A number of times we have been to Ambleside for the Christmas lights parade. We'd missed a couple of years because of my work commitments but, in 2017, we were able to take our place once again. It truly is a wonderful spectacle with entertainment all day through Ambleside before Father Christmas arrives around 4:30. The lanterns following him as he meanders around Ambleside give a real feeling of a Cumbrian Christmas and the fireworks on a very muddy field were a real treat.
As a now seasoned fell walker (or so I think anyway - well I mean I had done 5 by this point!) i thought the family could take a cheeky walk up a smallish fell not too far away. I'd come prepared with map and GPS directions and off we went to Grasmere to tackle Silver How.
The walk starts just past Allen Bank - a National trust property that we had been to on a number of occasions - so we had some familiar starting sights to guide us. Again, trekking across an open fell this was exactly what I wanted from my Wainwrigth adventure. I know there will be scrambles ahead but the solitude of the fell tops with greenery around is just inspring.
As you can see we were blessed with a cold but brilliant day weather-wise and this helped keep spirits up. The were cairns to mark the way and a number of "false alarms" when we thought we could see the top only to find a higher bit of ground not too far away. Indeed the GPS I'd downloaded was also pointing us onwards and upwards....but we all made it and once again it was picture time to record the feat.
Cue photo! (Is this any less cheesy?)
The walk down was via a different route and was more boulder strewn but was a fast descent overall. The bouldery bit are in the little valley you can see to the right of this picture.
I called this blog Ivan's Wainwright Experience and this was probably the first fell where i read and tried to understand the guidebook. I won't lie I did find it a bit confusing but I will persevere and see if all becomes clearer as the fell count rises.