Seathwaite to Lambfoot Dub last camp of 2017, Cumbria.

Seathwaite to Lambfoot Dub last camp of 2017, Cumbria.
[6.5 km] Sun 31 Dec 2017

Plan + Profile

OS Grid ref: NY 23477 12261
Lat/Long: 54.499871, -03.183119

All the pots from last night’s late family Christmas diner were still piled up in the kitchen. They'll have to wait. I finalised packing my rucksack, loaded the car and set off to drive to Cumbria. I was surprised how quiet the motorway was. Keswick was almost deserted as I drove through on my way towards Borrowdale. I reached Seathwaite and the farm's car park in the field. It was too wet to park on the field so I left my car on the edge of a stoned area, put £5 in the pay box for an overnight stay and headed up towards Stockley Bridge. I was going slower than usual as I had my full backpacking rucksack with tent and supplies for one night. I'm heading for a pitch near Lambfoot Dub which has great views towards Great Gable. Over the bridge I set off up the steep path towards Styhead and was thankful that most of the snow and ice had gone that was here last Wednesday. I took the climb steady and finished the steep bit without problem. Earlier I'd seen a couple walking up towards me and I stepped aside on the path to let them pass. I crossed Styhead Gill by the footbridge and continued up towards Styhead. There was a lot of cloud but the pass was visible ahead with several people wandering around. I would normally have gone to the summit then turned left but this time I avoided it and the people to take the short cut path towards the Corridor route path.

On the Corridor route looking to Great Gable

Last camp of 2017

The high winds were now starting to be a bit of a problem. They are supposed to subside later but I've still brought my Hilleberg Soulo tent with me as it has more poles and guy lines than my normal Akto tent. I started the climb of the Corridor Route and saw the couple behind who I overtook me earlier. They must have stopped at Styhead for refreshments. They stopped a couple of times as the man took photos of the lady with a mountain backdrop.

A late Christmas Cake celebration

I continued up to where I left the path to head up the featureless steep slope towards Lambfoot Dub. I kept to the right side near to the rocks which gave me some shelter from the wind. Higher up were some patches of damp snow which were a bit tricky. Eventually I reached my planned camp site which is a location I’ve used a couple of times many years ago. The Soulo is very stable in high winds but I needed to put the full complement of 12 guy lines and pegs in. Once the tent was up I walked over to the small tarn to collect water in my two 2lt plastic bottles. Most of the tarn was still iced over but I managed to find a spot which was ice free. Holding down the bottles to immerse them was extremely cold on the fingers. It was still early afternoon so I took a few photos of the tent before the cloud that was obscuring Great Gable descended to obscure me. After my evening meal I set my alarm for 23:50 as I knew I'd fall asleep before midnight and the New Year. I woke to thick cloud but the rain had stopped. Shortly after midnight I had a brief view if the distant Keswick lights but couldn't see any fireworks.