Gosh! Tree Climbing…

I bet you think the only route you have to climb a tree for is North Crag Eliminate?

After being beaten away by the peregrine Paul and I retreated to the ease of Borrowdale. But not before enjoying a cup of tea at Shepherds cafe. 😉 Our destination was Gowder Crag – a good choice not least because we had the crag to ourselves all day! Although there were a few more nesting birds – jackdaws this time, so no climbing restrictions. Phew.

We sorted ourselves out with Gosh! A good E1 with a start that was a bit dirty and a hard (well I found it hard anyway) bulge at the start of the second pitch followed by a lovely upper half – three very good pitches.

Paul on the first pitch of Gosh!

After this we tackled The Neb a great route that takes a direct line up the Fools Paradise buttress finishing on the nose (visible, but foreshortened, above me in the picture two below) in a fun and exposed position. 🙂 But the most fun bit was the tree climbing to get there (just like North Crag Eliminate, Castle Rock, but the tree is much less wobbly)…

Emerging from the tree

Paul smiles through the off-width crack at the top of Fools Paradise (The Neb goes to his right here).
The Jackdaws had a lovely nest in this deep, dark crack! 😯