Guided Walking Holidays in the Julian Alps of Slovenia. The next trip - June 24th to July 1st 2017.

This report concerns our new venture for 2016 - guided walking holidays in the Julian Alps of Slovenia based near the town of Bovec. The plan is to try and run one to two of these weeks each year. You can visit the webpage giving full information about these holidays by going here.

Photo one sees our guests on their first evening in Slovenia. Mick & Moira are seated left and Steve & Carole right. Towards the head of the table are Iain's partner Kirstin seated left and our host in Slovenia - Matt is at the head of the table. Evening meals like this one are a feature of this holiday where one can dine out receiving a two course meal with drinks for as little as £20 each; or, you can elect to self cater at the chalet.

Read more about day one on our Facebook page.

On Day two, your walking holiday in The Julian Alps will begin with our walking directly from the Chalet to visit the WW1 fortifications at Celo before continuing on along the Koritnica Valley amidst stunning Alpine Scenery to visit further fortifications at Kluze and Herman before climbing the wooded slopes of Rombon some 300 metres.

This walk then traverses north along the slopes of Rombon towards Bovec where we aim to arrive no later than around 5pm. The views all around the Bovec basin are very pretty. Total distance walked is around 10 km. Read more about day two and view more photos here.

Day three will typically see us attempt to walk a large part of the Soca River Trail.

The Soca rises high in the middle of The Julian Alps near to the Vrsic Pass where it issues from a submerged cave in a narrow ravine a short climb above the road head.

The Soca Trail is a total of 25 km from source to Bovec and it is not possible to cover the whole walking route in one day although a visit to the source (photo three) is a must! Our drop offs and pick-ups are provided by Matt as part of the holiday package and on this particular day, we got dropped off some 15 km from Kal Koritnica and walked back to the chalet.

Walking the banks of this picturesque river through forests filled with flowers interspersed with small farms and chalets is a fantastic experience. Read more about our Soca Trail day here.

Day four will usually see us start to venture higher into the mountains after everyone has "found their feet" over the first three days. There are numerous walks going up to altitudes over 1600 metres (5250 feet). However, if the weather is bad then there are plenty of lower level options. Your guide - Iain will decide what is best for each day.

On this particular day we chose to start lower down as the previous night's rain had led to a fresh coating of snow down to below the 1600 metre level. We walked from the head of the Koritnica Valley started under Jalovec (the snowy peak in the background) through the pretty village of Log Pod Mangrtom and back via forest tracks and meadows to Fort Kluze where we were picked up by Matt. Read more about day four here.

On Day five (Wednesday) it's a day off walking in the mountains to allow you to go and sample all that the area has to offer.

You make just want to take it easy, have a lie and then get up and walk into Bovec via the river to soak up some of the towns charm and European culture and enjoy a coffee or lunch; or you may want to try some of the "other activities" offered by local providers in Bovec. On our day off we all chose to try out the exhilarating Zip-wire course in the nearby Ucja Valley in the morning and then a few of us went tandem paragliding in the afternoon.

Other activities in the area include

• Rafting, Kayaking and Hydrospeed
• Canyoning, Rock Climbing and Caving
• Fishing, Mountain Biking.

So there are plenty of alternatives if you want an "active" day off. Please note the cost of all activities on this day are at your own expense. Read our report from this day here.

On our last few days of your Guided Walking in The Julian Alps of Slovenia we are going to try to take you "higher". Typically, we will drive to the top of the Vrsic Pass (1611 metres/5285 feet) at the tree-line and after a visit to the nearby viewpoint above the pass, we will begin a descent into the Trenta Valley travelling first northwards towards the very head of the valley.

There are excellent views of some of The Julian Alps highest peaks - Prisojnik (2547 m/8356 ft), Bavski Grintavec (2347 m/5249 ft) and Jalovec (2645 m/8678 ft) and as we continue northwards, the summit of Triglav (2864 m/9369 ft) - the highest mountain in The Julian Alps come also into view.

Our route eventually descends through woodland to the valley floor and we continue on past Izvir Soca where there is an opportunity to indulge yourself with a well earned bottle of Lasko (the national Lager of Slovenia) before continuing a further 4 km to Trenta where we will be collected by Matt. Total distance on this day is likely to around 12 km with a descent of around 1000 m/3280 ft) Read more about day six of your Guided Walking Holiday in Slovenia here.

As with the previous day, out final day of walking in The Julian Alps will be aimed as getting you as high as possible to get a real feel for the Alpine atmosphere that the area presents.

Our walk will most likely start and finish in the Trenta area. On our last trip, we walked in towards Triglav and then turned north up a narrow valley under a tremendous Limestone wall (where we saw Ibex) as we climbed upwards towards our high point - the col at Cez Dol (1632 m/5353 ft).

From The Cez Dol, we have a fantastic view in both directions - back towards the summit of Triglav towering over the head of the valley and also north along the south side of the ridge bounding the Soca Valley.

Our descent is through a beautiful meadow and then on steeply down through forests back to Trenta where the local co-operative can supply you with another well earned beer and ice cream. Read about our final day in The Julian Alps here.

Our last night will be spent in a restaurant in the locality or in Bovec celebrating the achievements of the week before one rises early on the Saturday morning for Matt to transfer you the two hours back to Marco Polo Airport near Venice.

Our Guided Walking Holidays in Slovenia give you a unique opportunity to enjoy the stunning scenery the area has to offer whilst in the care of an English Guide and  chalet owner with unrivalled knowledge of all that the area has to offer.

We are now taking bookings for our next visit and hope you can join us. Contact us here to book your place on our next Guided Walking Holiday in The Julian Alps of Slovenia. We look forward to working with you!

Navigation Skills Training Courses in The Lake District. September 2016 and beyond!

We've been out a few times in September teaching Navigation Skills Courses. Our most recent course was last Saturday (photo one ) when Iain had a day out with Pam Barnes who was fed up with getting lost in the hills. By the end of her one day course with Iain Pam had learnt to

• Orientate the map to assist with identifying what was around her.
• Measure distance on the map in both 1:25'000 and 1:50'000 scales and then be able to pace distance on the ground.
• Find an eight figure Grid Reference on the map and also be able to give one. This is extremely useful if you have to call Mountain Rescue for assistance. Giving any Search & Rescue Organisation a grid reference will greatly assist them in finding you - quickly!
• Use a compass to walk on a bearing. Essential in poor visibility and useful if you are unsure of your route and want to check the direction.
• Use the compass to identify an unknown feature from a known location.
• Use a timings system (Naismith's Rule) to work out how long it should take her to walk between grid references on a walking route.

Pam paid just £160 with Iain for her day out "one on one" with an experienced Mountaineering Instructor and considered it worth every penny for the Navigation Skills that she had picked up.

The previous weekend Iain had spent two full days out with Simon Walker and his mates Jon & Mark teaching them Navigation Skills in the Kentmere area of the southern Lake District.

Over the course of the weekend, Simon, Jon & Mark covered everything that Pam covered with Iain last Saturday as outlined above but their course was run over two days - is this better?

We recommend that your Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District with us should be two days long! This is because....

• If the course is spread over two days this allows a more gradual take-up of the information you'll be given about Navigation Skills Training during your course. We often find people get tired by mid afternoon on day one and start to make frustrating mistakes.
• A two day course allows for consolidation of learning of skills taken on day one with some additional skills input on day two.
• The second day of one of our Two Day Navigation Skills Training Courses in The Lake District will be done in a different area at a higher altitude than on day one giving a real "expedition" feel to the course. There is also the likelihood that on higher fells, you'll encounter the bad visibility needed to put the skills you've learnt to the test! This happened to Simon, Jon & Mark on their course and impacted meaningfully on their skills training!

Our next Navigation Skills Training Weekend will now be run during November 26th & 27th 2016. There are eight places still available on this weekend course - superb value at only £80 per person for the two day course. These courses are ideal for anyone preparing for a Summer Mountain Walking Leader Assessment or Re-assessment! Maps are provided. Contact us to book your place now! We look forward to working with you!

Guided Fell Walking Days in The Lake District. September 23rd 2016. The Langdale Pikes.

Just over a week ago, Iain spent a day in the mountains with Gemma Gowers who was staying in Grasmere for a long weekend. Gemma had never been walking in the high mountains of The Lake District before and had booked a Guided Fell Walking Day through Hayley Webb Mountain Adventures who passed the work on to us. Thanks Hayley.

Iain decided to take Gemma away from Grasmere since parking there is very limited parking there - unless you want to pay a fortune. So instead, we went to Langdale and The Langdale Pikes. Photo one sees a very pleased Gemma on her first summit of the day - Pike O' Stickle.

The weather was good today - a bit of a strong southerly breeze, but as the day wore on, the cloud lifted and we could see for miles around as this group of fells are pretty central to The Lake District.

We had started our day by heading up the side of Dungeon Gill, on over loft Crag to Pike O' Stickle and then up on to Harrison Stickle - the main summit of The Langdale Pikes.

From here, we turned north and walked, via Thunacar Knott to High Raise (photo two) - the highest mountain on this central Lake District Ridge at the very centre of The Lake District. Iain had last been on this summit only a little over a week earlier!

From High Raise, we then headed south east only a fairly short distance to Sergeant Man which is a pretty little summit barely standing proud of the High Raise plateau. Seen from near to Stickle Tarn Sergeant Man's summit buttress looks imposing and inviting. This was our fourth Lake District Summit of the day and the aim was to get to the outflow of Stickle Tarn (in the background in photo three) for no later than 3 pm.

We headed down the shoulder between Sergeant Man & Blea Rigg for a way so that Gemma could get a view of the hidden Codale Tarn that she had been unable to see when she had walked up to Easedale Tarn the previous day and then turned right to reach Stickle Tarn.

Our final photo from this post about a Guided Walk around The Langdale Pikes sees Gemma with the valley of Langdale beyond as we descended from Stickle Tarn towards the car park at the Sticklebarn Tavern.

Today had been quite a challenging day for Gemma who had been a little nervous about being on exposed ground. She had done brilliantly though and had thoroughly enjoyed her walk amongst some of The Lake Districts best known mountains.

In total, we covered almost six miles on our Lake District Fell Walk taking in five Wainwright Summits, the total ascent made during the day 813 m (2667 feet) and our descent was 788 m or 2585 feet.

Kendal Mountaineering Services provide Guided Fell Walking in The Lake District, Wales and Scotland in both Summer & Winter Conditions. To find out more visit the website here. To make a booking - contact us here, we look forward to working with you!

The Cuillin Ridge Traverse, May 7th - 14th, 2016. Trip report.

Well, May & June were just such busy months for us here at Kendal Mountaineering Services that there is a massive "hole" in our Blog Reports for that period. It did all get reported on our Facebook page though and we are trying to catch up on the blogging!

On Skye, we enjoyed the best weather since May 2008 enjoying wall to wall sunshine for the entire time we were there. We were down to three persons on this trip (left to right - Darren, Jim & Joanna) seen in Glen Brittle on the start of day one.
Read the report and see more photos from day one on Facebook here.

One day one, we managed to traverse from Sgurr Nan Eag, via Sgurr Dubh Mor to Sgurr Alasdair - so that was a considerable section of the Cuillin Ridge completed; and three Munro Summits bagged on our first day out.

We did continue on to Sgurr Thearlaich with the intention of carrying on to Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, but the rather large amount of snow on the north side of the ridge prevented us doing so. However, we reached the summit of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich on day two as well as the In Pinn seen in photo two and Sgurr Na Banachdich. So - another three Munro summits achieved; and another great day on the ridge on our second day out, but damn! it was hot! apparently the hottest May day in Glen Brittle since records began.

Read the Facebook report from day two and see more photos here.

Sadly, Darren had to leave us on the evening of the second day. It had been a very short second visit for him to Skye (he joined us on the May 2015 trip) but we do hope we will see him here again.

The next day, we chose to take a day off as the forecast was looking set to continue hot & sunny for the rest of the week. We had a lie in, then took a run into Portree for breakfast and then drove over the middle of the island back to Struan and on to Carbost.

That afternoon, Joanna took a walk around the Minginish coastline and Iain had a walk locally. Jim just relaxed at the cottage in the sun with a bottle of wine!

The following day - day three of our time on the Cuillin Ridge, we did the Coire a' Ghreadaidh Horseshoe and along the way, climbed Sgurr Thuilm and scrambled up the west ridge of Sgurr a' Mhadaidh - both firsts for Iain. The continuation over Sgurrs a Mhadaidh & a' Ghreadaidh was fantastic and relatively straightforward in the dry conditions - good news as this section is one of the ridge's trickiest sections!

Read a more in depth report and see more photos from this fantastic day out here.

On our final day of our Cuillin Ridge Traverse, we did the northern section of the ridge from the Sligachan Hotel - up the South East Ridge to the summit of Sgurr Nan Gillean (photo four), down the West Ridge and up on to Am Basteir. From here, we retraced our steps to the Bealach a' Basteir dropping down under Am Bastier and up again to reach the Bealach Nan Lice before taking the easy ridge up to the summit of Bruach Na Frithe.

We encountered a lot of snow on this part of the ridge in Coire a' Basteir and in Fionn Coire necessitating the use of an ice axe and winter skills techniques, but it was another truly fantastic day. Read the report from this great day here
.

There are no reports about our final day on Skye, but again, we took it easy. Joanna went off for another walk, Iain & Jim went off for a bit of a drive around Skye.

The first place we went to were the Fairy Pools in Coire Na Creiche. (photo five)

Coire Na Creiche is basically the head of Glen Brittle - the valley which bounds the west side of The Cuillin Ridge. Here, the River Brittle flows down through a small gorge in which there are a series of very pretty waterfalls; and pools. The pool in this photograph is of particular interest as in it there is a rock arch - partially submerged. No doubt this is a great place for a swim & the challenge would be to dive down & swim through that arch - Iain wasn't up for it today though!

We drove back to Carbost and then on to the A863 heading north towards Dunvegan.

Dunvegan itself doesn't really have a lot to offer tourists, but Dunvegan Castle is certainly worth a visit if you are in the area - the gardens are beautiful as of course is the rest of Skye at this time of year!

However, a drive over via Glendale to Neist Point (photo six) is well worth doing if you get this far. The drive over the mountain pass is scenic and Glendale is a surprisingly large community with a shop, community centre and several cafes. The walk to the lighthouse at Neist Point is breathtakingly beautiful..the views across The Minch to Beinn Mhor & Hecla on South Uist are just amazing and there is rock climbing galore here if you fancy it.

Skye is a bewitching place, an amazing landscape and the nearest that the UK has to an Alpine ridge in this country. If you've been once, you'll want to go back...for many reasons!

And we will continue to go for as long as we are able; and in doing so, take great pleasure in introducing our clients to all that this amazing island has to offer....

The dates of our next visit to Skye to traverse the Cuillin Ridge are as follows.

May 6th to 13th and May 13th to the 20th. Saturday to Saturday both weeks, seven nights self catering accommodation and four days of guiding on the Cuillins with Iain - an experienced Mountaineering Instructor with extensive knowledge of The Cuillin Ridge. The cost will remain at £450 per person for the week.

Contact us now to book your place on these amazing trips to Skye. We look forward to working with you.

Lake District National Park Authority - Hands off our free Parking!! Walna Scar Car Park under threat!

For many years, locals and visitors to The Lake District have been able to enjoy free parking in a most convenient place ie right on the edge of the Coniston Fells at Walna Scar Car Park.

One of the great things about this free parking area is that it reduces the congestion that would otherwise exist in Coniston and not only that - it removes the need to walk up a mile from Coniston Village and endure the ascent of 167 m (550) required to get there - now that's a very welcome thought if you are planning to go walking or scrambling on the Coniston Fells; or climbing at Dow Crag!

However, it has come to our attention that the Lake District National Park Authority (LDNPA) now have their sights on the Walna Scar Car Park. The Lake District National Park Authority can only be regarded as anything but "the friend of the motorist as they have systematically converted as many free car parks to pay and display as they have been able to over the years. Take Coniston Village for example where the Lake District National Park Authority already control the three main car parks - at The Old Station Car Park on Station road (just off the Walna Scar Road) at the Coniston Boating Centre adjacent to the steamer pier; and in the village centre on the  Hawkshead Road.

Parking fees are enforced at the latter two car parks in Coniston Village through Number Plate Recognition Cameras administered on behalf on The Lake District National Park Authority by Park With Ease.This company was brought in recently by The Lake District National Park Authority after they had terminated their highly unpopular arrangement with the private parking company Parking Eye who were well known for issuing ludicrous and grossly unfair parking charge notices to visitors to The Lake District who had failed to pay parking fees in LDNPA administered car parks. The fact that the Lake District National Park Authority chose to endorse the use of such a system in The Lake district speaks volumes about their ethics doesn't it! The Lake District National Park Authority appears to regard motorists purely as sacks of cash!!

You would think that The Lake District National Park Authority might be satisfied already administering the three main car parks in Coniston Village as well as many others nearby, but clearly not!


Now, do YOU want to see the same sort of thing happen at Walna Scar Car Park? If not, then you need to act now!

The Lake District National Park Authority have listed the planning application online and within it, set out that they intend to turn the Walna Scar Car Park into a 58 bay "Pay & display" Car Park.

You can access the planning application here and either email the case officer Mairi Lock or write to her at

Planning Department,
Lake District National Park Authority,
Murley Moss,
Oxenholme Road,
Kendal.
LA9 7RL

For the sake of all of us - locals and tourists alike - please express your objection to this planning development to The Lake District National Park Authority in the strongest terms possible!.

You need to act immediately!

Do nothing; and watch this

Become this!

Navigation Skills Training Weekends in The Lake District. 17th & 18th September 2016.

Last weekend, Iain was joined by Simon Walker and his friends Jon & Mark for one of our two day Navigation Skills Training Courses in The Lake District.

The weather forecast was good, so we followed the usual course format. The three were staying at the Eagle & Child Inn in Staveley, so, Iain picked them up from there and we drove the short distance to Hall Lane (photo one) where we started the course by discussing map scales, the importance of orientating the map, measuring distance on the map and then pacing it on the ground and locating "tick off" features.

We made our way along the bridleway beyond Park House; and had lunch at a convenient bridleway crossroads where Iain introduced the concept of grid references which are used to find locations on maps.

In a very short space of time, the three were able to find eight figure grid references, so Iain set them the challenge of spending the rest of the day doing exactly that! In-between grid references, the guys were expected to walk on a compass bearing - giving Iain their bearings and also a distance before they were permitted to set off as in photo two.

At about 4pm, we spent some time discussing Naithsmith's Rule to add a timing element to their Navigation Skills toolbox before heading back to Staveley. A pint in the sun at the Hawkshead Brewery made for a good end to a great first day!

On day two, Iain collected the guys at the slightly later time of 09:30 allowing them to get their breakfast before they started the course.

We drove further up the valley to park above Kentmere Village and set off along the bridleway leading to Sadgill in Longsleddale. Today, we started with cloud down to around 500 metres with a forecast that was set to worsen towards the end of the day. Photo three sees the group walking on to find an insignificant stream head indicated on the map - proper Mountain Walking Leader standard Navigation skills! They did, of course, find it! Well done!

Photo four sees Mark, Simon & Jon sometime later on quite a steep slope below the summit of Shipman Knotts above Sadgill in the Longsleddale Valley.

After finding our stream head we had then gone on to find an enclosure at a wall junction and then Iain asked the group to take him to "point 587" ie the summit of Shipman Knotts.

This was not easy - walking on a bearing and pacing on steep & rough ground and at the point in photo four, Iain had stopped the lads and asked then where they thought they were on their route. At this point, there was a broad ledge on what was an otherwise steep slope. All three picked this out on the map as being an area where the contour lines were briefly spaced further apart. Well done lads, good skills!

We also spent some time transposing between the 1:25'000 scale map we were largely working with on to the 1:50'000 map which allowed us to identify features further east that were visible on the 1:50k map but "off" the edge of the 1:25k map we had. Again the lads were successful in finding features on the smaller scale map, good skills again!

We made our way from the summit of Shipman Knotts towards Kentmere Pike - travelling from one stream head to another; and then we went directly for the summit of Kentmere Pike (731 m).

On this leg we hit the cloud at around 625 metres, so the lads really had to concentrate on getting their pacings right and walking on that bearing. They hit the summit of Kentmere Pike pretty much spot on on both accounts - well done!

We did a further two legs in the mist - one of 625 metres (photo five) and one of 750 metres. On both occasions, the lads hit the grid references at the end of these longer legs spot on! Following this, as time was getting on; and the weather was clearly worsening, we located; and then descended by a footpath directly to Hallow Bank and back to the Land Rover.

This weekend Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District with Simon, Mark & Jon had gone exceptionally well and we wish them the very best with their future forays into the mountains.

Our Navigation Skills Training Weekends in The Lake District cost just £80 per person (minimum group size of four) or you can book your own bespoke Navigation Skills Training Course (group size 1- 4) for just £160 per day. Maps are provided as part of the fee. These courses are ideal for anyone wishing to learn to navigate in the UK's mountains in Summer conditions and are ideal for anyone looking for an ML style Navigation Refresher Day prior to attending a Summer Mountain Walking Leader Assessment or re-assessment.

Contact us here to book your Navigation Skills Training Course in The Lake District. We look forward to working with you!

Guiding the "Lakes 4". Seathwaite to Wythburn. Wednesday 14th September 2016

Last Wednesday, Iain had a long day out working for Hayley Webb Mountain Adventures assisting Sarah Abell with the challenge she had set for herself which was to complete the "Lakes 4" Challenge. Iain met Hayley & Sarah at Seathwaite at 07:15 to take over from Hayley after she had guided Sarah from Keswick up Skiddaw; and then back to Keswick before travelling onwards up Borrowdale.

The pair had started at 11:30 the previous evening and walked overnight. Photo one, taken at 09:00, looks back from Styhead Gill into Borrowdale which was still under a cloud inversion at the time. It looked like it was going to be a seriously pleasant day for us after the previous evening's rain & thunderstorms.

We left Hayley at 08:15 after an hours stop to breakfast on pastries, cake, tea and even a Bacon Butty. Hayley was then going to bed before meeting us again at an pre-estimated arrival time of 4:30 - 5pm at the foot of Wythburn near to Thirlmere.

Iain & Sarah made good progress to Styhead Tarn in calm, warm, weather which, once above the inversion, was also very clear & sunny. We reached Lingmell Col shortly after 11pm and then descended slightly on the Wastwater side before cutting across under Pikes Crag towards Scafell (photo two) where our route would be up Lord's Rake (right from the top of the scree fan) and then up Deep Gill which is the gully shooting up diagonally right above.

Photo three sees an elated Sarah an hour later after we had done our ascent of the route previously mentioned.

Getting up the scree fan proved not to be too arduous as a good path zig-zags up almost to Lords Rake. However, Lord's Rake itself proved to be something of a treadmill as there was a lot of loose scree in the bed of the fault. We managed to avoid most of it by sticking to the side of the gully; and soon reached the point where our route swung up left above Deep Gill on to West Walls Traverse.

West Walls Traverse takes firstly, a groove; and then follows a ledge above leading into, the upper part of Deep Gill. This route is finished as a scramble up the bed of the gill to emerge on the summit plateau of Scafell. From there it was only a five minute walk to the top of Sarah's second Lakes 3000'er. The views all around were stunning; and the time 12:15.

We had a brief stop on Scafell Summit, but there wasn't really time to hang about, we had only travelled around a third of the total distance to go at that point so we were going to have to crack on if we were going to make Wythburn by our ETA.

We'd ascended Scafell by one of its shortest routes; and now, we had to descend & then climb up on to Scafell Pike. Being able to descend straight to Mickledore would have been great; and the least height loss/shortest route (480 m distance + 115 m descent) if it were not for the notorious Broad Stand being in the way. So we had to go via Foxes Tarn (photo four) and then descend further before climbing back up under Scafell Crag to Mickledore (1.2 km and 295 m of descent & ascent) then onwards to Scafell Pike summit arriving there about 1:30 pm. This was second & last of the two Lakes 3000'ers that Sarah would ascend with Iain, however, we now had a long walk to get to Wythburn!

Photo five was taken at around 2:30 pm as we headed towards Calf Cove on our way to Esk Hause. Here, we passed three chaps working on the footpath apparently as part of the National Trust/National Park Fix The Fells Programme - good effort guys!

Calf Cove was another good place to load up with fresh water - the first in fact since we had reached the bottom of the slope below Foxes Tarn. Iain also found the water great for cooling his face off, as so far, the day had been very warm indeed!!

Just beyond this point, as we approached Esk Hause, quite a strong breeze was blowing up from Upper Eskdale which helped cool us down; although once we descended in the direction of Angle Tarn, it became quite still again and there, we also briefly had some rain.

Photo six was taken about an hour later as we approached Stake Pass. We had descended from Esk Hause towards Angle Tarn en route for Langdale and then turned left taking a path traversing the ridge behind Rossett Pike towards Stake Pass.

It had become apparent quite a while back that there was no way we were going to make Wythburn for 5 pm and Iain had tried to call Hayley to let her know this, but it seemed impossible to get a signal - even from here where we had a clear view down Langdale and out to towards Morecambe bay. The weather was hotter than ever and we still had over a third of the way to go; and one last big climb in the way!

Photo seven sees Sarah at the top of High Raise - our last high top on this section of Sarah's route to Wythburn. Sarah contemplates the mountains in the distance and Helvellyn - her fourth & final 3000 foot peak. The time was now 4:40 and it wouldn't be until 10pm that Sarah would finally get to stand on that distant summit.

We were both relieved to get to here after the 45 minute/300 m climb from Stake Beck done in baking heat with no breeze. At least from here on, it was all downhill. Well - almost!

At the top of High Raise Iain had also managed to send a text to Hayley indicating that our ETA at the foot of Wythburn was now more likely to be around 6:30pm.

An hour later, photo eight sees Sarah skirting the bottom of the Wythburn valley as we headed on towards the end our our time together and Sarah's final big pull up on to Helvellyn.

Our walk along Wythburn was wet to say the least. This remote & desolate valley really has to be the wettest in The Lake District, and despite the fact that the path does it's best to skirt the marshy valley floor, it was with some relief when we'd squelched our way to Wythburn Head Tarns and begun the final descent into the Thirlmere valley.

Photo nine was taken as we reached the lower floor of Wythburn and now only had about a mile to go to the finish. The finish for Iain - but not for Sarah that was!

In the background, Helvellyn glows in the evening sun, but by the time Sarah reached that skyline, the sun was long gone!

Together, Iain & Sarah covered 13.8 miles (22.1 km) from Seathwaite to Wythburn Car Park taking 10 hours & 20 minutes (we arrived at 6:35pm).

After we had all loaded up with more food & drink, Sarah & Hayley set off, reaching the summit of Helvellyn at 10pm and arriving back in Keswick at 12:45am the next morning.

An amazing achievement. Sarah completed her Lakes 4 Challenge in 25 hours & 15 minutes but, if you take off the break times, Sarah actually completed the whole circuit in 22 hours & 45 minutes. Congratulations Sarah!