This time last week I didn't know if the M6 closures were still taking place and as it turns out the Highways Agency are to carry out the repair work between 9pm and 6am for the foreseeable which meant I could meet up with the guys for todays walk.

Once I knew I could travel we started to exchange emails on where to walk and I suggested this route, Dove Crag via the Dovedale Valley. It's a route I'm growing to love and would agree, it's becoming one of my 'go to' routes, an extremely rewarding route that you don't have to put much planning into where you just have to let your legs do the work.

It's a walk that has it all, from lakes, waterfalls, a sweeping hanging valley filled with classic rock scenery over watched by the pinnacle summit of Dove Crag. We walked the route on what can only be described as a day of two halves. The experts were forecasting broken sunshine through the morning and into the afternoon, what we actually got was cloudy skies and summit cloud during the morning which lifted seconds after arriving at Dove Crag summit. I'm a huge fan of clear skies but a walk like today reminds you that the Lakeland fells aren't all about blue skies and sunshine.

The track ends at a footbridge over Dovedale Beck where beyond we could hear Dovedale Beck falls. To reach it we follow a stony path flanked with bracken on both sides and climb steadily towards the falls.

The falls appear through the trees and which we each take turns to view.. "Five weeks ago we'd have been sat in there" David joked!

We flanked the vastness of Dove Crag and caught the briefest of glimpse of the Priest Hole cave which looked eerie in the cloud. Continuing on we followed the path towards the col linking Dove Crag and Hart Crag. Arriving at the col visibility was down to around sixty feet and sadly there were no signs of Hart Crag or Fairfield beyond.

We turned left and started the easy ascent towards the summit where we passed a young couple who Calva took a shine to coming in the opposite direction. After a few words we left the couple and soon the summit cairn appeared which was perched on a plinth of rock. By now it was gusty and with a windchill hovering around zero we downed packs and added gloves while David slid a jacket over Calva.

Re-shouldered we left the summit where as if by magic the cloud began to lift helped by a thirsty wind. It's a scene during the Summer months you don't often get to see but when you do, it leaves your stomach performing little somersaults.

Before legendary Lakeland author Ron Black passed away during his illness Ron rang me to ask "Hey youth (Ron always addressed me as youth) do you think a helicopter could land on the High Hartsop Dodd ridge?" At the time I was enjoying drinks with my wife and friends in a bar in Manchester and over the noise I could hardly hear Ron so I left the bar via a fire exit and continued the phone call in nearby alley way.

Ron went onto explain that he feared Blodwen his partner wouldn't be able to climb onto the summit and was thinking of hiring a helicopter to land there so when the time came Blodwen could spread his ashes at his favourite summit.

I agreed that a helicopter could land on the ridge and Ron thanked me and ended the call. I returned to the bar a different person feeling like the wind had been knocked out of my sails. Ron sadly passed in 2017 and sadly, I'm unaware if Ron's ashes were spread here but that doesn't stop me having a quiet word whenever I'm here.

We began the our descent and caught up with a couple who had passed us while we were eating lunch earlier and Hi's were exchanged again. The path can be narrow and steep in places and can make a 7 mile walk feel more like 10. The familiar barn at the foot of High Hartsop Dodd comes into view as does a herd of Galway cattle who graze in the afternoon sunshine. Passing the barn we walked over open farm land past the huge boulders then over the Dovedale Beck for the last time. I the next field sheep are grazing who don't seem to notice us with the exception of one who used the wheel of nearby trailer to scratch itself on. Hartsop Hall is reached from where we pick up the footpath alongside Brothers Water and through gaps in the trees sunlight glints off the surface.

With Brothers Water behind us we pass through the gate and back onto the car park which by now is at bursting point with folk still arriving. Goldrill Beck flows right through the car park and provides the sound track as we kit down behind our cars, during which time it's agreed we are to meet up again next weekend. Under the Autumn sunshine we left simultaneously and while David and Rod drove towards Patterdale I head back over Kirkstone Pass where from the drivers seat I was able to take the view of Dove Crag where only a few hours earlier the summit had been lost in cloud.