The Blencathra 2000'er's

Another 2000'er trip, with four hills on the agenda if all went well. I parked at Mungrisdale and followed the River Glenderamakin out onto the open fell. I'll tell the tale of the day by photos as is usual....

The Tongue prominent in this view, I would take the track to the left of The Tongue. Bannerdale Crags in the distance.

This path would be an easy one to walk on a compass bearing....straight as a die....and it takes you right onto the ridge.

An out and back leg allowed me to bag Bowscale Fell. Bannerdale Crags my next hill lay along what would normally be an easy trot across the broad ridge.

Some quite significant cornicing even on lowly Bannerdale Crags.

Looking back to Bowscale fell from the summit of Bannerdale Crags. It had been tough going the snow frozen...but not enough at this height to bear weight....a foretaste of what was come later...

Blencathra in it's winter coat. Sharp Edge in the centre of the image. My route would be along the right-hand skyline.

Almost on the summit of Foule Crag and a superb vista of the Skiddaw group.

Summit of Blencathra, with it's unusual trig recently replaced after some halfwit stole the original.
Looking across to Clough Head and beyond to the South.

Huge cornices below Foule Crag, the near skyline is of course Sharp Edge.

Mungrisedale Common...I hesitate to call it a summit...it was my fourth and final hill of the day. The dark hill in the distance is Great Calva.
Old Wainwright must have had so many laughs thinking about all the pilgrims trudging across the wasteland to this point!...me included!!
Never again?
I suffered a complete sense of humour failure shortly after I took this photo, I had almost 2k of snow/ice to walk across...running was out of the question...it had all the structural integrity of flaky pastry...and most of it was cambered... bloody awful!

A last look back at Sharp Edge from the track below White Horse Bent in the upper Glenderamakin valley.
It should in theory have been an easy jog/run back to the car from here...and it was for a while.
I stopped to take my mini gaiters off, requiring removal of my trail shoes...I had an attack of really severe cramp in my right foot...agonising...no doubt brought on by the horrendous going across Mungrisedale Common. the last 3 miles turned into a bit of a hobble/walk/jog!
A great day in spite of this though. The Strava track and stats of the days exertions can be found here .