Culter Fell January 2013

[funky_lemur]

Set off on a clear but cold day with the dog looking to do the circuit. Parked the car at the layby just before the private road and cattle grid and set off along the road. Quite a few sheep about on the road so kept the dog on the lead until we hit the start of the hill. At the old sheep pen we took a right and started off up a well used path, after about 50 yards we could see the slight makings of a path veering of the main path and heading up towards the Fell Shin ridge. We took this path through the heather and started our climb. This first section starts to get a bit steep and with the small pockets of snow lying around it was a bit of a task but not to strenuous. As we came up onto the Fell Shin the wind picked up and was very cold. The dog did not seem to mind and still bounded on ahead. The rest of the climb up to the top was up very gradual slope with a well used path. The snow was getting deeper the higher we went but was no problem. As we reached the cairn and then onto the top of Culter Fell the wind had picked up dramatically. Was having trouble standing and the dog looked very cold,even in his fleece. As the wind was so strong and the cold was affecting us both and with large black clouds slowly coming closer we decided to leave it at the one hill today and made our way back down by the same route. Overall a fun, enjoyable walk with no major obstacles .