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!
