Cumbria Way day 4, Swinside to Rosthwaite

Tuesday 25th April 2017. The forecast was for snow showers on the tops from midday, so we set off shortly after 9am to try and beat the weather.

I have been up Cat Bells a few times but never in good weather. It didn’t look good today either!

I had made a mental note of the picture I wanted of Cat Bells 3 years ago, the last time I went over the ridge. It had to be from the corner of Maiden Moor so that Cat Bells was in the foreground with Derwent Water, Skiddaw and Blencathra in the background.

The light was changing a lot through the morning so I was hopeful of getting the shot. I took several shots en route to the main viewpoint just in case the weather let me down. It was quite dull with snow showers when I reached my viewpoint but I could see it was changing so I waited.

After about 40 minutes the light had moved onto Cat Bells and was still on the background peaks too, with a few cloud shadows to help the shot.

Job done after just 3 years!

We followed the ridge along with the odd snow flurry before going down quite a steep track to Rosthwaite.

Before the light

After the light