Allen Crags and Glaramara

The Lakes 2003, part 6
Saturday 19th July 2003

The weather on this walk was similar to that encountered on the previous day with rain, wind and low cloud in the morning followed by sunshine and blue skies in the afternoon. I started by heading towards Glaramara on the path up Thornythwaite Fell, but I didn’t get very far until I needed the toilet and given the delicate nature of my digestive system following curry night on Thursday at the Black Sail Youth Hostel I decided to reverse my steps to the public convenience in the car park at Seatoller. Given where I now found myself I decided to change my plans and headed along the road to Seathwaite, and once through the farm I went along the good path beside Grains Gill that is easy on the foot but enjoyable to the eye even as I soon plunged into the clouds. I have taken this route several times since, most recently when I was in the Lake District last September and it was pouring with rain, but the path alongside Grains Gill has always been a delight no matter the weather.

This path is often used as a route to Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England, and I have climbed Scafell Pike myself by this route, in 2006. Despite its popularity and the heavy manufacturing that this popularity makes necessary to prevent it eroding away, it has remained a great route onto the fells, and one that I always enjoy taking. At the top of the path I turned left to the false Esk Hause, the saddle between Esk Hause and Allen Crags often mistaken for Esk Hause itself. At the crossroads at the top of the saddle I turned left and made my way up the short climb to the top of Allen Crags, where I had my lunch on the summit while the clouds began to lift from the tops of the fells. As I made my way towards Glaramara the cloud lifted completely to reveal a glorious view of Borrowdale and the surrounding area that extended all the way to Derwent Water and Keswick.

This walk along the ridge between Allen Crags and Glaramara was a delight and one that I would love to do again, and I had actually planned on using that route when I was in the Lakes last September until heavy rain forced me onto the Grains Gill path. I had a great time on this walk over Glaramara and my enjoyment increased with every step, just as the weather improved with every moment. Unfortunately as I stood at the top of Glaramara I couldn’t see how I could prolong the walk as ahead of me was a slowly descending ridge that would eventually being an end to my walk. My onward route seemed fixed, unless I retraced my steps back to Allen Crags, which I didn’t want to do, so it was with great reluctance that I slowly descended over Thornythwaite Fell, really not wanting to come down off the fells, but eventually returned to Borrowdale.

I guess this walk was dictated by my decision to walk to Seathwaite and up Grains Gill. Once I turned towards Allen Crags and Glaramara the walk could end only one way, and that sooner than I wanted. If I had climbed Glaramara directly, as I’d originally intended, I’d have been able to go in a multitude of directions after passing over Allen Crags, including visiting Scafell Pike. Therefore, this walk shows that even if you make a decision that at the time seems to be the right one, given your present location and the current weather conditions, it can later turn out to be the wrong decision and one that you’ll regret. It’s funny how often that happens in life, in many different applications.

Ennerdale to Borrowdale

The Lakes 2003, part 5
Friday 18th July 2003

With Christmas already a distant memory and even the New Year celebrations in the past, it's time to continue recounting my holiday in the Lake District from 2003. This was only the second time I had ever visited the Lake District, but this was not a walk to be remembered.

The night before this walk I had been at the Black Sail Youth Hostel where they had one of their legendary curry nights, which was incredible with a stunning array of seven different curries, but I spent the whole next day suffering from the consequences. My digestive system was in a terrible state all day, which is always a sign that they were good, proper curries (it’s curious how supermarket curries never have this effect). In addition to this I was very tired following five hard walks in six days, plus I was in desperate need of a shower and a chance to wash my clothes, so I cut the walk short on this day. I headed up Ennerdale onto the Tongue first thing in the morning into a strong wind and low cloud; there was now no sign of the good weather that I had been fortunate to enjoy for most of the week; that the heavy overnight rain had finally stopped was small consolation. With great effort I managed to drag myself up the broad, grassy, pathless ridge of the Tongue until I finally reached the Moses’ Trod path beneath the Windy Gap where I turned left.

Staying on this path I blindly followed it through the clouds, across a fence and over the gentle northern slopes of Brandreth and Grey Knotts until I neared Honister where the cloud level lifted and I was given a view of the Hopper Slate Quarry ahead and Buttermere in the distance to my left. After passing through Honister Hause I followed the course of the old road down into Borrowdale. As I descended the sun came out to reveal what turned out to be a glorious afternoon, but I didn’t feel like doing any more walking so I rushed to the Borrowdale Youth Hostel and spent the rest of the afternoon there. All I needed now was a good night’s sleep so I could resume hill walking the following day in full vigour. Looking back at this walk more than ten years later the only thing that strikes me as odd about it is the route. Why did I go up to the Moses’ Trod instead of climbing the path beside Loft Beck? I had to climb higher on the route that I took and travel further. My notes that I made at the time don’t explain and I can’t remember.