The temperature continued to drop during the night. It began to snow and I’d inadvertently left a bit of the top door zip undone. I woke briefly to discover a pile of snow accumulating by my sleeping bag. I scooped the snow away but found it difficult to do the zip up as it was frozen solid. In the morning the water bag had frozen as well and took some emptying when packing up. I had to crush the ice as best as I could and shake it out of the filling hole. The temperature dropped to -7degC. Snow and cloud greeted me when I woke. Yesterday’s decision to continue was right. Fortunately the cloud lifted a bit and the snow stopped.

Sunrise from the tent.

On the climb of Harter Fell.

I was on my way before 9am but the fierce wind and cold made it difficult going. Nearing Harter Fell summit the snow began again and was extremely painful on my face in the wind. At least I had some good but gloomy views along Haweswater. It was treacherous underfoot due to ice coating the rocks. Before the descent to Nan Bield Pass I fitted my ice studs to the soles of my boots. It would have been very dangerous and difficult without them. There was a thin coating of snow everywhere and even though no sun broke through there were nice views. The main problem was the wind which made the going very difficult.

View down to Haweswater.

Distant view of Windermere from Ill Bell.

I went over the summit of Ill Bell only because I couldn’t find the lower level detour in the snow. My planned pitch was on Rainsborrow Crag but the high wind made me think again. On the summit of Yoke I decided to continue down to find shelter from the wind. I abandoned my original plan and continued descending until a reached a wall with some shelter and a water supply. At least I had a view of the Distant Howgills as I pitched the tent.