Stickle Tarn

Saturday 22nd April 2006

After a week of great walks it was a shame that the final walk of my holiday was such a disappointment. My intention had been to walk to Stickle Tarn and then go up Jack's Rake to Pavey Ark, but the weather intervened. After a week of clear skies the clouds descended thickly and soon after I left the Langdale Youth Hostel I was enveloped in clouds, despite the relatively low height.  All week at the start of my walks I had been listening to an episode or two of the BBC's radio dramatization of The Lord of the Rings and it had been fabulous listening to it again as it almost moved me to tears on several occasions. The early stage of this walk was rather pleasant as I slowly ascended the fells around Silver How and finished the series with the last two episodes, which should have set me up for a good walk, but it wasn't to be.

The clouds had become so thick I soon began to lose interest in the walk. I was making slow progress towards the tarn with only the thought of going up Jack's Rake to keep me going as I had no desire to go up the Langdale Pikes for their own sake, especially in this weather. When I eventually got to Stickle Tarn the clouds were still very thick and I could find no trace of the start of the rake. It was at this point that I despaired of ever doing the rake and gave up all thought of doing any more walking. Sitting by the dam on Stickle Tarn I had my lunch and then made my way down the path beside Stickle Ghyll on the quieter western side of the stream. With my decision made, of course, the weather immediately began to improve, but I was too tired and didn't have the strength to do any more serious walking.

At the bottom I tried to have a look at Dungeon Ghyll Force but found it to be enclosed by high rock walls and shrubbery. Afterwards I walked along the path to the old Dungeon Ghyll hotel where I had a drink and started writing this report while waiting for the bus back to Ambleside. Incidentally, I noticed while on the bus that the Langdale Pikes and the lower hills eastwards were now free of clouds, which is just typical. This was not a good end to the holiday, but while writing the first draft of this report sitting on the train as it approached Oxenholme I didn't really care. I'd had a great holiday, and I wasn't going to let this final walk dampen that idea.