Showing posts with label Lake District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lake District. Show all posts

05 August 2017

The Langdale 5

After popping up to the Langdale area on Friday night in Bob and stopping over the pub car park the target for today was my missing local hills and perhaps an added Ullscarf which neither of us have ticked as yet but we'd see how the day went.

At 7am when we were up the skies were clear and the sun was shining and with fingers crossed we hoped this would last but then remembering we're in the Lake District we confidently packed our waterproofs, layers, gloves, sandwiches, water and left our sunblock and sunglasses in the van.
The path initially took us behind the pub and to the right and and followed a great and well trodden path until it swung left again and got us working our way up the side of Loft Crag towards our first summit of the day.  It was at this point the weather changed and we passed 2 climbers who were heading for Glimmer Crag but with the changing weather they stopped seemed to change their minds so as we pushed forward I could see behind me that they'd headed back.  At this point cameras went away in the waterproof pouches and raincoats and gloves went on.

So what we had now was driving rain, a few gusts of wind and a drop in temperature and even we considered whether we should call it a day and have an afternoon in the pub.   We decided to give it 30 mins and make a decision then.  I remembered I bought the little Nikon AW130 which was fully waterproof for days such as this so kept that out as we continued along the path and up the side of the hill.
30 mins gone and we were almost at the summit of Loft Crag, our first for the day and although the black clouds were looming in several directions it did seem a bit brighter and the rain had somewhat eased off so onwards we went.

The summit of Loft crag is a nice one with beautiful views over to Bowfell and the Crinkles and we met a couple of nice chaps on the top who were just as keen as us to be out.
Onwards now towards Pike o Stickle which is a lovely craggy little top.  Not far from Loft Crag but an absolute delight when you get to the base of the dome shaped summit and have to scramble your way through the rocks.
I love this part of walking and before long we were up on the top, pictures taken and could clearly see the route behind and Loft Crags lovely little shape.
 

It was quite boggy underfoot on the way over to our next peak.   Plodding through the wetness and hoping and praying that you didn't step on a hole and that each footstep however watery would meet with some firmness.  Luckily no such unfortunate scenario had met us today.

Thunacar Knotts is an unassuming little top with not a lot going for it but its spectacular views.  Hills all around from the Helvellyn Range back to Coniston over to Bowfell and further Great Gable and Fleetwith Pike north to Glaramara and we could even see Windemere glistening in the few shafts of sunlight that were trying to peek through the thick dense cloud.

Quickly moving on to peak number 4 of the day, High Raise.   This was more like it.  A top with a shelter and trig point and the same wonderful views to die for.  Time for some sandwiches and today it was cheese and piccalilli which were really tasty.   We met 2 girls in the shelter who we'd seen in the pub last night having sticky toffee pudding which looked really good so I said ohh its the sticky toffee pudding girls and we all had a giggle.


The girls were heading to Wastwater where they were camping for the night.  Quite a ways to go but they were young, fit, keen and had all the necessary equipment with them and seemed fairly confident with their map so after eating we wished them on their way and hoped that the weather was kind to them.

The weather had started to turn and although we still had the wind the clouds were clearing and blue sky was emerging which was an absolute pleasure after the heavy showers of the morning.

Time for a decision to be made.  Coming down off the path from High Raise we headed along the path that would take us to Ullscarf.  Should we head that way.  We estimated another 2 hrs to get over there and 2 hrs back would leave us little time to get down off the hills and although blue sky was appearing we weren't sure what the weather was going to do so instead we headed back towards High Raise and then over to Sergeant Man which was a tricky little top to find with a path that was making itself invisible from time to time but we found it. Chris had been up there a few times before so knew basically where he was going and I just trotted behind, through the bogs!
After Sergeant Man it was time to start making our way down and the direction we headed for was Stickle Tarn, a prominent spot in the landscape below.  We couldn't really see a direct path off the hill so we just made our way through the lumps and bumps following the occasional sheep track till we landed on what seemed to be a path that was heading in somewhat the right direction.

By the time we got to the Tarn the weather had done a complete full circle from earlier and the sun was warming our faces and the air was definitely warmer.  Stopping to eat the last of our sandwiches we watched people making their way up Pavey Ark.  Some choosing the path that wound behind the hill and some choosing the trickier Jakes Rake.

The rest of the walk was downhill on a well paved path.  The walk up from Langdale to Stickle Tarn is fairly easy so we met many families going both up and down on the path and saw groups of coasteerers in the waters flowing down the Gyhll.  

Before long we were back at the road and making our way back to Bob.  We'd grab a bite to eat at the pub and I was looking forward to sitting with a nice cool drink.

Great day out and another 5 ticked off my list bringing my total to 186 (28 to go) and thoughts wandering to what exactly will be my last Wainwright.   Hmmmm need to think about that one.  Chris has still 7 to go and I'm sure we'll be popping a cork on a hill quite soon when he reaches his target. Hurrah for us!

29 July 2017

The Great British Bakestall

After a few weeks of non hill activity we headed out early on Saturday morning to tick of 1 or perhaps 2 more Wainwrights from the list.  Bakestall was the initial target but with the weather forecast looking decidedly dodgy it was debatable whether we'd even get out of the car.

Parked we changed into boots and got bags ready when the heavens opened and we quickly jumped back in the car and thought we'd give it a few mins to abate before venturing out.  After 15 mins or so it had eased off and although only spitting it was decidedly brighter so off we went.

The first part of the walk took us up the same path we'd been on a few weeks before with the mountain bikes.  Heading towards Whitewater Dash but before then we took a right turn and headed steeply up the flanks of Bakestall.
It was a wet and slippery ascent of the first part of the hill and with frequent showers it meant hoods up then hoods down intermittently.  The higher we got the windier it got and although there wasn't much of a path we plodded onwards and upwards.
At the first plateau we could finally see the hill in the distance and although it didn't seem that far away it was slow going as there now wasn't much of a path and heads down we tried to follow a shallow track through the moss and grass that was leading us in the right direction.

Finally on top it was a lot more pleasant.  The wind was still buffeting us about but the rain, thankfully, had stopped and there were a few dots of blue sky beginning to appear.
2 choices at the summit with 1 that would take us up onto the Skiddaw hills and 1 that would take us back down to the original path right at the point of the waterfall Whitewater Dash.  Skiddaw wasn't in our plans for today so down we went.

Directly ahead of us was Little Calva and Great Calva which if the going had been better we'd have tackled today but alas those were going to be for another day.
Stopping at the waterfall we had a bite to eat and then followed the well defined track down round the base of Bakestall back to the path where the car was parked.

Thoughts were to pop into Keswick for a bit of shopping and a bite to eat at the Dog & Gun but Keswick was so busy we couldn't even get into the town far less get parked so we headed for home with the promise of a stop off at our favourite cheese shop in Settle.

So not the full compliment of Wainwrights ticked off today that we'd planned but still 1 more off that ever decreasing list.  Chris is on 207 with 7 left to do and I'm on 181 with 33 left to do.

Fingers crossed we'll be in the Langdales next weekend with our beloved Bob we we can tick off a fair few more.

28 February 2016

Ard Crags & Knott Rigg with loads of lovely sunshine!

Having climbed all the hills on either side of these 2 little ones we decided to pop up to the lakes for the day and tick them off the list.  Not many to go now and this would be 2 more closer to that hallowed 214 figure.  I've got about 50 to go and Chris about 25 so we're nearly there.

The weather was lovely, just perfect and both hills easy to do and I'm sure we were up and down both in a couple of hours.  Brilliant little walk with some lovely views with Robinson and pals to the left and the delightful Causy Pike to the right.  Stunning.





13 February 2016

Crinkle Crags & Bowfell (one of my favs!)

A wonderful day out in the snow from Langdale up to the Crinkles and then over to Bowfell.  No story to tell on this one just some great pics to savour.  Fabulous day as usual and a nice wee chance to get the crampons on..........finally! 









23 January 2016

A wintery wander up Skiddaw & Little Man

Come hell or high water (no pun intended) we were getting on a hill today if it killed us.  The forecast was fair throughout the day with rain coming in later so up we got early doors (6am) and we were out the door by 6.32.  An obligatory stop at Tebay for a couple of scotch eggs (hill food) and a couple of coffee's it wasn't long before we were heading into Keswick.   Seeing the sight of how high the river rose and peoples gardens strewn with rubble and occasional recognisable pieces of furniture was sobering as it really hit home just how devastating those floods were.

Parking up by Latrigg the road was closed half way mainly due to the fact one side of it had washed away and there were pot hols 1 - 2 ft deep running down the centre of the road.  More evidence of the devastation of the water.   We parked, got our boots on and  made our way up the rest of the road towards the start of the walk.   There were a few birds about and a fluttering of red caught my eye and although we got a blurred picture of around 6 birds that landed in a pot hole in front of us we recognised them later as being Crossbills.  Beautiful and colourful.

The start of the walk starts fairly steeply and the fair forecast was holding out.  I didn't think we'd be luck for long as we couldn't see the summit or even anything past half way up the initial hill.  It was all foggy and looked damp and a bit bleak.  Onwards and upwards and time would tell if we'd get a dry day.

The views behind us was a bit dark and cloud swirled in and out of peaks previously climbed.  My fav little hill, Causey Pike with its distinctive nobbles and cute little nose like feature was there in all its glory with just a little dusting of snow.  Keswisk lay before it and as we climbed, more hills became visible as well as Derwent water.
The initial path was a good one, in fact the whole way up the path was really good.  The higher we got the more snow there was but there wasn't really any deep stuff.  More patchy and icy.

The higher we got the less we could see and soon enough all views behind us an ahead of us were obscured.  I'm sure this walk would have been gorgeous on a clear day but today we could only see what was ahead and soon that wasn't much indeed.


I think it was just after Skiddaw Little Man that the ice rain started but thankfully we had our goggles with us and although after they steamed up I couldn't see a thing they did keep the wind and ice off our faces....RESULT!  The wind was fierce (50mph forecast) so we didn't stick around long at the summit of either hill and instead of carrying on we decided to venture back down the way we'd come up as conditions were fun for no one.


Cameras were packed away as we made our way down off the hill on a great path that flanked round and met our original path which then led down again towards Keswick and Derwent Water.
There were a fair few folk out on the hills today.  Some fell running, some walking and some just having a wander out.  We were back down by 2pm and glad that we had time to pop into Keswick to visit the butcher and the cheeseman and of course we'd pop into the Dog and Gun for a nibble and some well earned refreshment.

A great day out, a quick walk and weather that was different than forecast but that's just par for the course and all in all superbly enjoyable.