Yewbarrow

The iconic view of Wast Water and the surrounding fells was just too much to resist, so we pulled the car over and jumped out for 5 minutes. After all we had stayed over in Wasdale the night before and we were arriving relatively early to climb Yewbarrow today. Yewbarrow can be seen in the centre of the photo - the imposing shapely fell.

Parked up at Overbeck - Again the forecast was not good for this Friday and we were the only car here all day I think.

The initial steep pull up the nose of Yewbarrow. I prefer to miss out the scrambling section at Dropping Crag especially with the high winds we have today, so we turned left and headed up the Overbeck Valley to climb Yewbarrow by a less strenuous route.

Two bridges - Spoilt for choice ! We chose to cross over and head up via the left hand side of the beck, which looked slightly less boggy. Not sure if this was right as the high level return route on the other side was significantly better. But no harm done other than to Paul's socks as his boots continued to leak water.

Crossing the beck again with the impressive Yewbarrow always to our right.

Approaching Dore Head at the top of the valley.

Yewbarrow's Northern end - Stirrup Crag. Beyond my limited climbing skills I'm afraid. Done mostly in descent by walkers, but there has been quite a few falls here and I'm quite happy to avoid it.

Our easier path can just be seen heading diagonally back up the side of Yewbarrow.

After a little bit of clambering over rocks near Dore Head, the thin path can be picked up and followed right up to the top of the ridge.

We were very fortunate yesterday - the forecasted rain did not arrive and we were able to enjoy a lovely dry day in the fells. Our luck ran out here ! The heavy storm and high winds made for a very unpleasant visit to the summit of Yewbarrow. Not enjoyable at all.

Ever the hardened walker - Paul as always, put a brave face on it and celebrated another successful conquest.

A slight respite from the wind and rain battering as we left the diagonal path and picked up an off-path route back down the side of the fell - the rain had eased and we were able to plan our next challenge - Where to stop for lunch and a pint.

As I mentioned earlier - the high level path was easier and drier on the descent compared to our way up.

Arriving back at ground level with views over Wast Water to Lingmell & the lower part of Scafell. Not a brilliant day because of the weather, we had got away with it yesterday - but not today unfortunately. We had hoped for snow and white mountains over these two days - it was early January after all, but it wasn't to be, Oh well, maybe next time. Time to get out of our wet clothes and head for home.