I was busy ignoring my alarm and enjoying a snooze this morning, when a loud knocking on the van door dragged me into the world of the awake. It was Emma, letting me know that it was time to get up and get the day started. 

I got up. 

Some time later we parked up in Seatoller, where I encountered the same National Trust Ranger as last week. This time however I paid for a membership. 

The walk in to Raven Crag is the the best part of an hour. Made longer by my forgetting my lunch. Fortunately we had not got far before I realised my mistake. 

Raven Crag is a proper mountain crag. It sits high above the valley floor and appears to be this large expanse of towering broken cliff. All very impressive. The route we had chosen to do, Summit Route, was 177m long requiring 9 pitches of climbing. Quite an undertaking. It started next to the very impressive gully that cuts the crag in half.

Emma took the first lead and we got into the swing of things. The route was a mixture of engaging climbing, tricky route finding and the odd move that required a certain amount of self motivation to get over. Oh! and long periods of inactivity while belaying. If I'm honest, the pitches have rather blurred into one confusing mass of rock, grass and the sound of the river next to us. 

Unlike the rock on so many of more accessible crags, the rock here had a rough texture. Its good sharp rock like this that is a real joy to climb. Even the smallest or most dubious of foot placements feels solid on rough rock. 

This climb truly was a long climb. It felt like time was standing still as we climbed. I can safely say that when I clambered over the last rocky step and walked to the summit that I was glad to see the top. Thats not to say that the climbing wasn't good or fun but to say that it had been a long day. When Emma joined me on the summit there was no talk of a second route (it was now nearly 6pm) just talk of our elation at being able to take off our climbing shoes. 

After the effort of a long days climbing the views were superb and the walk back off the mountain to the van felt very quick. Now back at the van the race was on to make it back to Emma's cousins house before the baby went to bed, if we wanted any hope of grabbing a shower. Fortunately we got back just in time. All in all a great day out!

The day dawned bright and early in Keswick yesterday. Given that I was in Keswick I found myself wandering round Booths at 9 in the morning waiting for Emma to turn up, which she eventually did. 

So what to do? We didn't have a guidebook for anywhere in the Lakes, so had to nip out to the shops and pick one up. Unfortunately, as it was a bank holiday, the local branch of Emma's work was shut and didn't open till later that day. However we managed to pick up a guidebook at another well known outdoor shop. We quickly decided on a visit to Shepherds Crag and set off to have a play. 

Shepherds Crag is home to some classic Lakes lines. Unsurprisingly when we reached the foot of our first climb, Little Chamonix, a queue had already formed. So we went off in search of a different route to kill some time. 

We settled on Brown Slabs Direct (VD). It proved an nice reintroduction to climbing and a pleasant welcome to the Lake District. This was both Emma and my first time climbing in the Lakes.

After this we went back to Little Chamonix to find the queue had dispersed. So we headed up the route. It really was rather good climbing. Just the right mix of exposure and excitement, but with good holds and good gear. 

By the time we had got back to the foot of the crag it was getting late. That said after a bit of lazing in the afternoon sun we summoned the energy to explore another climb. This time Donkey's Ears. Another fine climb. It had one heart in mouth move as I hauled myself onto a narrow spike of rock before a gripping hand traverse left along the crag and a pull up onto more slaby rock. Emma decided agains the final airy left hand traverse and finished the final direct pitch. Still a thoroughly interesting climb though!

By now it was time to head back to the ranch and plan for the next days adventures.

I met up with Sue last night to plan todays adventures. As I alluded to in an earlier post we decided to pop up Sharp Edge and back down Halls Fell, partly because Sue was leading a group up Halls Fell later this week and partly because Sharp Edge has been on Sues tick list for some time. That I was around and happy to nip up it was lucky happenstance. 

We met in Booths, now my new most visited place in Keswick, before heading out to Scales. We set off in beautiful sun shine. I was torn between changing into shorts or staying in trousers. As there was quite a breeze I opted for trousers. It was a good decision. 

We slogged up the steep grass of the pubs beer garden to jump the stile at the top and reach the open moorland and the edge of Blencathra. This is one of the most tiring parts of the walk. After this it was a gentle stroll round the edge of the mountain and up to Scales Tarn. 

I did my best guiding approach and provided commentary on the route we were taking and spouted entertaining anecdotes to Sue. Or something like that anyway. Before long we were at Scales Tarn and sue had her first view of Sharp Edge. She expressed some concern over the apparent steepness of the last section and the narrowness of the first. 

However, being intrepid mountaineers, we overcame these momentary wobbles and got stuck into the ridge. To paraphrase William Murry in Undiscovered Scotland (The book is in the van and I am not, hence the paraphrase) "You can climbing the same mountain a thousand times and each time will be different" This is how I felt about Sharp Edge. 

Despite having been up it only two days earlier it was as interesting as the first time I ascended it.  

This time was made particularly interesting by an elderly chap who had brought a very lively dog up the ridge (his tail can be seen above). There were some moments when my heart was in my mouth as the gent lobbed his dog up steeper sections and looked in serious peril of falling off backwards with the effort. 

Fortunately, however, both the dog and the chap arrived at the top of the ridge with only a cut leg to show for their difficulty. Although the Gent did say that noting on earth would convince him to repeat the ridge. 

We made it to the top of the ridge with little drama. Then nipped across to the summit before getting out of the wind to eat lunch. After this it was time to head down Halls Fell. 

Halls Fell is a fun little decent route, which can be exposed as you like. This time the new interest was wondering how a group of Pensioners (Sues client group) would cope ascending it. We decided that all the more exposed sections could easily be bypassed and that it would prove an appropriate challenge. 

We ended up back on the road for a long slog back to Scales. Next time we will leave a car at either end. Once back in Scales I had to jump in the van and head back south for a quick change and repack for work. 

This morning after my customary meander round Booths I decide to go and have a stroll over Green and Great Gable, with the possibility of the Corridor route if I felt like it. 

Green and Great Gable and I have had some unfinished business for some years now. It all started with a trip that Emma Pryke, Joe Cartwright and another chap (who's name escapes me) made. We had an epic. Strong winds. Heavy packs. Rain. What had started out as a 2 day self sufficient trip over the lakes ended in my roping Emma back down to the Mountain Rescue Box. The winds were so strong she was being blown off her feet. That, fortunately, is the past. The present is somewhat different. 

I set off from Seathwaite (the wettest part of the country) and made good time to Stockley Bridge. This must be one of the most photographed bridges in the Lakes, so I resisted the urge to take another photo of it. I then over took several other parties up the well made path towards Sty Head. 

This path goes up the South side of Styhead Gill and the rock has been worn to a polish by the countless tread of boots. There is another path for the more adventurous of you, on the North side of the gill. This is a mere strip of gravel on a steep slope, slip on the rocks and you will end up in the gill and going over the waterfall. It was that path that we had taken on my first visit with Emma.

The sun today was baking. In fact I was too hot. Anyway I left the motorway of a path just before Styhead Tarn and cut up the slope/gill to the saddle between the two gables. It was one of those paths that just seemed to go on and on and on. Eventually I reached the pass and turned East to the summit of Green Gable. It is rather green. 

The view from this mountain is simply superb. I sat for the best part of half an hour and several people came and went to the summit before I was ready to leave. It was while I was sitting here that I found out that I had been awarded Leader of the Month by Mountain Training 

http://www.mountain-training.org/latest-news/leader-of-the-month---april 

which made me very happy. If I'm honest I burst out laughing, I couldn't believe it! Anyway I headed back to the pass and started up Great Gable. 

The trudge up the walkers path can be avoided by picking a line up the slabby rock, which adds a greater level of interest to the walk. Again the summit has spectacular views. The trudge up the mountain is not the most interesting, but the views make the walk worth it. 

Seriously I would suggest you go up it just to sit and look.

Anyway after a while it became apparent that I could not sit on the side of a mountain for ever. So I headed back down to Styhead Tarn. I sat a the Mountain Rescue box and ate a snack or two, it was now lunch time. Looking around me I was shocked to see that Scafell Pike was covered in cloud and that a large expanse of gloomy clouds were filling the sky. 

My resolve to set out on a 6-10h walk died. Instead I decided that I had covered new ground and there was no need to revisit old ground. I headed back to the van for lunch and coffee. 

All in all a good 5h trip out, taking in two classic summits. Now to plan for tomorrow.

So last night I packed up the van and left London! Which means one thing... more blog posts. 

After a long drive I parked up in my Lakes camping spot, this is a secret location known only to Fran, Howard and myself. Well I'm not publicly announcing where I'm staying. Otherwise I might get mobbed by my avid readers!

I decided to go hit up some scrambles. So this morning over breakfast I got out the guidebook and had a look at what there was to do in the Lakes. Apparently there is quite a lot! 2 guidebooks full to be precise. Being a sensible chap I ruled out any scrambles that got a grade 3 or above. I didn't want to lug a rope around and those are best saved for excursions with friends.

Eventually I settled for Nittings Haws, a grade 2, with the possibility of continuing to Dalehead a grade 1. Off I headed. I was about to park up in Grange when I took a second look at the map. Parking here (like the guidebook suggests) would result in a very, very long walk back to the van. I moved it to Rosthwaite. This meant that I had a longer walk in but would have a shorter walk back to the van.

Unfortunately the car park is run by the National Trust. There was a NT ranger who engaged me in awkward conversation as I wandered over to the parking machine. The chap was trying to sell me a membership. I explained that I didn't really have £59 to spend right now. To which he pointed out that it was the equivalent of parking in a national trust car park once a month. He was not wrong! £6.50 to park for the day! I was about to put the money in the machine when I noticed the large sign attached to the building on the other side of the wall. It boldly said that parking in the Village Institute was only £3 per day. So I moved the van to the other side of the wall.

It was a nice walk along the river back to the start of the scramble. Which I did in a rather speedy time. I crossed the field and started up the hill towards the start of the climb.

It was a broken line of rock that was interesting but not sustained, as I got higher the rock disappeared into a juniper forest. It was rather spiky! I stopped for a break on a ledge to chat to Sophie about becoming a DofE instructor. I finally made the top of Nitting Haws. The view was superb. I could have stayed sitting there all day. 

But I didn't. I set off towards Dalehead. From the top of the ridge I could see Dalehead. It did not look too inviting. So I decided it was time for coffee in the van. A quick nip down the hill saw me back at the van having a brew, a speedy 5h after leaving it.

The hail had been short lived and the sun was cracking the flags again. So I decided to head over to Blencathra and have a jaunt up Sharp Edge and down Halls Fell.  I set off up the hill and could see Sharp Edge after a speedy 40min. I sat admiring the view for a few moments before heading on towards the tempting ridge. 

As I was trotting along I saw a group of people advancing down the path towards me. The chap at the front looked rather familiar, just as I thought to myself "that looks like max", an all too recognisable voice hailed me "IS that Calum Wallace?"! A chance encounter with an ex-house-mate made the day. We had a chat, but as they were headed down and I up we parted ways again. 

Sharp Edge provided its usual short lived interest. Just as its getting good it ends. A quick nip from the top of the ridge to the summit and a bomb down Halls Fell ridge proved to be an excellent afternoons entertainment. 

I would recommend Sharp Edge to anyone wanting to have a go at scrambling. There is a possibility that I might be up it again, with Sue this time, before the end of the week. 

A thoroughly good days walking. There might be some selfie videos on snapchat for anyone who has the pleasure of that app.