Lingmell

Friday 4th May 2018

When I started planning my holiday in the Lake District I decided the best way of descent from Scafell Pike and Sca Fell would be along the Terrace Route into Eskdale. This is a fantastic route, especially in descent, and I absolutely love it having taken it several times including on my first ever visit to the Lake District in 2002. However when I came to booking the Youth Hostels I found that Eskdale was fully booked for the day I wanted, which was a great disappointment as it’s a good hostel. My solution was not pretty, which was to double back from Sca Fell to Borrowdale, but the problem with this is that it is not easy to get from Scafell Pike to Sca Fell as the big cliff of Broad Stand is in the way. There are two ways around with one that is really difficult while the other is almost impossible (I am slightly exaggerating). The official right-of-way involves a considerable descent before a wet scramble up a rough gully to Foxes Tarn, and the other route is the notorious Lord’s Rake. I had not been looking to this walk and was keen to avoid it, so I jumped on the idea that came to me during the week to switch Thursday and Friday's planned walk, therefore Great Gable and Kirk Fell was switched to Thursday and Scafell Pike was postponed to Friday.

My idea now was to descend from Sca Fell down Green How to Wasdale Head and then after climbing the two highest mountains in England I would climb again up over Black Sail Pass into Ennerdale. This was possibly only slightly better than going around Broad Stand twice, but in the end the weather intervened. In good weather these plans would probably have been achievable, but the warmer weather that had arrived the day before was very moist leaving thick mist on the tops of the fells. As I set off from the Borrowdale Youth Hostel I took the same route that I had taken the day before as far as Seathwaite, but then continued along the bridleway past Taylor Gill Force up to Sty Head. Usually I take the much better footpath on the other side of the river that takes an exciting and scrambly route much closer to the waterfall, but I thought I would take the bridlepath on this occasion, because I thought it would be quicker, and because I had never actually taken it before all the way to Sty Head. By the time I reached the stretcher box at the top of the pass I was within clouds and it was very difficult to see where I was going. The paths are not clear at that point and I think I took the wrong path while trying to find a short cut onto the Corridor Route.

I started descending into Wasdale before eventually checking my position and found that I was at the 455 metre level, which is not only lower than Sty Head Pass, but also considerably lower than the Corridor Route. Climbing up the grassy slopes I thoroughly wore myself out and I had still not reached the path, so eventually I checked my position again and found that I was at 619 metres, which must have meant that I was on the Corridor Route! I was wasting valuable time running up and down this hill that I could not spare on my ambitiously planned walk. Soon I came across a deep ravine filled with the sound of falling water that blocked my way and forced me to climb further uphill where I found the wonderful Corridor Route. Greta Gill had funnelled me onto the scrambly section of the path and brought me back on track, but I was now completely fed up with the idea of doing Scafell Pike and Sca Fell. I had not been looking forward to this walk ever since I booked the hostels, so getting lost just sealed my fate. I no longer wanted to do Scafell Pike and Sca Fell as it just didn’t seem to be worth it. Even though I was now safely on the Corridor Route I had already decided to miss out those two fells.

Heading along the fabulous Corridor Route that is always a pleasure to walk, despite the low clouds, I eventually reached Lingmell Col where I turned right away from Scafell Pike and up to the large cairn that marks the summit of Lingmell. There I had my lunch and even though it was only half an hour later than my planned arrival time I started heading down Lingmell towards Wasdale Head. There is a path down the shoulder of Lingmell but is too sketchy at first to provide direction in mist down the broad top so eventually I gave up on trying to find it and decided to cross the grassy slopes until I reached the tourist path down Brown Tongue. This is the first time that I’d descended this path and it’s horrible. It’s very slippery when wet and very steep so I was quite relieved when I finally reached the bottom and was crossing the foot of Lingmell to reach Wasdale Head. Passing the Inn I took the bridlepath that heads into the delightful Mosedale that I can’t say I’ve visited very often. I was entranced by what I saw of this secluded, unspoilt valley where a lovely, little path gently climbs all the way up to the top of the Black Sail Pass. I have only once before been on this path when I came down from the pass in 2004. I remember the path back then as being heavily eroded, but since then a lot of work has done to create a great, well-constructed path.

Eventually I reached the top of Black Sail Pass and on the other side I found a path that is in a completely different condition to the smoothly graded path on the other side: it is badly disintegrated, stony and requires some scrambling to negotiate the steep terrain. In some ways it’s a horrible path, but looked at differently it’s a great rocky path with some fun, challenging scrambly sections down the steep, stony hillside. Passing the Black Sail Hut I walked all the way down Ennerdale to the Youth Hostel at the bottom of the valley.  If the weather had been good then I think I would have had no problems doing this walk as planned, but getting lost after Sty Head stopped me having fun so that I had no desire to continue as planned. It is possible that I overreacted when I chickened out of doing Lord’s Rake in the mist, but if it was a mistake then I erred on the side of caution. As it is I had now failed in my challenge to climb all fifty-six fells in the Lake District that are more than two and a half thousand feet high, so now my challenge was simply to do as many as I could, and with the vagaries of Lakeland weather that is all I ever could have hoped.

Great Gable and Kirk Fell

Thursday 3rd May 2018

As I left the Borrowdale Youth Hostel at the start of this walk, the sun was beaming through the clouds and there was a distinct feeling of warmth to the air that was a marked improvement on the cold weather that I had previously endured on this holiday. Although Borrowdale was enjoying sunshine, the fells at the head of the valley were veiled under grey clouds that were a warning of the poor weather that was to come later in the day. At Seathwaite I passed through the farm buildings, over the River Derwent and up the steep path that climbs beside Sourmilk Gill enjoying the lovely sunshine that would soon prove to be short-lived. Eventually after slowly climbing the steep fellside and passing a spectacular waterfall, I reached a wall above which the path eases as it enters Gillercomb. At that point I came off the path and headed towards a very large boulder that was my key to reach the object that is marked on O.S. maps as the Hanging Stone. It could easily be this big boulder even though there is nothing hanging about it, but it is clearly not the rock that is marked on the map. Wainwright was also dubious about the identity of the Hanging Stone and nominated a rather insignificant boulder half way up the side of the hill for the title.

A slender path starting at the big boulder leads up the craggy fell past several possible candidates for the Hanging Stone and weaves through several bands of rock to finally reach the ridge coming down from the top of Base Brown. On this holiday I was trying to climb all the fells in the Lake District that are more than two and a half thousand feet high and Base Brown doesn’t count as it is too low. I have visited the summit of Base Brown on only one previous occasion, back in 2006, on a descent at the end of a long day, so I thought I would now do an ascent up Base Brown as a bit of a sneaky fell on the side. With the sun lingering in the north and east of the Lake District, the clouds were already starting to encroach upon the corner where I was walking and soon descended onto the tops. From the top of Base Brown, I walked along the occasionally boggy ridge, around the top of Gillercomb and all the way up to the cloud-enclosed summit of Green Gable. This was my first High Fell of the walk and the fourteenth of my holiday. The fifteenth High Fell was across the eerie Windy Gap where I had to negotiate scree slopes and boulders before I could reach the misty surrounds of Great Gable.

Cairns guided my route up the crags and through the boulder-strewn top of Great Gable until eventually I reached the memorial-adorned summit. When I was last on Great Gable, in 2013, the memorial plate to fallen heroes had been removed for refurbishment so it was gratifying to see it back in place and looking in fine condition. Testament to the poor weather I had the summit of Great Gable to myself, which doesn’t happen very often, but for the same reason I didn’t stay long and after checking my direction I headed off along a line of cairns away from the summit. This path is so rough across the boulder-strewn top and steeply down the rock-filled hillside, if it wasn’t for the cairns I would seriously doubt I was going in the right direction, but they didn’t let me down and when the terrain improved with smaller rocks underfoot, a path began to appear. Unfortunately this path did begin to lead me astray and it was only when the clouds briefly parted affording me with a glimpse of the valley before, that I realised I had strayed from the north-west ridge that I should have been on. Crossing the northern scree slopes I rejoined the correct path that safely brought me down to Beck Head just as the rain started.

The rain didn’t last long at first and by the time I was climbing the craggy slopes of Kirk Fell on the far side of the pass it had stopped. A fence used to surround Ennerdale and in places the old posts can still be seen providing a guide in mist for the wary traveller and is particularly helpful on Kirk Fell. Climbing Rib End brought me to the broad plateau on Kirk Fell that is quite tricky in misty weather as the path is not clear. There are two tops and the first I encountered is not the summit. Fortunately I knew this and continued to follow the fence posts past Kirkfell Tarn and up to the summit of Kirk Fell, High Fell number sixteen. I remember being at the top of Kirk Fell in similar weather in 2003 and 2005, eventually getting much better weather in 2006 (the aforementioned walk), but I don’t remember a more recent visit. One of the benefits of my High Fells Challenge is that it is bringing me to fells that I haven’t climbed in many years. After lunch sheltered from the wind at the summit, I set off across the top following the posts again until I reached Kirkfell Crags. These looked quite scary especially as it had now started to raining quite heavily, but the only alternative is a gully full of loose stones and muddy, red soil that seemed even less appealing.

Despite the rain I decided to scramble down Kirkfell Crags and ultimately found it to be really exciting, though slightly scary at the same time, and it was not until I was safely at the bottom that I finally succumbed to the weather and put on my waterproof trousers. I had planned to continue along the ridge to Pillar, but with the rain getting heavier and with no sign of stopping for the rest of the afternoon I started heading back towards Borrowdale. From the Blacksail Pass I took a path that descends steeply to avoid the Sail Beck ravine before crossing the northern slopes of Kirk Fell on a sketchy path that I have taken many times before and now enjoyed making its acquaintance again. Returning to Beck Head I joined the Moses’ Trod path below Gable Crag and Greengable Crag and across the grassy slopes of Brandrath to eventually join the clear path of the Coast to Coast Walk. This was a long walkout in the grey, misty conditions with nothing to see but the path before me through the grass, and it required a bit of blind faith that I was on the right route and that it would take me through the mist to my destination. Thanks to my long experience in the Lake District, I had no doubts and it did take me to Honister Hause and eventually Borrowdale.

The early morning sunshine had promised much at the start of this walk, but it failed to deliver and eventually produced possibly the worst weather of the holiday. The day before I had been elated at being at the top of a mountain, but now my emotions were very different in much worse weather. The lack of a view was largely the reason even though the low cloud does add a challenge and some excitement to the walk that wouldn’t otherwise be there. It is a very different experience when the weather is poor and ultimately I would always prefer a view, though in the Lake District rain and low clouds are to be expected. Great Gable is a fantastic mountain with some really tricky paths and Kirk Fell is not much easier especially above Black Sail Pass. These are mountains that are a challenge in the best of weather and even more so in this typical Lakeland weather.

Esk Pike and Glaramara

Wednesday 2nd May 2018

After rain all night, it was pleasing to walk out of the Elterwater Hostel to sunshine as the rain cleared to reveal a lovely but still cold and windy day to walk in the Lake District. The day before I had caught a bus from the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel to Elterwater, but to get back I thought I would take the old fashioned way and walk. There are two different walking routes along Langdale with one following the river along the route of the Cumbria Way which is the route that I have taken many times before since my earliest days in the Lakes, while the other is one that I have used in more recent years and once again on this occasion. It climbs above the slate quarry through lovely woodland before passing Baysbrown and is undeniably the better route, which is why it is now my preferred route. Eventually joining the Cumbria Way I followed the trail across the valley past lovely herdwick lambs and after walking through a National Trust car park I continued along the Cumbria Way to pass the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel and along a track that heads down Mickleden. My original plan for this walk was to go up Crinkle Crags and Bow Fell, but after the excesses of my first day I was still ahead of schedule having done those High Fells the day before.

Those fells dominated my view while I walked down Great Langdale and I eventually passed them by to reach the imposing cliff faces below Rossett Pike and the seemingly impossible climb out of the valley. The difficulties are more apparent than real and a good footpath zigzags cunningly all the way up to the strong winds that were blowing through the pass. These winds were bitterly cold and forced me to heavily wrap up though they were short lived and soon I was sheltered from the strong winds again on the short descent to Angle Tarn. Branching off the main path before the winds returned I climbed the fragmentary path up to Ore Gap and from there to the summit of Esk Pike. It was at this point that I think the walk changed markedly as my strenuous efforts to climb Rossett Gill and up to Ore Gap were now past and I was now finally able to enjoy being at the top of a mountain. Esk Pike is a queen among kings. A magnificent mountain humbled by its presence among some of the greatest mountains in the Lake District that encircle the top of Eskdale. I love Esk Pike because of its humility, and it was now my tenth High Fell on this holiday where I was aiming to climb all the High Fells.

The morning sunshine was now fighting against heavy clouds that brought patches of hail or snow over the mountains while the sun shone a short distance away. Sheltered from the cold wind I watched this battle with awe and amusement until finally and thankfully the clouds cleared just as I was finishing my lunch so that I now had fantastic views across Esk Hause to Great End and north over Allen Crags and Glaramara towards Derwent Water. A great path that passes over shelves of rock took me down to Esk Hause, which is the place that I would consider to be the heart and centre of the Lake District where all the mountains and streams radiate. Crossing the pass I climbed the path that heads towards Scafell Pike, but upon reaching the top of Calf Cove I turned right leaving the tourists behind and headed up to the top of Great End. It wasn’t too windy on Great End which enabled me to have a wonderful time as I wandered around the various cairns until eventually I reached the south-east cairn that marks the summit. I was elated at being at the top of this mountain with clear views all around me including across the scattered rocks towards Scafell Pike. There is no better place to be when the weather is right than at the top of a mountain and at that moment I felt on top of the world.

Returning to the top of Calf Cove and back down to Esk Hause I headed to the lower pass and up to the top of Allen Crags, my twelfth High Fell, and as I began the long traverse to my thirteenth the sunshine finally lost its battle with the clouds. Despite dull, overcast skies I enjoyed walking along the ridge between Allen Crags and Glaramara on a fabulous path that weaves around the crags and pools slowly making its way along the undulating ridge even when the path is not very clear. After a long walk I eventually reached the top of the peak that had been in my sights since leaving Allen Crags only to discover that there is another peak a good distance away. After crossing this lengthy depression I climbed the long slopes and got up to the top of the next peak only to find that I had been deceived again. Another crossing brought me to a third summit where there is a cairn, but is also not the summit. Glaramara is a very tricksy mountain, but eventually it does deliver and finally I reached the summit and was rewarded with a splendid view down Borrowdale towards Derwent Water even though it was marred by grey skies.

There is a very steep descent from the top of Glaramara down a twenty foot rock step (note the Bad Step on Crinkle Crags is only ten foot) and is a little tricky, but eventually I managed to reach the bottom and made my way past Coombe Head on a rather vague and boggy path that heads down the ridge towards Borrowdale. The path does improve during the descent and made the end of this walk a pleasure despite the grey views ahead of me. This was a good walk over some great mountains in very cold but often sunny weather. I had been very tired at the start of this walk after my exertions earlier in the week, but I bounced back when I reached Esk Pike where the elation at being at the top of great mountains overcame all my weariness. The views may have been grey and overcast at times, but these mountains never failed to deliver especially when I was standing at the top of Great End. There is nothing better to lift the spirits than standing at the top of a mountain in the Lake District and I was fortunate on this holiday to be visiting over fifty of them. With thirteen High Fells already under my belt I had another forty to go.

Great Carrs, Crinkle Crags and Bow Fell

Tuesday 1st May 2018

Under low clouds I set off from the Coniston Coppermines Youth Hostel and up the valley past the remains of mining towards the encircling fells. I had set myself the challenge of climbing all the hills in the Lake District that are more than two and a half thousand feet high and on the first day in the Lake District thanks to tremendous sunshine I had already bagged six of these High Fells. I had only planned on doing two, but the weather was so good I just kept going until I had been to the top of almost all the Coniston Fells. I had planned to do those four extra fells on this day, but that plan for the day was now unnecessary, except for the one Coniston Fell that I had left out: Great Carrs. At Paddy End Copper Works I took a path that climbs beside Levers Water Beck across scree slopes. There is a track that effortlessly goes up to Levers Water, but I was keen on taking this narrow path that I had never taken before through dramatic landscape even though it wasn’t the greatest path in the world and soon me brought up to Levers Water. Going around the reservoir I began to slowly climb the steep fellside into Gill Cove until eventually, after plunging into low clouds I reached the encircling ridge at Levers Hawse.

Turning right I climbed the ridge through the same cold winds that I had encountered the day before, though without the sunshine it now felt a lot colder, and I knew that rain was forecast this time. After walking along the ridge for a while I came across a tall cairn that I immediately recognized as Swirl How, the High Fell that I had been the second that I had bagged on my walk the day before. Unfortunately it doesn’t count towards my High Fells Challenge if I do the same fell twice. Turning left I descended to the top of Broad Slack and, after paying my respects at the memorial to the Canadian crew of the Halifax bomber that crashed at this spot on 22nd October 1944, I made my way up to the top of Great Carrs that sits right on the edge of the cliff above Broad Slack. Continuing along the ridge I made my way down Wet Side Edge and it wasn’t long before I dropped below the clouds and I was able to enjoy the view all the way down the ridge into Little Langdale. The clouds were quickly lifting all around me so it wasn’t long before both Great Carrs and Swirl How were also clear.

On my original plan I would have been coming down this ridge at the end of the day, but due to my enthusiasm the day before it wasn’t even midday. Therefore, half way along the ridge I came off to take a path that snakes down the northern slopes to the Three Shires Stone at the top of Wrynose Pass. I was trying to think when I had previously been on this path and I had to go all the way back to 2005, which is tragic as this is a great, little path that follows a terrace clinging to the steep slopes coming down from Wet Side Edge with views behind me along Wrynose Bottom towards Harter Fell. By the time I reached the Three Shires Stone not only had the clouds lifted but the sun had come out which seemed to be promising a great rest of the day, but sadly it wasn’t to last as rain was forecast. Looking towards the next High Fells on my list I climbed the path beyond the Three Shires Stone all the way up to and past Red Tarn eventually branching off onto a tedious path that slowly climbs between Cold Pike and Great Knott on an uneven, loose rock surface all the way up to the Crinkle Crags. A cold wind was blowing into my face throughout this tiring walk while overhead clouds enveloped the sky to once more leave a grey, sombre cast to the day.

Eventually I reached the first top of the Crinkle Crags and after successfully negotiating my way across I reached the foot of the Bad Step, a ten foot vertical rockface that Wainwright described as “the most difficult obstacle met on any of the regular walkers’ paths in Lakeland”. Except for in 2012, I have never chickened out of the climb, and this was no exception. Any difficulties are very short lived and soon I was climbing the loose scree above the Bad Step and arriving at the summit of the Crinkle Crags. It was very cold at the top so after having lunch my hands were frozen and I kept alternately keeping one of them in my jacket pocket, despite wearing gloves, as I made my way across the remaining tops of the Crinkle Crags. Ahead of me Bow Fell was looking ominously foreboding under dark, grey clouds as I made my way along the fabulous ridge that Wainwright declared was “Positively one of the finest ridgewalks in Lakeland”. Upon reaching Three Tarns I headed up the screes and across to the summit of Bow Fell where, sheltered from the cold wind, I was able to enjoy clear, though grey, views of the surrounding fells including Scafell Pike on the far side of Eskdale.

Rather than retrace my steps back to Three Tarns, I thought I’d try to find the path that heads down to the start of the climber’s traverse, but I don’t think I found it. The latest, Walkers Edition, of Wainwright’s guide describes a terrace on the left at a gap in the wall of rocks and says it is not difficult to locate in good visibility. I found no path but instead I made my own way across the top occasionally passing a small cairn until eventually I reached the path that leads to the climber’s traverse. By now there were a few drops of rain in the wind and I knew that the long forecast rain was soon going to make its appearance so I headed quickly down the path and onto the ridge that is known as the Band. Before too long it did start raining and gradually got heavier as I descended so that by the time I reached the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel at the bottom of Great Langdale I was in no mood to walk any further so I waited for the bus in the Hiker’s Bar. There was a lot of change in the weather on this walk with an ever present, bitterly cold wind, but I still managed to do three of the fells on my High Fells Challenge, and what fabulous fells. The traverse of Crinkle Crags and Bow Fell is a great walk in any weather and if you have a view you need ask for no more.