As forecast we woke up to snow this morning and I opted to head for the top of Dunmail Raise to start my walk.  Normally when I climb Seat Sandal from there I ascend via Raise Beck; for a change I decided to climb the western slopes of Seat Sandal keeping the beck below me to my left.  The first half of the ascent is steep (and today was on icy grass) but after half an hour the angle eases and the path meanders around a few boggy bits to meet the west cairn with views down to Grasmere.  Here you could see the usual varied conditions which are the trademark of Dunmail Raise - to the north snow and ice, to the south sun and green grass!

The descent to Grisedale Hause was tricky on the ice and snow covered rocks and the wind seemed to strengthen as I lost height, which seemed a bit odd. I reached the hause to find that Polly was begging food off a group of Outward Bound students!  The path up Fairfield from the hause was on frozen scree with varied snow - sometimes hardly any, at other times there were mini drifts to kick your feet into.  About 300 yards from Fairfield summit I heard Polly barking and then much to my surprise bumped into fellow OFC member David Hall who had started from Grasmere and had  climbed Fairfield via Stone Arthur and Great Rigg.  It really is a small world, the Lake District.

I hunched down in the summit shelter on Fairfield for lunch and then found it was snowing and blowing a gale when I surfaced 20 minutes later.  The desecnt to Deepdale Hause via Cofa Pike was "interesting" to say the least!  The snow was blowing up into my face as I traversed Cofa Pike.  I ended with the peak on my hat covered with snow on the underside!  I found the descent path from Deepdale Hause with no problems and soon Grisedale Tarn appeared out of a cloud of spindrift.  Then around the tarn to pick up the path down Raise Beck which ran straight as an arrow back to the car.

A great day out and an unexpected bonus to get such a day in April.  This sort of weather happens in spring in Scotland but very rarely in the Lakes.

Enjoy the pictures and remember to take a look at David Hall's site when he has posted his.  *** UPDATE David's walk ***

A full album is available on Webshots http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/563007923tJQhXi.

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