Or should that be Cold-dale Hause because when I left home this morning my car claimed it was minus 6! As John (Fornside01) has quite rightly said, this beautiful spell of fine weather is about to end and I wanted to get out for at least one long walk before the cloud and rain arrived. Today's walk was a simple stroll from Braithwaite to Force Crag Mine, up Coledale Hause and then on to Grasmoor. And because Grasmoor is a cul-de-sac (AW's description, not mine), it was There And Back Again. Not a route that would suit many serious fellwalkers; on the way out the views are very limited unless you keep looking behind you to Skiddaw, but I wanted to go to Grasmoor to get a good view of the Gasgale Crags underneath Whiteside. I don't know what it is about those rock formations - I just love seeing them and in today's low light they looked fabulous. Very icy underfoot in places requiring some "interesting" off piste sections when the full width of the Coledale Hause path was covered in many inches of ice from one side to another. This was a fine walk for Solstice Eve returning to the car at sunset. (9 miles,2,600 ft ascent).

said TheViewFrom 2007.12.21 at 15:14:39 PST