Carlisle & District Rambling & Fellwalking Club
Walk & Event Reports
Sunday 27th March 2016
A/B Walk
Aira Force - Glenridding
8 Miles Grade 2
Leader: Ian Rowley
Report by Ian Rowley
Photos by Pete Rutland & Ian Rowley
A small turnout today perhaps the result of the lure of easter eggs as well as illness and injuries (get well soon, Lauren) resulted in a combined A&B group numbering nine hardy walkers.
Assembling in the Aira Force car park and pulling on waterproofs whist conversing with local coffee vendor who didn’t seem very optimistic about his prospects of selling much coffee the group was reassured by the walk leaders’ insistence that the route wasn’t as challenging as he’d suggested and there would be an escape route in the (unlikely) event of inclement weather .
The walk up along side the Aira beck soon foretold the amount of wet ground that lay ahead with the falls putting on an impressive display. We were also greeted by the first squally shower of hail and rain that was to be a regular feature of the day
Head down into the wind and rain made conversation difficult and probably resulted In a fairly quick pace that bought us to our lunch stop just underneath Swineside Knott a little ahead of schedule. We had been lulled into a false sense of optimism by a short lived spell of brighter weather and we ate lunch by a solid fell wall that kept out the wind but blocked the great views of Ullswater.
After a short discussion it was decided we should carry on with the intended route of the walk rounding the remote Glencoyne hanging valley by the narrow “miners balcony path” however in the space of a few minutes optimism disappeared in the face of horizontal driving hail mixed with sleet. Retreat was the order of the day and we re-traced our squelchy steps descending back down towards Aira Force before picking up the roadside path to Glencoyne Bay and on into Glenridding.
Coffee, hot chocolate and cakes were consumed making a small contribution to the beleaguered local economy. The coach drive back took us past a very full Aira Force car park so maybe the coffee seller hadn’t done too badly after all.
Ian
