Glenderaterra and Lonscale Crags

Monday 18th December 2017

After the stresses and strains of the past year, it was wonderful to finally get a chance to be back to the Lake District, even if it was only on a short, three hour walk. I spent most of this day travelling and didn’t get into the Lake District until about three o’clock and at this time of the year it is getting dark by four o’clock. With very little light left I set off from the village of Threlkeld walking up the road below Blease Fell towards the Blencathra Centre. The valley paths between Threlkeld and Keswick along the course of the old railway line is currently impassable following the floods of December 2015, so instead I was heading uphill to take a route along the sides of the fells starting below Blease Fell at the western end of Blencathra. There were stunning views in the bright, setting sun as it shone on the fell and into the dramatic gorge formed by Blease Gill that leads up to the snow-lined edge above Knowe Crags. As I slowly circled round Blease Fell the sun slowly sank behind the fells below lovely blue skies streaked with wisps of cloud.

I was feeling overwhelmed with being back in the Lake District again. Apart my one day only walk up Scafell Pike in the summer, it had been a year since I was last there and I had really missed it and the fabulous walking that can be done in this wonderful area. The cares of the past year seemed to dissolve with every step that I made on the track and produced a euphoria within me that is better than anything that can be gained from bottle or tablet. I was back in the Lake District and my heart rejoiced and sang the praises of this tremendous region. I was not walking on the greatest footpath in the Lakes as it is too wide, but for me at that moment it was better than anything else. I was enjoying every step of this landrover track as it swung round the fell and into the valley of Glenderaterra Beck with the shadowed crags of Lonscale Fell looming darkly before me while I slowly made my way along the track to the head of the valley. Keeping to the main track I spurned all the short cuts that veered off to my left until the track reaches the main path that comes down from the Skiddaw House Youth Hostel.

Turning left I found that at this altitude and on this sheltered path below Lonscale Fell there was a significant amount of ice that required a lot of care to ensure that I didn’t slip and hurt myself, or worse. However this just made the walk even more exciting and thrilling. It was an adventure trying to negotiate this slippery path in the diminishing light and was actually quite fun, because it was slightly dangerous, in a very mild kind of way. The path was probably not that bad, but to my mind I was a brave and bold adventurer conquering a treacherous path through my skill and foolhardiness. Behind me the setting sun, invisible behind Lonscale Crags, was casting dramatic red colours across the clouds above the Back of Skiddaw, while I slowly, carefully, made my along this great Lakeland path. I had been on this path in diminishing light before, almost ten years ago, and I have often looked back on that walk with a peculiar sort of fondness for the night-time walking that I have hardly ever engaged in since.

At this time of the year I always make sure that I finish my walk before it starts to get dark, which is the wise course of action, and only an inexperienced error had left me walking in the dark ten years ago. Now I deliberately planned to end the walk in the dark following the exact same path that I had followed ten years ago just so I could get in a good walk despite having less than an hour of daylight at the start. There is a point towards the far end of Lonscale Crags where the path crosses the rocks, which in the twilight conditions and ice was really difficult, but eventually the path swung round to the southern slopes of Lonscale Fell which were ice-free so I was easily able to continue along the path. I now had a clear view of the sunset and although the sun had long since set there was still a wonderful display of varying colours from reds and yellows on the horizon slowly rising to deep blues high in the sky.

I had dug out my old head-torch, the same one that I had used ten years ago, for this walk but found that it was doing a very poor job of illuminating the path, possibly because it was still using the same batteries that I had used ten years ago. Fortunately, and wisely, I had brought a second torch with me that was a lot more powerful and brilliantly lit my path in the dark confines of Whit Beck and beyond. Upon reaching the Gale Road car park, at the foot of the popular Skiddaw footpath, I could have diverted off my route to reach the top of Loughrigg, which was not that far away, however by now it was getting really dark and it didn’t seem worth it. Instead I took the path that skirts the western slopes of Loughrigg descending through woodland all the way down into Keswick. Despite being a short walk, this was fabulous, made memorable due to the ice below Lonscale Crag and the night-time walking in the dark at the end. It was the relief that I was finally back in the Lake District after everything that has happened to me this year and that is what made this walk great.