I always like to try and bring the New Year in with a fell walk and this New Year's forecast looked a tad hit and miss with fog and low cloud forecast for the Lakeland fells but I wasn't going to let that stop me because what really spurred me on was there was also the chance that the higher summits around the north and east of the park would protrude above the cloud, this of course meant a temperature inversion.

I actually witnessed a lovely sunrise during my drive north but in between Lancaster and Penrith I'd also driven through fog so I didn't quite know what to expect once the sun came up. It had started to become light a couple of miles before I was due to turn off for Penrith and already I could see Cross Fell summit above a blanket of low cloud, this was a good sign of what to expect or at least I hoped. With a faint afterglow in my rear view mirror I drove along the A66 and soon Blencathra appeared in the distance but not enveloped in cloud, on the contrary, Blencathra was totally cloud free, in fact there wasn't a cloud in the sky which left me grinning like a Cheshire cat, today was meant to be another grey sky low cloud day but what I got was a contender for walk of the year and it's only day one.

I knew conditions were to good to be true which was confirmed just moments before reaching Bannerdale Crags summit when blue skies started to make way for grey, it happened so quick such the wind whipping around at height that for a few moments before the cloud reached me I could look back down the east ridge while blue skies formed my vista but within the click of a finger I started to lose visibility.

It was all very dramatic and despite losing long distant views I got to see views such as this which are equally mesmerising.

It was tempting to seek out some shelter and watch the cloud go by at a point when I couldn't make my mind up if I was sandwiched in between the cloud and a cloudless Blencathra but the higher I climbed the less my chances grew of experiencing a cloud inversion from the summit. The wind was blowing a right hooley and I hadn't felt windchill so severe for a long time, more so as I was walking head first into it, I zipped up and continued my walk towards the summit first passing the large stone cross over to my left then a semi-frozen Tarn towards my right where back in June last year I had watched the sunset from before descending back to my car at Scales under the glow of moonlight.

The thought of my sunset evening quickly came and went and soon I was climbing up-hill with the summit just beyond, it was here I start to walk parallel with a solo walker (pictured) and we arrived at deserted summit more or less at the same time sharing "Mornings" followed by "Happy New Year"

Eveynow and then a chink of blue sky would open up but it was quickly overcome by cloud, we were so damn close to this inversion but sadly too low as the cloud hurried along just a hundred feet or so above our heads. I left the solo walker then began my descent towards the top of Doddick Fell via the familiar zigzags, I could hear the guy not far behind me but when I looked all I could see was a wall of cloud, still, safety in numbers eh.

Mousthwaite Comb was soon reached which was where I bumped into the three guys you see furthest along the path. I was first met with not a hello but "which one is Sharp Edge" I took one look at this chap who had ascended Mousthwaite Comb wearing black trousers, black brogues and a jacket you'd wear to the supermarket, I needed to think about this carefully but I was overtook by sarcasm "see that wall of death over there in black cloud, that's Sharp Edge I replied, and no mate, you do not want to be going anywhere near in those conditions wearing those shoes.

I left, shaking my head in disbelief at the conversation I had just had.

I left Souther Fell and turned heel following my footsteps to a shallow col where I turned left and followed the gentle north east path down the grassy slopes all the way to Low Beckside. With a loss in height I was able to feel the heat from the sun directly behind me and within minutes I was loosening zips and losing layers. A couple who I had seen back at the summit were taking advantage of the afternoon sunshine and had stopped just above the road to eat lunch and I nodded as I walked past.

The road which links Mungrisdale to Scales was reached and on one side cars had parked along the verge some of whose occupants were ready to leave. Low Beckside was reached where I passed through a gate on my right which opened out into a meadow like field where before I cross the Glenderamackin for the last time I turn around and took this photo of a Winter sun streaking through a coppice of trees as this solo walker had just completed his first walk of a new decade.