Despite having a free weekend todays walk was confined to a Sunday due to Saturday's forecast where the district experienced quite a prolonged period of heavy rain continuing from Friday which left the fells feeling rather sponge like.

I'm slowly starting to tear away from the stigma that I created concerning what a Sunday walk should be which consists of ideally a walk under eight miles yet due to this years challenge of completing the Wainwrights in 30 walks I'm starting to find it impossible especially as we enter Spring where it doesn't know whether to rain or shine...I guess the words I'm looking for is a consistent forecast, which of course as a fell walker is asking the impossible. So now that I've nurtured my bones into some tough Sunday walks todays route; although over good ground takes in eight Wainwright summits first starting with Longlands Fell and ending with the Lakeland frontier that is Binsey.

I've walked this route a couple of times and only as recently as last November but back then and unlike today I will also be including Knott and, as an out and back, Great Calva before continuing to collect Meal Fell and Great Cockup thereafter before completing the walk with what felt like the arduous task of summiting Binsey...at what felt like a snails pace at times which in all, was all good training for what lies ahead.

It was a late start due to family commitments the evening before which saw me arrive at Over Water 09:15am. The forecast had predicted light cloud but not the rain I had driven through and indeed kitted up under way back at the parking spaces close to Over Water. However, I wasn't too worried as my route ahead could be seen, it was only Skiddaw's summit which had a covering of cloud which was on the move, had I have been on my way up there this morning there wouldn't have been any need for concern.

During kit up a white car pulls up along side mine but the driver, a middle aged woman doesn't get out instead she checks her location by map and pulls away soon after, I paid it no attention but it's not the last I'll see of the driver, for now anyway. The rain is light but it fills the puddles in the quiet lane leaving a mild but dull start to the walk, kitted up I lock the car and head out in the direction of Longlands, it's over a mile walk which will give ample time to stretch the legs especially during the steep pull through Lowthwaite whereafter I'll drop down onto the Cumbrian Way before picking up a narrow path onto Longlands Fell supreme north ridge, by which time it had stopped raining and the woman who had pulled up along side me back at Over Water was a couple of hundred feet ahead on the ridge after I had passed her car at the parking spaces close to Longlands Beck.

Mud and standing water was an early issue especially along the Cumbrian Way where even the sheep had had enough, progress along here was slow and so too was the start of the ascent from the Cumbrian Way onto the ridge due to the flat sodden ground but once height was steadily gained I soon left the pockets of water behind in favour of short grass where the rain water couldn't stand, just flow which made for a slightly quicker progress.

I arrive at the summit much the same time the woman who had been ahead of me, now seen as a tiny dot ahead who is preparing to leave 'mornings' are passed before I de-shoulder allowing myself to pack away my cumbersome camera case.

I think that's the last I'll see of the rain, hopefully anyway.

The cloud is just about starting to lift from Knott right about now but I'm not looking forward to making the crossing too much due to how notoriously boggy it can get.

Talking about wet and boggy...why is it I always remember the puddle next to the summit more than I do the cairn...speaks volumes about just how wet this whole area is I guess.

The crossing was as wet as expected and I'm not afraid to say that I kept to the long grasses sometimes trekking far and wide in order to avoid the bogs, yet I was delighted to witness the cloud break almost like opening a set of curtains as I summited the shoulder of the fell when all that was left as I arrived at the cairn was pockets of cloud and bright sunlight.

Just marvellous and a real highlight taken from the whole day.

Great Calva is by far the longest 'out and back' within my campaign so far which really isn't too much to write home about as I enjoy this type of walking very much, what I'm not looking forward to however are the bogs found between here and Great Calva summit, more so as I will have to deal with them after heavy rain and in ascent too.

But this is why we walk right?

Skylarks accompanied my ascent and took my mind away from the bogs underfoot from which negotiations were made. Ahead is Great Calva's summit and more bog hopping but not as much as I had to deal with in ascent which should make the last half mile a very pleasant one with only one thing on my mind.

Lunch!

It was a steady pull onto the summit of Great Calva as I am reminded of the coiled loose fence wire which straggles the area just below the summit, a memory so vivid it seems like I was only here yesterday but a whole ten months have past since then. The summit shelter is soon reached without pausing to take a photo of the summit itself I re-arrange a couple of flat rocks before de-shouldering my pack and ease myself down low enough to let the wind pass comfortably above my head. Streaks of cloud and a little haze obscure Knott for now as I look down whilst eating lunch at the wooden foot bridge which crosses Wiley Gill before the path continues along the Cumbrian Way now flanked by the Caldew.

I don't often finish my lunch often saving some for the end of the walk but today I'm so comfortable sat here in the shelter I savour every last bite regretting the moment when I have to pop my head back into the summit winds much like you would as you get out of a warm bed in a morning, but time is ticking on and I force myself to make the move before re-shouldering my pack, from then I hop over the wire fence from where I took this photo of the summit cairn.

Within what seems like seconds lunch was soon forgotten as I start to retrace my steps over sodden ground while making star fists with my hands trying to get a little warmth back into them although I might be in luck as it seems the sun is about to come out.

Meal Fell was shouting distance away, infact I could almost lip read what the people stood at the summit were talking about but my main concentration had to be to get down safely as Frozen Fell's northern ridge which descends into Frozenfell Gill is extremely steep and the only way to tackle this efficiently was to zig-zag my way down using three to four steps at a time.

I soon picked up the technique making swift use of my walking poles with each turn, the fell side would drop away sharply revealing more steep ascent but soon after some knee twisting turns Frozenfell Gill appeared as I picked my crossing at its narrowest point.

What a place!! Sadly I dont have any time to explore the area as I am about to get my second wind in order to climb my way onto Meal Fell.

Second winds don't often come, and when they do it's best not to waste them, especially when faced with a steep climb.

After having my respected summit time I made my descent under the gloom of a Spring afternoon which started to feel much later than it actually was but this all changed when the sun did come back out briefly as I made my way back to the car whilst passing Over Water. Despite the brief appearance from the sun I was itching to delayer feeling more uncomfortable more than anything still wearing the same layers as I had set off in over six hours ago but I'm too close to the car to start faffing about.

Soon my car is reached and I get my delayer, the puddles of this morning have now dried up and are long gone, it's only six hours ago did I set off in the rain only to end my walk under afternoon sun completing another walk within my campaign feeling utterly contempt that I have kept my wish while collecting the summits I had set out to do all the while spending a great full day on the fells.

By eck I'm gonna ache tomorrow.