Area: Pennines, Cumbria
A cold morning, with a heavy frost on the car. I felt it would be prudent to get some of the long return journey done first, before an outing, so headed into Cumbria down scenic roads that were new to me (through Slaggyford to Alston). The weather was beautiful, but cloud patterns suggested that wouldn't last. After the Hartside Pass, Cross Fell developed a cloud cap, but I decided I was so close to Kirkland that I would try it from there. It is England's highest ground outside the Lakes, of course, but I had never been up it before. From the small hamlet of Kirkland, I took the bridleway north, but left it early for an impromptu directissime up the steep-sided Kirkdale valley. This was quite kind underfoot, although very steep to leave as I took in the spur of High Cap before joining the standard 'Pennine Journey' bridleway. The mist came down on the high plateau, with a notable windchill developing. I headed to Greg's Hut first, a famously isolated bothy just north of the Cross Fell summit plateau, and then finally located the surprisingly indistinct junction with the Pennine Way that leads south to the summit. The weather worsened rapidly: wind, thick mist, very poor viz, and hoar frost. I ploughed up to an elaborate cairn in very poor visibility, which I later found wasn't the true summit, it was 11 metres lower! Mildly annoying, but no matter, as I enjoyed the long, looping and very runnable descent down the proper bridleway popping out of the mist above scenic Ardale Beck back to Kirkdale.
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