Dreary Lingcove Beck

Grass interspersed with small fell flowers, dotted with both wet rocks and deep puddles, gives way to a vista along a Lake District valley with no name, carrying the river Esk downstream. A consistently sloping valley of ferns disappears up the mountainside into low-hanging clouds where the going gets rocky. To the right, a dead tree partially obscures the valley's end, its branches like tendrils.

Above Lingcove Bridge, where Lingcove Beck joins the river Esk, the rocky and muddy trail down from the fells above is precarious in the wet. I know this first hand because on this particular day in July, I got rained on until I was soaked through to my underwear. These conditions made the descent through this terrain a cautious and confounding affair, as every surface lacked grip, even with the aid of hiking poles.

This photo of those conditions, dreary and grey, attempting to smother the otherwise green landscape, captures the atmosphere of this day perfectly - one of tremendous views across barely known terrain in wet weather.