Cross Fell

I was staying with the family near to Appleby for a few days. The cold clear weather of the last few weeks looked set to continue for a few more days at least. I wanted to get out and walk up something, but only had half a day to spare. I could see Cross Fell over the other side of the valley and I can't remember when I was last up there, so a return visit seemed in order.

I hadn't got a map, but my brother-in-law kindly lent me one. Also, as I hadn't planned on doing any high level walking, I didn't have any winter kit with me. From what I could see from down in the valley most of the snow had been scoured off the slopes by the wind, so I hope I could make my way round any patches of hard snow or ice. I drove over to Culgaith and looked at my map to see how I would get to Kirkland where the walk started. This was when I discovered that my brother-in-law had given me the wrong map! A quick trip to Penrith and a wait until 9:00am, when WH Smith opened, solved this problem. However, it meant that getting back by 2:00pm was going to be hard.

I parked up next to the church in Kirkland and consulted my new map about the fastest route to the summit. I had enough clothing to keep warm, but only my Inov8 Roclite's