What a lovely way to start the year - frosty air, full sunshine all day, birds singing..... 

I can't guarantee the birds were singing but their teeth were certainly chattering as it was a very chilly January morning that saw us tackling the Howgills via the beautiful, less frequented Langdale valley.  Cumbria is sooooo lucky to have two Langdale valleys and this one is particularly tranquil. It also has the potential to be boggy so it was rather handy that Jack Frost had been along. 

The route took us up the left hand side of the valley over minor humps before a long relaxing ridge walk along to the Calf.  I have to say, this really is the best way to tackle the climbs in the Howgills - approach them via the ridges, rather than crossing the ridges as the 2000 footer route would take you!  We had a rather brief lunch stop because the wind was also blowing and it was very, very cold, but then descended and climbed another minor summit to enjoy views over to Mallerstang and Wild Boar Fell in one direction, and the Lakeland Fells in the other. 

Fell Ponies were encountered on the way back to base - particularly woolly coated I noticed.

This was another of our successful joint walks with the Kendal Fellwalkers (a gang somewhat fitter than us) and thanks very much to Tony for making it a success.