The dreary December weather seemed never-ending, with a month's worth of rain falling in Cumbria in a little over a week. The rain continued day after day and truth be told I was itching for a proper walk, the frustration continued until midweek when I read the mountain forecast both Weatherline and MWIS contradicting each other yet the Met Office forecast at least stayed pretty much the same with intermittent sunshine, the brighter forecast being north of the county which worked well as an ascent of Grisedale Pike had been on the cards for a few weeks, trouble was I couldn't make my mind up on which route to take so I told myself I'd make it up as I went along. The Met Office forecast had changed again for the worse overnight, but I was determined to go ahead even if it meant walking in cloud. I just wanted to get boots onto the fell. I left home under starry skies and arrived at the car park above Braithwaite village around 6:45am, from where I could still see the odd star through broken cloud.

There was only one other car in the car park, and with no signs of its owner, I began my kit up scrounging for somewhere dry to lace up, owing to a mix of clay-mud and rotten leaves underfoot, before carrying my boots over to the base of the wooden staircase, where I swapped my mids for my boots. The odd car broke the silence as it made its way up Whinlatter Pass before silence resumed. Despite loving the early starts, kitting up in the pitch black still feels eerie, more so when surrounded by woodland, and I was eager to get underway. At exactly 7:00am, I locked the car and returned to the staircase for the steep ascent on Kinn, and with height gained, the silence was broken again by traffic travelling on the A66 below. I stopped more than once to look down on the street lights of Braithwaite and Keswick, even spotting head torches on the shoulder of Blease Fell, but it was so dark it was difficult to tell where the cloud line started. One thing I did know was that both Skiddaw and Blencathra's summits were below cloud. The bad news was I couldn't see Grisedale Pike summit from below Kinn, but the good news was I could see stars in the sky directly above so keeping fingers crossed, I marched on towards Kinn.

The moment I began my descent on Sail Pass, all went quiet, and for the first time, my gloved hands felt clammy, so I removed them to reveal hands like they'd been in the bath too long. The cool air did a great job of returning them to normal, gripping my pole handles over what can only be described as a fabulous descent. I soon arrived at the fork in the path where I turned left and began my descent into Coledale, the silence now overpowered by Low Force falls below Force Crag. I was descending into shade, and the temperature drop was felt before arriving at Coledale Beck, which I crossed to the amusement of three onlookers via four stepping stones, all but one, submerged.