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" Crummock Water and The Chalet"

Date & start time: Tuesday 11th and Thursday13th February 2014.

Location of Start : Cinderdale car park near Loweswater , Cumbria, Uk ( NY 143 211 )

Places visited : Cinderdale out and back, a local walk to the weir and an evening with Nick and Sue at the Chalet in Portinscale.

Walk details :   Local walks of an hour at the most, the meal was a little longer !

Highest point : Appreciating the beauty of the Lakes

Walked with : Ann and our dog Harry, myself and Harry then a group of seven for dinner.

Weather : Variable, from sunny to gale force eight !

" Crummock Water and The Chalet" at EveryTrail
 

[ Alter the settings to zoom or change the Map, use Everytrail to download the Gps route ]

 

Two local walks combined together during a period of very variable weather.

Winter 2013/4 will be remembered for the continual cycle of storms and bad weather which started back in October last year.

Recently, it seems the south and west of Britain has been worst hit by the extremes of rain and wind.

Here in the Lakes it has not been good but the topography of the land copes as only this area can.

In between the storms we've had some nice weather too and we start here with Ann's walk from Cinderdale last Tuesday.

Tranquil Crummock, a bonus when you live close to glorious scenery and it is the 'quiet' season.

More snow on Red Pike and High Stile than when I was here a few days ago

No snow at ground level and the colours are soft in the late afternoon light.

The surface of the lake is a bit ruffled following the winds of late.

The level is quite high too.

Here I am looking across to the opposite shoreline under Mellbreak

Harry isn't interested in Mellbreak, he just wants a stick so he can get back to swimming and retrieving !

The beach which was passable today . . . but more difficult four days later after even more rainfall.

A small, un-named beck with Grasmoor behind
Sunlight behind Mellbreak's slopes

Low Fell and Darling Fell  .  . . and home in the distance.

Walking through the pine woods . . .
 . . . with shafts of sunlight filtering through from the lake.

We emerge at a redundant stile, with the gate into Lanthwaite woods on the other side of the beck

" More sticks please !"

We make our way to the boathouse as the sky starts to cloud over.

That doesn't deter the swimming boy !

Back along the same track and another wade across the beck.

Beware the sea monster on the beach !

Cheer up Harry, we'll be here again very soon.
The gorse is starting to bloom.

A cheerful patch of yellow in an otherwise increasingly grey landscape.

Back to the Cinderdale car park and our car.

It started to rain just I set off for the short drive home. Well timed !

- - - o o o - - -

I drew the short straw on Thursday and after waiting for the weather to improve

I decided that it wouldn't, so put on full waterproof gear and ventured down to the lake to walk the dog !

I hadn't planned to take any pictures but the temptation was too great

and the phone did a reasonably good job, I hope you agree.

By the Pump House . . . the squalls were whipping up the surface of the lake

and the tops of the waved were being whisked up into the air.

Roll the cursor over for each squall !

Hold your cursor over the picture to get a better idea of what the weather was like as it whistles by !

Water covers the path as I walk down to the weir.

Harry is a little wary of smaller bridges at present, especially if there is a big river flowing below.

Over at the weir, the weather is no better.  The wind is whipping straight down the lake, taking all before.

Holding on to the bridge support I stop and "enjoy" the view.

 

Click to start the one and a half minute video . . . and then sit back and enjoy the experience.

( Click on the YouTube full-screen icon to see a larger version of the video )

- - - o o o - - -

Later that evening Ann and I

had an invite from two long time Loweswatercam Viewers

to  join them for a celebratory, birthday meal

at The Chalet in Portinscale

 

We first met Nick and Sue here in Loweswater

when they joined us for a walk up Rannerdale Knotts.

Nick and Sue from Cornwall are up in the Lakes again this week.

 

In their time in the Lakes they have enjoyed many organised

outdoor activities so they decided to invite everyone

to the party  to say thank you.

For tonight's meal we join forces with Claire and Paul

from Keswick Canoe and Bushcraft,

and Nigel the manager of Nordic Outdoors in Keswick.

Unfortunately Jill and Neil from More Than Mountains

and Mike from Mike's Eye were unable to join us on the night.

 

Tonight it was to be a surprise birthday party for Sue.

Well she knew she was being taken out for dinner but had no idea of any fellow guests that were to be there.

Smiles all round as we all met at The Chalet.

Sue, Paul, Nick, Ann and Claire

[ sorry . . . picture taken from a very poor video recording which I'm not planning to show]

A table had been laid . . . not for two but for seven.

Cards and small gifts were presented to mark the occasion.

It looks like duck for Sue and a rather special tortellini for Nick.

Claire, Nick, Sue, Angela, Peter (from the Chalet), Nigel and Paul.

A big thanks to them for a nice meal.

Group photo to close . . . before we all returned to our homes and our respective jobs,

and Nick and Sue returned to Cornwall a couple of days later.

- - - o o o - - -

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon Sureshot SX220, or my Nikon P520 digital camera or mobile phone.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . a diary to stop me putting Feb 13th as Valentine's Day on the video !

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Previous walk - 10th February 2014 - Darling Fell Walk

Previous "occasions" where we've met - 15th April 2013 - Rannerdale Knotts with Nick and Sue

4th March 2013 - Keswick Canoe and Bushcraft        10th November 2013 - Castle Crag weekend and a meal

Next walk - 16th February 2014 - Out and Back on Low Fell