The Langdale Pikes and Rossett Pike

Thursday 27th May 2021

The overnight cloud-cover that heralded me when I got up this day soon faded away leaving blue skies for a fabulous walk up the Langdale Pikes. Setting off from the Baysbrown Farm Campsite, in Langdale, where I had been staying, I walked down the valley to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel and the Stickle Ghyll National Trust car park taking the path that climbs the Langdale Pikes over Raven Crag. I climbed this way in 2003 on the first time I climbed the Langdale Pikes and had never been on the path since, so I thought it would be a good idea to reacquaint myself with this fabulous path that starts by passing close to Dungeon Ghyll Force, but the waterfall is very difficult to see in its deep, dark, wooded ravine. After the merest glimpse of the waterfall, I continued my ascent along the excellent path that climbs above Raven Crag and across a grassy plateau that was rather boggy and vague. Nevertheless I managed to follow the path up and through the gap between Loft Crag and Thorn Crag while gorgeous sunshine accompanied me, but clouds were slowly beginning to cover the sky. Ignoring Thorn Crag, which is not a Wainwright and is insignificant, I immediately turned left, off the path, tackling the crags directly up soon rejoining the path to reach the top of Loft Crag.

All around me were stunning views of the other Langdale Pikes, notably Harrison Stickle, and down Langdale towards Windermere in the distance, but dark clouds were now coming over and soon robbed me of the sunshine that I had been enjoying. Heading towards Pike of Stickle I stayed on the path to reach the point where an easy scramble is required up to the small summit dome. There I had stunning views all around me, despite dark clouds that were clinging to the fells while bright sunshine remained in the distance. Making my way back down I crossed over towards Harrison Stickle deliberately choosing the craggy path that climbs steeply straight up to the summit, ignoring the green path that heads towards a col further north. I enjoyed this climb through wonderful, rocky terrain eventually reaching the top of Harrison Stickle where, although the views were marred by the cloud cover, there were still great views down Langdale towards the distant sunshine around Windermere.

Turning my back on the views I crossed the complex, rocky terrain heading north towards Pavey Ark, which I was surprised to see seemed insignificant, while Thunacar Knott, benefitting from much wider breadth, seemed much more notable despite often being dismissed as unphotogenic, lacking the steep cliff-faces of the other pikes. Looked at dispassionately, Pavey Ark is just a part of Thunacar Knott, but is always considered to be separate due to its cliff-face that is the largest in Langdale. It is justifiably popular and I did find that there is a dip before the final rise to the top which emphasises its significance, even if this is not apparent when seen from behind. After visiting the top of Pavey Ark I made my way across the broad slopes to the top of Thunacar Knott where I decided I would now leave the Langdale Pikes and make my way down the tedious, grassy, western slopes of Thunacar Knott along very faint, often boggy paths to Stake Pass.

On the edge of Martcrag Moor I came across someone who asked me if this was the path down into Langdale. I told him it wasn’t and escorted him back down to the Stake Pass where I pointed him towards the path into Langdale while I crossed the pass onto the path beyond heading towards Rossett Pike. I must have passed close to Rossett Pike several times in the last ten years while on the Rossett Gill path, but only once in the last ten years have I visited the summit, in 2015 when I was suffering from an allergic reaction to a sun spray and kept to the path away from the ridge. This time I kept to the top of the ridge enjoying every step of the traverse over Black Crags, past Littlegill Head and over Rossett Crag to the top of Rossett Pike. The clouds had begun to clear while I was descending to Stake Pass so by the time I was traversing this ridge I was once again basking in the sunshine and I had tremendous views down Mickleden towards Langdale. From the top of Rossett Pike I descended the short grassy slope to the top of the Rossett Gill path where I turned left to start the epic descent.

The Rossett Gill path is legendary, described by Wainwright as “probably the best known of Lakeland foot passes”, and I enjoyed the awesome descent largely because it is paved throughout. I was worried about my dodgy knee, so at first I was taking things very slowly, but I eventually developed into a brisk pace with the aid of my walking poles so that by the end it was my hands that were aching rather than my knees. When I finally reach the bottom of the path I still had to walk all the way along Mickleden and Langdale back to the campsite, but with the sun shining this was also a pleasure. This was an epic walk over the iconic Langdale Pikes with great weather that I felt lucky to have in the Lake District and I planned to make the most of it.