The origins of this walk go way back to last Winter when we were talking past, and 'must do walks' Miterdale was mentioned and Rod chirped up "I don't think I've ever walked through there" and that was it, we came up with this route among half a dozen other walks that we've still yet to do.

The last time I walked here was back in 2014 when David and I walked 'the shrinking valley' before ascending Sca Fell whose summit dominates from the valley below. That was the first time I'd walked through Miterdale and I can still remember David's words when he described the valley being so narrow that "if you spread your arms out wide you can almost touch the sides"

Miterdale was also the place when David first told me that he was thinking of winding Walkthefells down, don't forget this was August 2014 three years before he actually closed the website down, three years spent trying to convince David otherwise. My memory will never let me forget Miterdale, nor the day that conversation took place. We're back today to introduce Rod to Miterdale valley on the most perfect of Spring days our only regret being that we could have got away with wearing shorts afterall.

We had a arranged to meet by the parking spaces at Giggle Alley, Eskdale Green at 08:15am and I arrived to find David and Calva already there around 08:00am. Calva was still in the back of David's car and asked would I mind I help him apply a gel to Calva's eyes which the vet had given him due to Calva developing a squint when in bright sunshine.

Rod soon arrived and parked easily next to my car. Given how good todays forecast is we'd expected the parking spaces to be filling up quickly but Eskdale remained quiet during the time it had taken us to kit up with the exception of the wind hustlng through the trees above our heads. We'd all read the forecast and opted to wear long trousers due to the forecasted strong winds which would feel much cooler at height, truth was we could have actually got away with wearing shorts but it's too late to do owt about it now.

With Calva's eyes treated we locked the cars and headed up Giggle Alley which rose steadily before descending into Portherthwaite and the Miterdale valley thereafter. Jackets get packed into our packs while our mid layer fleeces or soft shells kept the chilled morning chill out.

I asked David would he mind I publish this photo to which David replied of course! I was up ahead with David and Rod further back taking photos and to keep myself out of shot I ascended the hill side before returing to the path then crouched down to take a shot of Calva calling 'come on lad' Calva shot forward within a tenth of a second dragging David helplessly behind!

David is still training Calva who isn't confident to be off the lead just yet but had he been Calva would have been on top of Sca Fell by now...Calva is split second quick, lean and very powerful.

We continued our descent sometimes in dense woodland or bright sunshine when we would reach a clearing. Trees from recent storms lay where they fell or like branchless matchsticks making the woodland look like at a bomb had hit it. Pine needles littered the floor and descent was easy due to how dry it was underfoot. Miterdale appeared as too did Great Bank which bore all the hall marks of a miniature mountain. We continued to descend through the woodland and through a gap in the trees I spotted the bridge over the River Mite which meandered below. We crossed the Mite only to be met by a local elderly gent who commented "that's a fine looking Whippet" continuing "they still race em at Egremont" to David's surprise. The gent asked us of our route and we filled him in with the details.

Even though we had walked just over 10 miles for some reason it felt longer or so my feet were telling me, David's and Rod's too. A steady incline awaited us as we returned through Giggle Alley noticing that it was starting to cloud over but nothing significant. The path levelled then deepended the other side. By now the gel had wore off and Calva would stop to scratch his eye with a swift brush of his paw "don't worry lad nearly back now" We reached the Eskdale side of Giggle Alley and to our shock found the parking spaces exactly how we left them this morning with just our cars occupying the spaces. Cars were unlocked and Calva was placed onto David's back seat before quickly falling asleep. I used the wall to sit down and remove my dust covered boots before sliding my feet into my north face mids for the journey home. Cloud continued to darken the skies trapping the heat and for the large part I drove back over the Birker Fell road with all the windows down sometimes stopping where I could to take in the view into upper Eskdale where the distinctive summits of Sca Fell and Bow Fell domineered the skyline.