The Sea of Eden

The plan was to get up early to watch Roam and Shenny head off across the lake on their paddle boards, then take a run with Forrest, aiming to get back in time for a 10am breakfast. It was a clear night with a frost on the ground and an ethereal mist hanging over the dead calm surface of the water. I missed watching the ghostly paddle boarding spectacle as Roam got a bit delayed  and it was too cold to hang around waiting in shorts, plus Forrest was on a tighter schedule than me. We took a very cold and wet route along the lakeside until eventually hitting some lanes to get us above the mist and into the sunshine. I left Forrest to take a route back on the road while I took the opportunity to climb Little Mell Fell for the very first time. The light was extraordinary, as was the inversion over the Eden Valley. You can see the radar dome atop Cross Fell, the highest point in the Pennines.

I managed to get back in time for a gargantuan family breakfast, which I could possibly justify enjoying more than anybody else. We then went our separate ways, Forrest, O and I taking a circuit from Aira Force up to Gowbarrow Fell, the second new summit and trig point of the day for me. We were blessed with more amazing light and a few showers to add some drama. A rainbow appeared at the very moment we got to the summit.

It's the first time in a long while when I've been so hard pushed to choose which photograph to blip. But, in the end, it had to be this one. As quite an outlier, it's unlikely I'm going to get to this summit point on Little Mell Fell again, let alone in such remarkable conditions. This is one worth going large on.