The night was thick mist and rain and it was a depressing sight as I looked out of the tent first thing. My head torch just managed to penetrate as far as a couple of clumps of wet grass nearby. I certainly didn't fancy packing the tent up in the rain and continuing over Grey Friar in the same weather. I decided to stay put for a while and see what the weather did.

Dreary view from the tent

Misty Grey Friar summit.

I settled down with my book and by late morning the rain eased and the cloud brightened. I decided to go for it and move camp. Unfortunately by the time I was packing the tent down the mist and rain returned, I decided to head over Grey Friar and on to Great Carrs where I knew there was a good pitch and clear spring nearby. I returned to the faint path I'd followed up yesterday and followed it up to the Grey Friar plateau.

I continued to be impressed by the path and it seems strange that it isn't marked on the map. The point where it reaches the summit is marked with a small cairn but it would be very difficult to find as a descent route. I knew of a good water supply below Swirl Howe and was heading there to camp but when I saw some small snowfields around I changed my mind. I found a good sized snowfield on the north side of Grey Friar and a decent spot to camp directly above Calf Cove. It was difficult getting the tent up because the ground was frozen hard and the pegs wouldn’t all go in. Some were anchored with large boulders. The day continued wet and thick cloud.

Camp on Grey Friar.