• Bloodaxe is not that well protected, but luckily the rock is so incredibly rough so long as you place your feet well it'd be hard to fall off!

  • Pete nearing the top of Bloodaxe a nice confidence building E2 at Slape Crags

  • Laetitia following Bloodaxe

Slape Crags, Carrock Fell

As Ian’s post shows, Monday’s weather dawned very disappointingly! The wall-to-wall sunshine promised by the weather forecasters just wasn’t to be seen. We procrastinated for a couple of hours knowing that early starts are unwise for rock climbing at this time of year, thus allowing the rock to warm up. Then as it started to brighten a little it seemed that our tardiness had been well placed… I suppose the beautiful sunny day that had been promised was just hiding behind the thick grey clouds. By the time we reached Carrock Fell, our chosen destination for the day, it was indeed a dingle day!

Bloodaxe is not that well protected, but luckily the rock is so incredibly rough so long as you place your feet well it'd be hard to fall off!
Bloodaxe is not that well protected, but luckily the rock is so incredibly rough – so long as you are careful to place your feet well – it’d be hard to fall off!
Pete nearing the top of Bloodaxe a nice confidence building E2 at Slape Crags
Pete nearing the top of Bloodaxe a nice confidence building E2 at Slape Crags, probably worth one more star than it’s given in the latest FRCC guidebook.
Laetitia following Bloodaxe
Laetitia following Bloodaxe. There’s a handy lower-off at the top of the crag, albeit with a jungle approach, so nipping up and down the slabs of Slape Crags couldn’t be easier.

After a few routes and some lunch sat on top of a boulder in the sun watching a shepherd training his sheep dog in the fields below we headed off back home as we wanted to get the last few hours of daylight in the garden. The flower beds needed tidying and grass needed cutting. The first cut of the summer is always really hard work. Partly ‘cos I try to put it off as long as possible since once I start cutting the grass I know I’m committed to a cycle that won’t end until next winter. A depressing thought. Also, during the winter the moss gets super thick (sometimes I wonder if there is more moss than grass!) meaning that the mower is a bugger to push and I can easily fill three or four green wheelie bins with clippings! I wonder if we should turn more of the grass over to vegetables?

7 thoughts on “Slape Crags, Carrock Fell”

    1. Well maybe. It certainly deals with the grass cutting. But, here’s the rub, vegetables bought from the super market are cheaper than homegrown, easier to produce, and often better (especially with the crap growing weather we so often endure in Cumbria).

      1. I’ve planted loads of potatoes this year.
        And still have the garlic on the ground which I planted last spring.
        Also hoping to grow some huge courgette plants, but as the seeds haven’t germinated yet I think that’a not very likely.

        1. One night away at my parents in Derby and I come home to find all 12 courgette seeds have germinated and are already 3cm long. How did that happen? Nature is quite amazing. 🙂

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