I was determined to experience the sunrise on summer solstice from the top of Blencathra. This is an annual advertised event on Open Gates Outdoors' website but due to the severe weather forecasts (low cloud, strong winds, heavy rain and threat of thunder) this year people declined the invitation so I tackled it alone! Fortunately the summer solstice coincided with Dark Peak Fell Runners club attempt of the Bob Graham round. The Bob Graham takes in the summit of Blencathra as the third top (if you attempt the round clockwise) so I decided I would have a wild camp on the summit and combine the solstice sunrise with giving some encouragement to my club mates attempting the Bob Graham and their supporters. Despite the attrocious weather (which pretty much resembled the forecast with the exception of thunder!) I set out from the car park adjacent to the Blencathra Centre at 8:30pm thinking it would take me an hour to walk to the summit and set up camp which would be perfect timing for the Bob Graham party topping out on Halls Fell summit of Blencathra. As I ascended the mountain the weather developed as forecast and relatively clear views of Derwent Lake turned into poor views of the Lake and then no view of the lake within about 50 metres of climb (you can just about see it wimpily peeping through from behind me in the photo above). As soon as I had set up camp it became clear that the only way I was going to see the night out was by getting in my tent, swapping wet clothes for dry clothes, getting in my sleeping bag and stayting there. I cooked myself a dehydrated meal of spicey beans and then waited to hear voices. I was waiting for what seemed like an age. I knew that the schedule for the round meant the contenders had to be off Halls Fell ridge by sunset. At 10pm I still had not seen them and the light was gloaming. Just as I was about to give up they came past. The funny thing being that, although I was only 15 feet from them, very few of the runners saw me - such is the level of concentration required when attempting and supporting a long round in poor weather. I got about 4 hours sleep which wasnt bad considering the heavy rain and strong winds that were consistently buffeting my tent. As predicted there was no sunset - at least no palpable sunset - rather a barely tanbgible very incremental and subtle change in the brightness of the clag! I packed up camp at 5am and legged it back to my van in 35 minutes. What I haven't mentioned however is that this adventure was on the night of Friday 19 June and the summer solstice night was Saturday 20 June. During the Saturday there was a miraculous and unforecast improvement in the weather and anyone on the Open Gates event to see the sunrise on the true solstice would have been richly rewared with the most glorious starry night and most beautiful sunrise. If I were you I would contact Open Gates and get signed up for the Saddleback Summer Solstice Sunrise 2027 - although we might do it on Skiddaw because its a sublime top and still preserves the sibilance!!
Share this post: