Today I'm back in Lakeland after taking advantage of the driest day from the weekend which worked out well seeing I was working the Saturday. Like most of my walks around mid week I get a hankering for a particular area or a certain summit and this week that summit was Sergeant Man. Back in Summer David and Rod had completed a similar round to this walk which I couldn't attend due to work commitments meaning todays visit was well over due. The best of the weather appeared to be further east which I had driven through before arriving in Grasmere where I was met by overcast skies and lingering cloud.

The official starting point to this walk is on the Easedale Road, however that particular car park no longer exist so I decided to park on the trusted Layby on the A591 just outside the village. We're still within the cusp of Autumn right now but the signs are all there with crisp light one minute and brooding cloud the next, and despite the odd storm or too, the leaves are still hanging in there, but not for long I suspect. Today I was treated to a wonderful Autumnal display of light, cloud, frozen fingers all the while the wind nipped at my ears while rushing through the grasses, it was the kind of walk were every once in a while I found myself stood still, just absorbing it all in.

I had been hoping for a brighter start with high level cloud and sunny spells forecast which seemed to be reserved towards the east of the park but what the hey, it's dry. The A591 had been quiet all the way through to Grasmere and I was first to arrive at the parking spaces just outside the village. It's a cold morning with temperature hovering just above freezing and the nip in my fingers while tieing my boot laces reflected this, high winds are also forecast but here at valley level there's nowt but the lightest of breezes. I'd packed my boots into the boot of the car the night before which had frozen overnight and I could feel the cold as I slipped my feet inside. I'm actually still wearing my new Scarpa Delta's which is something I'm not used to having trusted my Meindl's for the last four years although I can report after half a dozen walks in the Scarpa's they are starting to free off around the toe area.

With my car locked I walked back towards Grasmere with Helm Crag over my shoulder, there's a light coating of dew in the fields and soon I found myself blowing warm air into clenched fist. The top of Pye Lane is the first turning on my right which I take towards Forge Bridge before passing through Butharlyp Howe wood thereafter. As mentioned the actual starting point which Birkett recommends is a car park that once existed next to the Glenthorne Quaker Guest House which is reserved for guests only hence my parking just outside the village, extra time added to the official starting point is around ten to fifteen minutes.

Having climbed above Sourmilk Gill I crested the summit of Cockly Crag from where I took in this view overlooking Tarn Crag's east ridge, it was from here I spotted a second possible crossing point where the east ridge could also be gained although from my vantage point no Juniper or stepping stones could be seen.

The sun is still low at this point and is peaking out between the cloud leaving the bracken rich in autumnal colour, it's here I decide to de-shouder and take off my jacket, it really is starting to warm up now.

With the summit shoulder gained I collected myself made a bearing for the highest ground to the far right of the grassy plateau, the ground is dry with the odd trod to follow which predominently steers away from the edge of the summit but after spotting some high ground I thought I should have a wander over.

The view I recieved was jaw dropping.

Having left Coedale Head I had gained Sergeant Man within no time once again blowing warm air into clenched fist. From the summit I look down on mass of Pavey Ark and Harrison Stickle then spot around half a dozen people standing next to Stickle Tarn but for now, I couldn't see a soul on either fell. From the path between Codale Head and Sergeant Man two walkers emerge and soon join me at the summit where over the wind 'mornings' are exchanged,

Care must be exercised during this descent especially once the stone slabs are reached which can be slippery when wet, treacherous when icy. Having descended the stone slabs and from out of nowhere I am joined by a lone Collie who passes me, then kinda waits for me at the bottom of the path where the valley levels, before I had chance to reach the dog a chap in ascent stops to talk, he's a chatty guy who asked the whereabouts of the path from High Raise to the top Stake Pass which I assure him of "never found it in five attempts" he laughed. I switch conversation to "is that your dog mate" "thought it was yours he replied" no she's just passed me but I can't see any signs of the owner...

We continue conversation before going our separate ways all the while a group of walkers are about to start their ascent on the slabs but are stopped by the Collie who has taken a shine by pawing at one particular young girl in the group and as I pass I can see their concerns as I ask "is this your dog?" to which they replied "no, we thought it was yours" I look back towards the top of the stone slabs expecting any minute for the owner to appear but spot no one, initial observations saw a dog which was quite skinny but agile, no tags and no collar, her tail is hidden between her back legs and my gut instinct tells me I could have a lost dog on my hands.

I'm still with the group and one of them says "we're sorry, but your going to have to take this dog back to Grasmere with you and report her missing" I let out a sigh while looking back towards the top of the path, still no owner, the young girl goes onto say she looks starving and I half agreed but the other half told me that this could be at best, a sheep dog that's just wandered off, after all I've been around long enough to know that they can be skinny, they work hard, but the dog lover inside me also said what if she wasn't, what if she had lost her owner, what if she had been on the fell for days and if so, could I leave her to fend for herself, the answer was no I couldn't so I went against my instinct and treated her as lost.

Coaxing the dog to follow me was becoming an issue, I know dogs are very wary of strangers and this one dug in her tail always between her legs, after tempting her with my lunch we arrived at Easedale Tarn which was busy with visitors, most of whom had dogs, most of whom were interested in my newly adopted Collie! So as not to make a fuss I fashioned a lead with my camera strap but she was having non of it, she was more interested in the visitors rather than me and a gap formed. It had taken me the best part of two hours to walk less than half a mile and with the heaviest of hearts I decided to leave the dog knowing that I was just half an hours walk from Grasmere from where I'd be able to at least report the dog missing. No more photographs were taken and seemingly my walk ended at those stone slabs.

During my walk back into Grasmere I was able to connect to the net and found that the nearest Police Station was in Windermere just twenty minutes drive away where on arrival I found the station closed, parked between two Police vans I shared one of photos I had taken advising my friends to share into various social groups then I rang the Emergency 101 number who after kindly listening to me advised that if they contacted Mountain Rescue, they too would have trouble coaxing the dog down, the advice to me was share through social media and surely someone would pick it up.

My photo received over 1,100 shares and during my drive home I was contacted by a Police Control handler who turned out to be one of my Facebook friends reassuring me that I had done all I could, on arriving home I drove my car on to the drive to open one message from Emily, the dogs owner who kindly thanked me for all my efforts but informed me that Flo was a working dog working the fells that morning, who wasn't lost and that she was home.

That drive home for me was gut wrenching, soul destroying I'd gotten it in me that the dog was a domestic pet and that I'd left it on the hill, after reading that message my self being returned to normal, I was since thanked again later by Emily stating that if Flo ever did get lost she hoped it would be me who found her. I could kick myself for not seeing the signs that Flo was a working dog but as any dog owner would know, once those ears go back and the sad eyes come out, your putty in their hands and my natural instinct just followed.