Thankfully the fierce winds of last night had died down by morning. I looked out of the tent to a clear starry sky. The radio weather forecast was incredibly vague and didn’t give me much of an idea what to expect. When bankers get thing wrong and people suffer because of t they are rightly vilified. When weather forecasters get it wrong it is taken as normal and nothing is done. Last Monday morning I remember distinctly that they said Friday would probably be clear and cold. As I write this it loos like it will be cold wet and windy. I hope I’m wrong and they were right.

The clear sky soon changed to overcast. The ice on the tent was now water and a lot got wrapped up with it as I packed my stuff away. I set off and continued up the river bank to have a look at the higher valley where I’d originally planned to camp. It was very exposed and would have been too dangerous in yesterday’s winds. It looked interesting and may qualify for another visit. I turned left ad followed the contour as I headed round towards Long Comb. Sheep trails made the going much easier than the map would suggest. I reached the side of the Comb and descended to the large sheepfold. The walls had long since collapsed but the flat bottom had been well engineered as it was cut into the hill on one end and the excavated material used to fill up the other, thereby creating level ground. An old track was opposite so I followed it up to join the main track up towards Sail. The saddle at the top doesn’t have a name on the map and I find this puzzling as it is of some significance.

Old High Force mine above Pudding Beck

 It was calm when I packed the tent away but now the wind was back with the same force as yesterday. It was difficult standing on the pass summit so I didn’t hang around and started my descent towards Ard Crags opposite. That was my next objective but I had to descend to the valley bottom first. The path descends diagonally to the right but heads further down the valley. Part way down I turned off to the left and followed a minor branch to the saddle of the pass. There is no obvious path up to Ard Crags so I took my own diagonal line up to the right to join the summit ridge. It was very unpleasant in the fierce wind and the earlier rain had now turned to hail. Low cloud prevented any views which would have been good in clear weather. Up ahead the snow covered summit of Robinson was in cloud. I’d hoped to get over there today but the deteriorating weather was making that look less likely. The total length of the ridge to Newlands Hause wasn’t far on the map but it seemed to take ages. Eventually the Road over the pass appeared below me and I carefully negotiated the wet grassy descent.

Descending to Newlands Hause with
Buttermere in the distance

Nearing the road I noticed a cyclist through the gloom. He’d stopped to add another layer of clothing before continuing down towards Newlands Valley. Directly across was the raging torrent of Moss Force crashing down from the higher Buttermere Moss. To the right was the path up to its summit which I followed to the top of the rise. The wind and hail were getting worse and it would have been dangerous to try and get any higher. The weather made the decision for me and I began to look for some shelter to pitch my tent.

Knott Rigg from Moss Force

To my left I saw a few sheep taking shelter behind a mound. There was enough flat ground to get the tent up so I decided to pitch there as sheep usually know best when it comes to shelter. As I approached they moved on to the next mound that provided shelter. The ground was excellent and all the pegs went in easily. With a quick trip down to the beck to fill my water bag I was back at the tent. I was just in time. As soon as I got in the tent a snow storm hit with incredible force. Snow was battering the tent, sticking to the side, then sliding down as it accumulated. For the rest of the day and through the night the tent was battered with a mix of snow and rain. The tent was definitely the best and safest place to be.