To save a bit of time we drove to the pub car park for Sarah to visit the loo and get changed before driving back to the green to park. Once again I had to borrow some sun cream as it was turning out to be a bit of a scorcher! When we were ready we left the car and walked back to the pub and followed the path by the side of the river, ignoring the turn off that leads to Sty Head and stated to climb up the path as it made its way below Kirk Fell.

Once at the top of this “small” raise the path started to gradually loose height, this was a relief. A nice breeze also started and this cheered us up. Now we could see the full length of Mosedale and I pointed out our route to Sarah. In front of us all we could see were blue sky's and white fluffy clouds, that coupled with the sight of Pillar and Red Pike was making me wonder how lucky we were with the weather after a miserable week of rain and thunder storms again. A look behind me towards the Scafell's soon made me wonder how long it was to last for as behind us the weather looked totally different!

Before too long we reached the wall where I remember stopping at last time out. I was well chuffed when we just carried on past it without stopping. Either I am much fitter than last time or the nice easy pace that we walked at was really helping, we smiled at a couple that had stopped for a lunch break as we carried on past them, we were to see much more of this couple as the day passed by!

From here as the path joins Gatherstone Beck the walking became harder, the breeze left us and the sweat began! By the time we reached the point where the path crosses the beck I had to call a halt for some liquid refreshment. Actually I was ready for a sit down and a smoke; I had already drunk one bottle of fluid on the move! I told Sarah about how on the last visit we had carried straight on up the beck but as I had found it hard work getting back onto the path I thought it would be best to stick with the path today.

As we set of again up the path the couple that we had seen before came into view. By the time we had reached the top of the little zig zags they had caught us up. We had a quick chat about the weather and stuff and the bloke asked us if we were talking the short cut or carrying on to Black Sail Pass. I have to admit that I had not thought about the short cut but when Sarah said what was the point of walking all the way over there, only to turn and head up there, when we could just head straight up there ( I hope you're keeping up!) in the first place? I could not fault this logic so we took the short cut. Five minutes later we were back on the main path, it was not the start of the short cut after all! But at least it joined the path where the short cut left the path (still with me!)

So up the short cut we went and after being a bit steep and indistinct at first soon became much more distinct and easier to follow, it was still steep though! The path up to Black Sail Pass soon seemed like it was miles away and within a few minutes we had reached the ridge, what a difference than walking up to Black Sail Pass ! At the ridge we met the couple again as they had stopped for a break, we carried on until we reached the start of the high level route.

As we came up to the cairn that marks the start I was surprised to see quite a few people here. As it had become quite breezy here we headed down along the start of the high level route before finding some shelter and having a lunch break. This lunch break gave us time to study the different routes taken by people as they started the high level route. The start is always confusing and I found it useful watching people making their way slowly along it to check that the way we were going to go was right!

As I sat there and watched all the people make their way along the path I noticed for the first time how much height you actually loose when taking this path! I have always thought of it as a path that contours along the side of Pillar, the steep descent at the start was a bit of a clue but I always remember it being levelish, how wrong can I be! One last look behind to see the nasty weather approaching us and we left. While Sarah slowly started along the path I took the chance to take a few photos before I had to put the camera away and concentrate on where I was walking!

On all of my previous visits here, the walk along the high level traverse has always seemed really gloomy and dull, probably due to the time of year and the valley being in the shadow of Pillar. Today was totally different, yes it felt cold because the wind had picked up but because the sun was still high and visible we had no shadow from Pillar and it felt totally different, in fact it was great!

Before too long we started to catch up and pass all of the people that we had seen before, we passed a family carrying out running repairs to a child's blistered foot, slow walking families who struggled over the awkward parts, people with dogs that seemed to want to go in any direction but the path, in fact I was beginning to think it was a bank holiday or something! Eventually we reached Robinson's Cairn and the reason that I wanted to come back this way instead of taking the direct ridge up to Pillar.

Once I had finished with my camera I pointed out Pillar Rock and The Shamrock Traverse to Sarah, I think it has lost all of its “wow!” factor for me now, but Sarah seemed impressed! Heading off towards The Shamrock Traverse I had forgotten how rocky it was. Odd bits of scree and some large slabs had to be crossed before the Shamrock Traverse was above us, quite good fun really!

While I was remembering my last time here when I was trying to keep up with John and co, Sarah was thinking about her last walk up scree like this, I don't think either of us was looking forwards to it! I decided to tackle it in my new found “one foot in front of the other, and concentrate on the ground” method all walking! This seemed to work as I slowly made my way up; in fact I was concentrating on the ground that much that I started to see the spots of rain fall on the small rocks of the scree long before Sarah noticed it was raining! As the path started to turn to the left I was amazed to find myself on The Shamrock Traverse, this technique works! Sarah was right behind me and we stopped to look back at the other walkers toiling up the scree, they made it seem like much harder work than it had felt to us!

The Shamrock Traverse was all too soon behind us and at the end we had a close view of Pillar Rock. A family was trying to climb up from the shoulder and as they reached the top stopped and just sat there. They seemed to be in the company of someone who looked like he knew what he was doing; perhaps he was a mountain guide or something?

With the cloud becoming more noticeable all we had left to do was walk or scramble up to the summit. There is a path of sorts that makes its way up the narrowing ridge, actually there are a few paths! As we made our way along one of these paths we came across a couple of sheep. We did not want to disturb them so we tried another route. The sheep thought we were trying to herd them or something because they just kept going exactly where we wanted to be, sheep are really dumb animals!

The sheep eventually ran away along one of those narrow sheep tracks that contour around fell sides, we were worried at first as we did not want the sheep to fall down and land on our consciences for the rest of our lives! We need not have worried; they seemed to know what they were doing! With the sheep out of the way we had one final obstacle in our way, a rock chimney that led straight up some crags to the summit.

I remembered this from last time and warned Sarah about loose rock that could be brought down by a poorly placed foot. Sarah went straight up without any problem and without causing any rock falls. I on the other hand seemed to struggle and sent quite a few loose rocks down below, do as I say and not as I do! All that was left after this little scramble was to walk forwards a few feet and the summit was there. That is definitely one think I like about this walk, how one minute you are scrambling up some rock and the next the flat summit area is there!

We sat behind the wind shelter at the summit because the inside was full. After a drink I snapped a quick photo of Sarah at the trig point while she was distracted by something, much to her annoyance! I told Sarah about the great views but as I have already had to do this on some previous summits when we found ourselves with no view she did not seem to visualize them the same way I did! I checked my watch and found that we had reached the summit of Pillar half an hour quicker than last time. Three and a half hours is still a long time but half an hour saved was really good. I felt like we had purposely walked slowly, but we had taken the short cut instead of walking up to Black Sail Pass. Perhaps the slower pace meant more speed as I remembered stopping much more last time, something to ponder on over a pint later!

Sarah started to ask where we went now and I got out the map. She also decided that she should learn how to read a map, not for the first time! Because we had really bad visibility I tried to show her how to use a map and compass. A quick check of the map and compass and I decided that a bearing of approx 280 degrees (not allowing for magnetic deviation, wind drift, the position of the planets and other stuff!) would lead us towards Wind Gap and where we needed to be. I think she followed my quick calculations and holding the compass in a very exaggerated way in front of me we headed off following the compass, this seemed to work as we soon saw a small cairn and then another and another. Before too long the path steepened and through brief breaks in the clouds we saw Wind Gap, phew!

Down to Wind Gap we went, and then up towards Black Crag. Again I had not looked forwards to this, the steep descent and then ascent up to Black Crag but yet again I found it much easier than last time! This was starting to worry me, what was different! Was my fitness level so much better? Was it my new walking method ! Was it the purposely slow pace? The weather? My footwear, as I was now wearing a pair of Merrell multi activity shoes instead of boots. Whatever the reason I was actually enjoying the walk, something that I never thought I would! Once past Black Crag I found the walk up towards Scoat Fell pure joy! The clouds started to lift and we caught brief glimpses of Steeple. I had totally forgotten about this section of the walk. A lovely section along turf that if you follow close to the edge of the crags below is really enjoyable!

It was around here that we met that couple again. They asked how we had enjoyed the high level route. We all agreed that it lost a lot of height, but was a good way to the top of Pillar. The bloke asked us about which route we were going to use to get back to Wasdale Head, this after we both agreed that the Dore Head screes were hard work! He was smiling as he talked about the screes; it was as if he remembered them when the scree was at the top. Looking back I also got the impression he knew something that I didn't; only time would tell! As we left the couple and headed away from the path to Red Pike the weather started to improve, very soon we had a perfect view of Steeple and Red Pike.

Once we left the main path the top of Scoat Fell was only a short distance away. Clambering over the large boulders was fun and we soon joined the wall that runs along the summit. I started to tease Sarah about the summit of Scoat Fell, telling her that it was very unusual. Further along the wall I stopped and asked Sarah to look around and try and figure out what was different, she did not realize that we were actually at the summit. It was only when I pointed out the summit cairn sat on top of the wall that she twigged.

There seemed to be a few more small cairns dotted about the place than last time I was here, or my memory is going, probably the latter! While I took the panoramic photo Sarah noticed someone sat down overlooking Steeple. When I had finished we walked over and found a bloke sketching and then painting Steeple. Sarah asked to look at his work and was suitably impressed with it. He must have found it frustrating over the last hour or so with Steeple disappearing in and out of the clouds, at least now he had a clear view.

Leaving the artist behind we headed along the top of Scoat Fell until we reached the large cairn that signifies the route down to Steeple. Down we went and then up the ridge to Steeple. Sarah was in a rush because she wanted to be in the picture that the bloke was painting, how does that work then? I can't wait to walk into a gallery one day and see a painting entitled “Steeple with Sarah and Ste on top!” Mmmm!

Leaving Sarah to her artistic imagination I took the usual summit photos. I was again surprised how different the summit of Steeple was like compared with my last visit. Last time it was cold and gloomy, I was very tired and really did not want to be there. Today with better weather it was a great place to be, it was much warmer and brighter and I was full of the joys of spring (pity it's mid August!) I just kept thinking to myself that a different time of year can make such a difference to the fells. If I keep thinking thoughts like that I can see me talking myself into “bagging” the fells in all of the different seasons, thinking is definitely not good for me, stop it!

Just as I finished taking the panoramic photo Sarah shouted something about a balloon. I looked around and saw the offending balloon wafting its way up from Ennerdale towards us. Sarah had noticed a tag attached to the balloon and told me about prizes and stuff if you ring the number on the tag; she intended to be the person to ring that number! She ran down the side of Steeple towards the balloon but she was unable to jump high enough to catch the balloon. I tried throwing a few stones at it but my aim was terrible! We then had to look on in frustration as the balloon started to descend into Mirk Cove; I suggested that Sarah take a running jump after it but that did not seem like a good idea!

The balloon disappeared into the distance and we had to think about what could have been. At least it gave us something to talk about as we retraced our steps up to Scoat Fell. We talked about all the things that have happened or things we had seen or done during our walks. It is very difficult to think of a time when we have just done a walk, there always seems to be something that occurs that we remember. Instead of talking about a walk or a fell we invariable talk about something that happened during the walk. This can lead to confusion at times as I am the only one that can remember the names of the fells! Usually I have to equate the walk where we saw the sheep leg in the fence to Grange Fell, the time we went swimming to Allen Crags, the sledging to Great Mell Fell or that time we found the radio to Helvellyn!

This conversation seemed to keep us going over the wall of Scoat Fell and most of the way back down towards the path that leads to Red Pike. Again I have memories of hard work walking between Scoat Fell and Red Pike, a jumble of rocks and slabs that can move when you step on them. Maybe this time I was ready for it and made a beeline for the path, whatever the reason we soon found ourselves on the path and heading up towards Red Pike.

During the last walk my camera battery had run out and I missed taking photos from here on of the rest of the walk. I now have 2 batteries and even 2 memory cards! The path tends to run below the ridge line of Red Pike; it is so easy after all that has gone before to just keep walking along the path instead of following the ridge. I am afraid to say that is exactly what we did! I guess I was so busy taking photos of what I had not been able to do before that I sort of lost track of Red Pike's summit!

As we had reached the summit of Red Pike I put these thought behind me and promised myself that all three would not do any more or less than the others in future because it was always on Sarah's mind that she had not done these fells before. This thought was confirmed by the look on Sarah's face, she had caught us up! The summit of Red Pike is quite unusual, on one side there is a nice grassy slope that leads up to it, on the other, well, it is just straight down into Mosedale, very steep, very rocky and very impressive! If the wind had been blowing I don't think I would have liked to stand there and look down. Well that was it, Sarah was 80 not out and all we had to do now was walk back to Wasdale Head, well not quite as there was still something that I wanted to find, the chair. The chair is something that I have missed out on seeing on every previous visit, not this time!

Walking along the ridge towards Yewbarrow we headed towards a rocky top. This marked the end of the ridge of Red Pike and we had to leave the path to walk up to it. Heading along the ridge the views below us opened up to show Wasdale Head, it was a long way down, but at least the end was in sight! At first it looked like a cairn had been built on top of the rocky outcrop but as we got nearer we realized that it was actually the chair, at last!

I was made up now, everything about this walk had been good so far, photographing things that I had missed out on last time, Sarah catching us up, great weather (apart from the summit of Pillar!) and now this was the icing on the cake. I was happy enough to take a few photos but Sarah wanted to try the chair out for size, not a bad idea! It was not the most comfortable of seats as it did rock slightly as you sat on it (pun intended!) but the view was good, it would have been great if it was not for the clouds that obscured much of the view, maybe next time!

We had a bit of a cross country assault course sort of thing to do before we reached the path but once on the path we made good time, after all it was all downhill now! The only problem was that Sarah seemed like she was in a rush now, maybe she needed the loo or something! I was struggling to keep up. The only thing that slowed Sarah down was when she started to loose her footing and slipped once or twice, I was having the same problem.

We came across a group of four walkers who were sat by the side of the path. Sarah chose this moment to have her biggest slip and ended up on her backside, great timing and most embarrassing! She was laughing her head off about this, really concerned about the state of her trousers, she was really thankful that she was wearing trousers now and not her shorts. While she dusted herself down I took a photo of Yewbarrow, it always looks impressive from this descent.

When we arrived at Dore Head it felt like we had been descending for ages, we had lost loads of height but a quick loo down the screes told us that we still had a fair way to go. This is the most frustrating thing about this walk, only a mile or so away from the end but still so high up, welcome to the Dore Head Screes! I talked to Sarah about the possibility of carrying on up Stirrup Crag to Yewbarrow but that would have been too much, especially for John to be one behind if we did it! Down we would go, at least Sarah would know something about scree running!

The start of the scree run is very intimidating, I very slowly made my way across to the far side, looking down there just did not seem to be an easy way down. In fact I was having a bit of a “moment” up here! As I reached the far side and headed down into one of the gully's I could sense that Sarah was a bit apprehensive as well. It really is a strange place, you always felt unsafe with where you placed your feet, gloves would have been handy as if you did put your hand out to steady yourself you invariable got a cut from the razor sharp little rock fragments, in fact I did get a nasty cut on my left hand. It was no fun at the top of the screes!

This was very slow going until we exited from the little gully and came across the start of some loose stuff. I am still not sure if the scree became better or I got frustrated with the lack of progress but now I started to try and run. This lasted all of about one pace before I sank down onto one leg, the other pointing straight in front of me and I started to push myself along. This seemed to work and I started gather speed whilst at the same time feeling some semblance of control! I was sort of sliding down on one foot and not my backside like it must have looked like from above! I would do this for a

It was spinning through the air at a speed that my eyes could barley keep up with! I ran sideways across the screes keeping the boulder in sight before it whizzed past me. I guess it must have missed me by a good twenty or thirty feet but that was twenty or thirty feet too near! Sarah had been just below a rocky outcrop so she had just ducked her head and felt safe, at least she did not have to do an impression of a deer in the headlights sort of thing!

I have no idea what caused the rock to come down, was it the walkers going up. The four blokes at the top or was it just nature at work. While I thought about it I watched the rock disappear into the distance, perhaps this scree running thing is not all its cracked up to be! Strangely enough Sarah headed out of the scree and onto the steep grass by the side; I was not far behind her! I sat there and decided that some nicotine would be a good idea, I felt quite shaken by the whole thing! On the steep grassy slope I found the best method to descend was to slide down on my backside. I felt really happy doing this, it was too steep for me to walk down properly and sitting down meant that my legs did not shake! I kept sliding down but every time I stopped and looked behind me Sarah was there, stood up and walking right behind me, giving me a sort of look that I usually reserve for when my kids do something really stupid! I'm sorry but this was the way I was going down, I know grass stains can be a pain to remove but it was the only way I felt safe! When I eventually realized that gravity was not helping me any more I decided to try and stand, it was a miracle, I could stand without my legs shaking and even managed to walk again, praise be! For a good distance after any remnants of the scree run had disappeared there were still signs of it along the grass, a thin coating of a whiteish powder along the grass and path, very strange, but when you think about it a scree run tends to start off with large bits, then smaller bits and then even smaller bits, the trail formed by the dust of peoples legs and boots should not be a surprise!

With the scree behind us all we had left was the delightful walk back to Wasdale Head. After so many miles of ups and downs across sometimes some rough ground this last mile or so is a real pleasure! I started to think about what we had done, Sarah had caught up with us, I had managed to take my “missing” photos. That alone was good but the thought that I would not have to walk along the High Level Route again on my way to Pillar, nor having the thought of standing at the top of the Dore Head Screes looking down and thinking "oops!!" made me smile. If I ever walk up Pillar again I will take the direct route up the ridge, I could then miss out on the detours to Scoat Fell and Steeple and then perhaps, just maybe, I would look at Stirrup Crag and Yewbarrow and think that now it was time to walk that way, what a thought! With our legs just about to give up on us we reached the pub. After a quick visit to the

the toilet I was amazed to see the couple that we had kept bumping into sat at a table having a drink and some food! We stopped to talk to them and they asked us how we had enjoyed the scree. I could not get it into my head how they had managed to get down to the pub so quickly after we had last seen them! Admittedly we had taken a detour to Scoat Fell, Steeple and Red Pike but come on, did they have a secret route or a helicopter or something! This really got me thinking and the only solution I could come up with was that they had parked a car at the car park at Overbeck Bridge and had taken the path down there from Dore Head. We said our goodbyes and headed back to the green and the car

park, after getting changed we drove back up to the pub only to drive back to the green again after finding no space to park the car, we then walked back to the pub for some food. Sarah only managed the soup while I tucked into a steak and ale pie, it would have been much better with chips but they don't seem to have them here! We did manage to find a table inside, but that was only because every seat outside was taken, it was still very warm!

So that ended Sarah's catching up. She was very happy with it and I was amazed by how much I had enjoyed something that I had really not looked forward to doing. We had done the walk in a much more relaxed way than last time, seemed to see and find so much more and generally had a good time. I am still undecided whether it was a slower pace or better weather that made it feel so good. Whatever the reason this was my most enjoyable time around here in four visits! All that we had left now was an hour and a half back to the M6 and then a long drive back home, every walk has its dark lining!