Clough Head & Great Dodd via Fisher’s Wife’s Rake
Distance: 17.8km (11.05 Miles)
Ascent: 1132m (3714ft)
Duration: 5 Hours 50 Minutes
I've been wanting to do Fisher's Wife's Rake for quite a long time now and as the weather was superb today what better to do than the northern part of the Helvellyn range. The rake was a bit harder than I thought it was going to be - thankfully I had my crampons and ice axe!
The opening stretch of this walk was a low level valley walk through St Johns in the Vale. The valley is beautiful with lovely views to the surrounding peaks. The one photographed is Raven Crag.
Blencathra still capped in cloud.
Clough Head and Sosgill Bridge.
Fisher's Wife's Rake - that's where I'll be later.
St John's in the Vale.
High Rigg.
Looking down the first part of the rake.
And up the rake. It really was steep and the ground was totally frozen making it a bit tough. The top section was covered in thick frozen snow so it was crampons and ice axe out for that bit! Sorry of the lack of photos on this section as I was concentrating on the climb.
A temperature inversion over to the south.
Blue skies over Great Dodd and Helvellyn.
Skiddaw and Blencathra from Clough Head.
Carl Side, Skiddaw Little Man, Skiddaw and Lonscale Fell.
Great Dodd - the next target for todays walk.
Cross Fell.
Snow covered fells to the west.
A panorama of the inversion to the south west.
The North Western Fells over Derwent Water.
Clough Head summit shelter and trig column.
Time to head over to Calfhow Pike and then onto Great Dodd.
Great Dodd.
Calfhow Pike summit cairn.
Thirlmere and the inversion.
Great Dodd summit cairn.
Great Mell Fell over to the north east.
The Far Eastern Fells. High Raise, Rampsgill Head and High Street to name a few.
High level cloud is starting to move in, but the inversion is going nowhere.
Watson's Dodd summit.
Stybarrow Dodd summit.
Great Gable.
Bowfell and Esk Pike.
Whispy and colourful sky over Helvellyn and the inversion.
A panorama of the inversion.
A few people using the ski tow up on Raise.
