Rannerdale and Buttermere | - Click on the image above to view gallery
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 Harry Roger was working at George Fisher in Keswick today but Ann suggested we drive along the Buttermere valley and climb Rannerdale Knotts, which we were more than happy to do. We had been here just once before on a rather windy day in May a few years ago but I remember it being a lovely little fell. There had been a real increase in temperature overnight which meant that the roads were now starting to thaw which was very welcome and meant that driving on them today was far less treacherous.  Haystacks  Crummock Water
We parked at the National Trust Car Park in Buttermere and were soon making our way up the path directly opposite. We had our Microspikes on from the start of the walk: there may well have been a thaw overnight but the paths were still very icy in places. Very soon we were making height, but it was also becoming obvious that the wind was making a real difference to the temperature and also a lot of the powdery snow was being blown about making very pretty patterns of spindrift to look at but not so pleasant when they hit you in the face.
Onwards and upwards we walked, enjoying the view opening up towards the head of the valley where it was very obvious the higher fells such as Great Gable were looking very white and getting more sun than we were. There must have been an awful lot of spindrift in the air up there. We looked at Windy Gap and tried to imagine just how windy it must have been up there, because as we were making height it was getting increasingly difficult not to be blown off our feet even at this relatively low level. We had reached the point where the path heads left to join the ridge when a group huddle was called. Each of us was finding it increasingly hard not to be blown over in the increasing north-easterly wind and it really wasn’t that enjoyable anymore, especially when the frozen spindrift was hitting us in the face. It was only going to be worse if we did walk along the ridge directly into the wind, so we quickly decided that losing height and getting out of the wind was the only sensible option. But first we had to find a safe route down and in places the steep path was rather icy. I had the Camcorder with me again so I tried for a while to capture what the conditions were like. When viewing the video clip the most obvious thing is just how noisy the wind was, but it certainly adds atmosphere and gives an idea what the conditions were like.  Winter trees by the Lakeside  Fleetwith Pike across Buttermere
Once back at valley level it was still very breezy at times but we decided to extend our walk a bit further by walking down to the Buttermere lakeshore. The blue sky of the day before may have gone but there was still a real winter beauty about the day. Everything had a distinct black and white quality about it, especially down by the lakeside and just occasionally the sun would break through lighting up Fleetwith Pike. Buttermere itself wasn’t frozen solid like Loweswater was the day before, but there were certainly some rather large sheets of ice by the edge. We walked over to take a look at Sourmilk Gill also. Normally this is a very fast running waterfall but not today as it was mostly frozen.
We may not have reached the summit of Rannerdale Knotts but I think if we had it wouldn’t have been a very enjoyable experience. Far better to visit again on a day we will be able to enjoy the views without being blown off our feet. If we had carried on we might not have had the time to walk down to the lakeside either, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss that. While at the Lakeside I took several images I hoped to be able to make a couple panoramic images from. I used the excellent Microsoft ICE program to do it and I am really pleased with the result. I think it shows that it might not have been a stunning blue sky day but there really is beauty to be seen in days like this too.  Buttermere panorama
I also had our Camcorder with us today too. It was very hard to hold it steady at times in the wind especially on the slopes of Rannerdale Knotts. If you would like to see the video I've put together then follow the YouTube link.
It had already been a really enjoyable day and we had an excellent meal in the Kirkstile Inn joined by our friends Jayne and Max from the Online Fellwalking Club so it was really a perfect end to the day.
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