag.

I was now back into the mist and trying to find my way towards Castle Crag to the SW. I followed the ridge as best as I could but the bad visibility made it difficult. Occasional bright patches seemed to indicate the sun may break through, but it didn't. Some mist rolled away as I got higher and I decided to find a pitch for the tent with decent water nearby. I came to a couple of picturesque tarns which seemed a good spot but I wasn't really high enough so pressed on. Just short of Castle Crag I found an excellent pitch on a small knoll with superb views. A short way along the fell side was a stream for water. A few patches of sun broke through later but they soon vanished but the cloud stayed fairly high for the rest of the afternoon. It was even possible to see the summit of Helvellyn for a while.