The night was cold and clear with the temperature dropping to -3deg C. The sunrise was partly obscured by a bank of cloud hanging just above the horizon. I'd originally planned to move the short distance to Cold Pike but the weather forecast for tomorrow was bad so I decided to move a bit further on to the Pike O Bliscoe area. Even that wasn't too far so I wasn't in a rush to get off. My water bag had partly frozen and even when the sun got up there wasn't any warmth.

Sunrise from Little Stand.

Summit of Cold Pike.

I was on my way by 8:50am and began to retrace my steps back the way I'd come yesterday. As I descended to the top of Gaitscale Gill the warmth of the sun began to come through and the walking was very pleasant. I headed up to Cold Pike and picked my way through the very bouldery area to the summit cairn. I took in the good views all round then started my descent to the SE.

There was a faint path and it took me down to the Redtarn Moss area. As I descended the constant noise of a helicopter came from the Wrynose Summit. It was picking pre-bagged rocks off the slopes of Nettle Slack and bringing them the short distance to the path that starts from the road and heads up Wet Side Edge.

Helicopter returning to Wrynose after refuelling.

Wetherlam from Pike O Bliscoe.

I crossed the valley bottom and continued straight up the other side. I kept to the left of Long Scar until I came to a flat area. I looked around for a good pitch and soon found one but the nearest water was just a puddle where I had to break the ice and scoop the water out with a pan. It was still early and it was very nice sitting in the sun and reading. I was surprised how many people were out walking on this side of Pike O Bliscoe.