I wasn't going to walk this weekend due to a family arrangement later this afternoon, but I found myself with a couple of hours spare, so I drove to Tilberthwaite for a quick scoot up Wetherlam via Wetherlam Edge, descending by Steel Edge a walk that should take just over three hours. Perfect. It was an uneventful drive, although arriving slightly later than normal I did notice the increase in traffic especially through Ambleside and Skelwith Bridge, but it was no biggie. I arrived at a less than half-full car park under a mix of high-level cloud, sunshine, and humidity - exactly as forecast. Within minutes I was ready to leave, not before finishing a spare bottle of electrolytes, which I've been taking before walks, more recently during the heatwaves.

The car park backs onto the disused Tilberthwaite slate quarry, whose workings date back as far as 1849, though these days it's more popular with tourists and climbers. It's a steady slog from the car park, where a stepped path is flanked by heaps of slate spoil, before the path levels above Tilberthwaite Gill where Steel Edge comes into view. That's Tilberthwaite Gill below which I'll cross by descending a grassy trod through bracken to the left before crossing the gill via the new footbridge, the original having been washed away during floods some years ago. After crossing the gill I'll emerge into the bracken on the right where another steady ascent will link me up with the footpath high above the gill.

I descended the upper crags and gullies, watched on by the group who had perched themselves at the top of the gully all heads accounted for. I was back in the midday heat: hot, pleasant sunshine accompanied by thick, humid air and little to no wind after leaving the cool breeze confined to the summit. I trotted where I could, the soft grass making for an easy descent, taking extra long gulps from my bite valve which I'd neglected at height. As a result, I was wiping dried goo from my lips and feeling the hot sunshine on the back of my neck.

I reached Tilberthwaite Gill, crossed the footbridge, and began the delightful descent back towards Tilberthwaite. For the return, I didn't cross Tilberthwaite Gill as I had earlier; instead I continued my descent as far as Low Tilberthwaite, where Yewdale Gill emerges from Tilberthwaite Gill.

I spotted folk standing on Holme Fell summit to the east so close they looked almost within reach, though they were a good half-mile off. The car park wasn't particularly busy, with kids and dogs paddling in an almostdry Yewdale Beck while mums and dads looked on from fold-away chairs and picnic tables. I crossed Yewdale Beck via the road bridge before my boots crunched over the dusty car park, the serenity of Tilberthwaite lost the moment a farmer started his tractor in a nearby field, jolting everyone's attention as the engine kicked into life with a puff of smoke before lurching into gear.