Lakes, Fells, Light and the Hallucinogenic properties of Kendal Mint Cake

Autumn is here and the object of todays walk was to:

1.  Get some stunning shots of the early morning light which would display the autumn colours at their best.

2.  To bag a couple of Wainwrights while we were there. 

So as is usual we set off in what seems like the middle of the night and arrive at the car park before the day dawns.  This morning it was a 7am arrival and it was just starting to get light but there was a carpet of mist everywhere with only glimpses of hills, trees, rivers and lakes through the murky dark and eerie mist.  With any luck it wouldn't be long before the sun made an appearance and burned any lingering mist off to give us the views we'd hoped for today.

So off we went, in the direction of Rydal Water to set up and wait for what we hoped would be a glorious morning.   

It wasnt long before the mist started to clear and light started to pour onto sections of the lake.  Revealing, ever so slowly, the mountains in front and behind and as the strength in the light increased so did the vivid colours on the trees around us.  Reds, oranges, greens, gold, bronze, copper.....every shimmering colour you could imagine and just stunning in the early morning.  Its moments like this that I wish I had better equipment to work with as these scenes deserved more than my little bridge camera can offer.  So I resigned myself to being photographers assistant and of course official photographer's photographer lol and if I get any that turn out then so be it.  Perhaps Santa will bring me something bigger to play with !

We spent a couple of hours in several spots up and down the lake chasing the morning sun as it burst through the clouds in order to make the most of what light there was and after we'd exhausted every scene in front of us we headed towards the path that would take us to the first incline of the day accompanied by a very loud and angry sheep.  On route we spotted a Heron nestling in the bank and looking poised and ready to catch a fish.  Keeping ever so still we took the best images we could without disturbing the bird and moving ever closer in stealth mode we weren't entirely convinced it was real.  It never moved, not a ruffle of feathers nor move of its head.  The only indication was that it was real was it blinked a couple of times but as we moved closer it seems oblivious to our approach.  Quietly tiptoeing towards it it soon became a challenge to see just how close we could get and that in fact proved to be just a few feet as finally when I was almost within touching distance it took of and flew majestically over the lake. 

Back to the path we were on 1 of 3 possible paths that were heading in the direction we needed to go, however only 1 of these paths would take us upwards towards Loughrigg Fell.  Compasses out, maps out and finally we knew that very soon we'd have to turn left.   On finding the left hand path we were met with red and white tape across it.  There were no other obvious routes upwards so we ducked under the tape and hoped that we werent going to be met with some unfortunate situation.  The path climbed steadily and it was good to be heading upwards.  The ferns around us were dark red in colour and all around signs of autumn were still with us.  Looking back down we could clearly see the mass of trees in all their spendour and the sun was now gaining strength and warming the day nicely. 

What do you do when you come to a Y in the path.  Well you check the map, you check the compass and you choose the one that is going to take you to your destination using features on the landscape that match what is on your map.  Take a compass bearing and head in the right direction.  Or alternatively you can forget all your navigational skills training and choose a path that you think may be right without any concrete evidence that it is infact the right path........oops!  So yes, thanks to my total disregard of any navigational training, I put us on the wrong path which meant we would be coming at Loughrigg from a completely different direction than we'd planned.  Yes this meant wading through bog and unplanned routes to get us back to a path, not THE path, just A path that would lead us up the fell.  

 
It was a pleasant route up once the bogs had been left behind and Windemere behind us offering beautiful and stunning views.  Once we reached the top I spotted a cairn which I stupidly thought was the summit, forgetting that the summit had a trig.........so that'll be the summit over there then, the one with the trig on the top!!!.........good lord you'd think I'd never been up a hill before!!!   The summit, onced reached was like Grand Central Station.  People arriving from all directions and chattering about goodness knows what.  I must say, I do like the mountain to ourselves but its the Lakes and I guess you have to share sometimes huh?

Lunch stop 1 done and dusted and it was time to venture down.  A steep and stoney path which when wet was like ice.  Slimey rocks meant every footstep was precarious and we both slipped a few times but nothing too disastrous, no broken bones or cameras, phew!  It wasnt long before we could see the lakeside paths in front of us and we started to contemplate the next part of our walk.

First we walked along the south side of Grasmere water to the weir and then back along into the wooded area to meet with the road that would take us to the foot of Silver How, our next fell of the day.  Loads of people. Some just out for a bimble, some just out for a stroll, families, older people, groups of young people, all enjoying their day, feeding the ducks, climbing fells or just having a Sunday stroll.  We heard one of these people mention a cafe and suddenly the thought of a nice cup of tea and more importantly a toilet seemed like a good plan of action.  So off we set along the road (10 mins the lady said) to find the cafe which turned out to be a shed on the lakeside serving their own blend of tea in lovely little china cups and in a tea pot that reminded me of the one my gran used to have.   It was indeed a lovely moment, sitting at the waters edge, tea, chocolate cake, backpacks off and sun on our faces before tackling the next climb upwards. 

Suitably refreshed we found the path that would take us up to Silver How.  A rocky, muddy path which is what we expected to encounter after all the rain we'd had.  Zig Zagging our way up the mountain side it was a pleasant climb with views of Grasmere behind us and the sun still beating down.  Time for another layer to come off as between the effort needed to climb and the sun it was warm indeed.  Onwards and upwards as my mother used to say in most situations and we just kept trudging on up the zig zag path until we were met with a cairn on our left hand side which meant we'd reached the summit. 

Oh the views...........Northwards to the Crinkles and my beautiful Bowfell to the West was our previous walk route of The Old Man, Brim Fell, Wetherlam with Swirl Howe and Great Carrs nestling behind.  All our beautiful mountains dappled in the afternoon sun.  Happy Happy Happy me........

Time for lunchstop 2 and we had the summit to ourselves.   Bliss, no incessant chatter, just the sounds of nothingness all around.  (not 3 miles of nothingness but a good nothingness this time lol).  It was a bit breezy on top so another layer added and then it was time to head back down but not before having a bit of Kendal Mint Cake.  Why have I never tried this before?  Its a bit like tablet but minty and white.  I must make some tablet before our next walk as its an excellent energy booster even if it is all sugar.  Everything in moderation!

Ready to tackle the route down it became quite apparent quite quickly that the map was sending us down on the same route we came up on however this is a circular walk with no detours (or should I say no unplanned detours!) and it was not possible that we would be descending on the route we came up on.  According to the map we should have come onto the summit via the south path but we didnt we came on the North path which according to the GPS and map was no where near where we had walked up.  I even doubted myself for a moment but was 100% sure this was the path we'd come up on.   Did Kendal Mint Cake have hallucinogenic properties that I wasn't aware of??  Regardless of having been on it before or not this was the path down and it was only after a few mins or so and studying the map we realised that infact there was another path up and we'd missed the turning which would have brought us onto the summit on the South path and we'd skirted the summit and taken another path...........mystery solved, phew !

On the descent the sky was clearing of cloud and the late afternoon sun was pouring light down everywhere.  Would we make it down before it disappeared.  It was now a race against the sun whilst always taking care where we stepped through the rocky path to get back to the lake and hopefully some more spectacular scenes. 

Back down into Grasmere and shops ! (LOL) with views of Helm Crag to the left and the lake to the right.  Everywhere you looked from trees to wiggly walls the sun just hit them right to make them pop in the afternoon light.  Once into Grasmere we followed the road round to the lake, dodging the blue rinse brigade wandering about the town.  "The Scarborough of the Lakes". 

Final lake pictures taken looking back to the hills climbed today and a little boat out on the water.  We spotted a bird diving down into the water only to resurface some min's later quite far from where it ducked down.   It was mesmerizing as it ducked down again but we never saw it resurface so either its still down there or it came back up out of sight.......who knows!

At the end of the lake we turned back into the forest onto the path that would lead us back to the car park.  The light was incredible, through the golden trees it lit up the path and the red beech leaves carpeted the ground. 

Once back at the car we offloaded back packs and took a quick walk back to Rydal Water where we hoped to get the last light of the day.  Would the islands be illuminated as they were this morning.  Sadly not as we got closer to them they were quite dull as the sun was just too low in the sky.  It was worth a try and there were a couple of opportunities to get the last shot of the day and it was only a short walk back to the car.  The the light is now fading fast it was the end of the day and the end of another fabulous walk.

Autumn is now very much with us and here's hoping we can have more dry bright days to come throughout Autumn and into winter when we'll welcome the snow and ice with much anticipated excitement.  Every walk brings new adventures, memories to keep and very funny moments and all of them captured in pictures to be enjoyed for a long long time.

New Boots, The Full Monty, The Rainbow and MC Hammer.....

It was billed, by the BBC weather forecast to be a dry day with hardly any wind and clear skies and sunshine by the afternoon.  What we got was low cloud, mist, rain, wind that knocks you off your feet and not at all what we were promised.......but did that dampen our day, did it heck, it just made it more of an adventure.

 

Our 7am arrival meant that we had an early start and it wasnt quite yet fully daylight when we set off up the track, Chris in his new boots and bags packed with every layer imaginable (thankfully!) we were prepared for any eventuality.  

 

 

Following the old miners track (with only a minor detour) lead us up the mountain side to tackle our first peak of the day. The Old Man of Coniston. Trail magazine describes this mountain as rugged and industry scarred and that indeed was the case as we passed old mining works and reminants of a cabling system that brought quarried goods down the mountain side. There was a cave on the route that looked inviting until I ventured close and saw 2 eyes glowing back out at me from the darkness.   I made a quick retreat not knowing if it was a cat, bird or something even more terrifying.  I wasnt sticking around to find out......

 

The sun did try to come out and every few mins or so it would punctuate the sky and throw light on the landscape.  Not the piece of landscape we were on, oh no, always somewhere else, to the left, to the right but never on us.  An omen of what was to come perhaps?  The time upwards passed fairly quickly with brains wracked to remember the name of the man who died on Coniston Water with his boat Bluebird.  Yes he was Scottish and we went through several connotations of names including Douglas Adams, Douglas Fairbanks, Colin, Graham,  before stumbling on Donald.....so now for the surname......hmmmmm yes that's it.  Donald Campbell.......you know when something is on the tip of your tongue and you just cant reach it lol.  It did however pass a few  moments and gave us a few laughs......Donald Sutherland, hmmmm perhaps not hehe!

 

The climb upwards is starting to get steeper and although there were no views ahead as the summit was still obscured with cloud the views opening up behind us were spectacular giving a true sense of the height gained and the scarred landscape below.  It was about this time that the great Carbonara debate started.  So what constitues as the correct way to make a carbonara?  Should there be ham/procutto?  Should there be mushrooms?  Oh noooooo aparently parmesan (not the sick smelling stuff in a bag but the proper stuff), cream and a touch of garlic and egg yokes are all that is required. Once the pasta has boiled and a little bit of the pasta water is retained, ingredients added and voila!  The "alleged" best carbonara in the world.......we'll see ;-).  A less heated debate was also had regarding chilli, steak and other culinary delights........Chilli made with lamb, interesting and certainly one to test out :)

 

Finally on the summit and the most surprising difference was we were now fully exposed to the elements.  Gloves on, hats on, extra layers on and the wind was buffeting us so hard it took your breath away.  It was about this point that hunger was beginning to set in.  Even though it was still early the thought of stopping for first lunch was enticing but we'd have to find some shelter as the rain had started by this time and the wind just drove it into us like bullets.  Icy wind and hail like rain was not the weather I'd ordered. Camera's packed away it would be a fair bit along the ridge before they were out again.

 

The next summit was Brim Fell and hardly noticable in the fight against the wind and rain but up and down it we went still looking for some sort of sheltered area for 1st lunch.  It was coming at us from the left with gusts strong enough to rock you off your feet.  The rain became intermittant and it was on the path over to Swirl How we finally found some rocks that looked like they could provide us with some shelter from the wind.  So we settled down, opened rucksacks ready to devour sandwiches and fruit and realised that yes we were sheltered from the wind but here comes the rain again..........anyone for a soggy chicken mayo sandwich???

 

So off we ventured towards Swirl How with the wind still gusting in from the left.  The cloud was moving in and out so we could see our target one minute and then seconds later it was a white out again but we knew we were headed in the right direction (us being expert navigators and all hehe!).  Reaching the summit it was like a coach had just pulled in and I felt very at home...How many Scots???  People were milling about in all directions but the small bit of shelter, probably about 2ft wide beside the summit cairn was claimed while we got our bearings and decided whether to venture over to Great Carrs and Grey Friars which were off the main route but still peaks that were right there so it would be rude not to, wouldnt it?  1 woman did approach us at the summit but was met with the response "This is our mountain, you'll have to go find your own" Good job her sense of humour kicked in quite quickly Hehe!

 

From the summit of Swirl How you could see the wreckage from a Halifax Bomber which crashed here in 1944.  Parts of the wreckage still lie at the bottom of the mountain, parts are in the museum in Coniston and parts are here by the memorial for the crew that lost their lives.  Interesting but sad.

 

 

So onwards to Great Carrs we went.  The visibility was getting better at this point and we could clearly see where we were going and the path ahead.  The views to the left of us were opening up and the route we'd walked that morning was a wonderful sight showing the tops of Old Man, Brim Fell and over to Swirl How with Dow Crags over at the other end.  The wind was still fierce and even trying to have a peek over the edge to get a better view of the Bomber wreckage was a bit dodgy as at any time a gust could have tumbled you over.

 

After Great Carrs before we headed back up towards Swirl How and since the weather was clearing slightly we decided to wander off in the direction of Grey Friars.  It looked quite beautiful waiting there for us as we crossed the ferny plain to reach the start of the climb.  A steady climb up a clear path and we were on the top.  There were a good few people there already sheltering from the wind, having picnics and enjoying the scenery.  From the summit the views to the North provided a beautiful scene of previous walks, Crinkle Crags, Bowfel, Pike o Blisco and Cold Fell, even over to Allen Crags and Glaramara.  The cloud was still sitting atop the Scafell range and as I tried to take a picture an old man accused me of being a tourist........how very dare he!!   After all the mist, rain and wind it was lovely to finally see what we'd come for even though the wind was still very much with us.

 

 

 

Back over to Swirl How and it was off down the Prison band (with trombone and cymbals in tow!).  However before descending we decided to stop for 2nd lunch as there were a lot of people around and we figured we'd let them go on and we'd have the mountain again to ourselves.  With horror we watched a group of lads settle down in the rocks in front of us and not only was their chatter disturbing the calm of the lunch stop they decided to strip off and change their clothes whilst I was trying to enjoy my chicken/mayo sandwiches.........how rude hmmm!   So onto the Prison Band leaving the Full Monty Crew behind we started downwards. This was an arduous, steep and rocky decent with some tricky scrambly bits due to the wetness and slippiness of the rocks but we took our time and weaved our way down the mountain till we reached the plateau at the bottom before the climb up to Wetherlam and Black Sail. (The trombone and cymbas are now back in the prison cupboard aparently!)

 

 

On the path up to Wetherlam we spotted a rainbow over towards the Langdale area and its just a pity that the wind was so strong and my camera skills so weak that I couldnt make more out of this moment.  Earlier in the day it had been mentioned that all we were missing was a rainbow and here it was, a beautiful sight.

 

 

On the top of Black Sail.  Rollin Rollin Rollin....Rawhide :-), Howdy Pardner!

 

 

 

Next stop Wetherlam and by this time the wind is really taking the mickey.  Not once today have we been on a route that hasnt been on the direct path of the wind.  20mph the weather forecast said.  More like 40 ish in reality.  Down off Black Sail and its another climb up to the summit of Wetherlam where we said we'd find a bit of shelter for the highlight of the day.  Twirl and Nuts mmmmm yummy :-).  Our last picnic stop of the day before the final descent and finally the sun has decided to make an appearance.  The sky is turning more blue than grey, we still have the wind but the rain has now gone and everything is just a little bit brighter.  One amazing thing we saw, sitting on the top of Wetherlam was layers of clouds all going in different directions.  The clouds in front of us were going right to left and the clouds to the left of us were going left to right.   Swirling clouds all around, some wispy, some puffier and all on their own path.  As we rose from our shelter spot there was a man behind us in what looked like MC Hammer pants.  He stood staring for a moment and as we moved away we realised that he was looking for his own shelter spot and when he saw us, was waiting for us to move.  Disspointingly we never heard him utter the words "Can't touch this!"

 

Coming off Wetherlam should have been an easy task but for some reason we were seduced by a blue line on the GPS and ended up on the wrong path.  Traversing across the mountain to find the right path was quite a funny moment as it was one of those times when you're "off piste", you have no idea whats in front of you but you know you're safe and not going to die or anything.  Where's the path?  Ohhh Path, where are you?  At every bend or dip we hoped to see it in front of us but nope it wasnt there so we continued round the mountain through grass, bogs, rocks and all terrain until we finally saw a rocky cairn which indicated where the path was.  Wetherlam Edge was where we should have been and with a bit of trickery/pokery we were back on the path.  A rough scrambly path but a path none the less.

 

Little did we know then that that wouldnt be our only "off piste" adventure of the day.  Down onto the plateau again the gps route said we'd have to take a sharp right to get us down to the path back to the mine area.  There was no visible path off to the right so we made our own path.  Ahead was the direction we knew we were headed so after a few mins to get some water we started down a steep and rocky part of the mountain that would ultimately take us where we needed to go but was hard on the knees and leg muscles.  Concerns now was for the time as according to the map we were still a few miles from the homeward stretch that we'd started out on but we figured that we only had an hr or so of daylight left so once we'd reached the plateau at the bottom of the hillside we kicked it up a notch and tried our best to be as fast as we could.  The sun was now out, ok it came out for a second then dipped behind the mountain as it was near the end of the day but we saw it for a moment.

 

"I wonder what's round that corner"? "I hope its not another 3 miles of nothingness"?  Just one of the many funny quips of the day.  A day filled with adventure, laughter, hard climbs and descents, sing songs, variable views, dreadful weather but at the end of the day we still had smiles on our faces and a rosy glow knowing that we'd acomplished something good, great even. It was a magificent day and one I wont forget in a a long time.

Again the Lake District never fails to surprise and delight me however I cant finish this blog report without mentioning the beautiful meal we had in The Sun pub at the end of the walk.  A belated birthday dinner and we had the most delicious lamb with black pudding and pommes anna (thin potato layers cooked in butter).  It was absolutely lipsmackingly great, thank you x

The Great Slab Escapade, Langdale - Seatoller

5am on a Sunday morning is only good when it involves a day of mountains ahead and today was one of those days. Drizzle and rain as I left the house at 6 but the weather forecasters had promised a day of sunny spells and I was hoping that they would be right.

Arriving at the meeting spot in Seatoller where we’d leave one car to pick up later at the end of the walk we made our way down to Langdale where Bowfell was waiting for us and the sun was starting to come out. The water on the lakes we passed was so still the reflections of the surrounding hills looked like mirror images. Simply stunning.

Parked at Langdale, packs on our backs, smiles on our faces and 1 x manly type protien drink consumed, hehe! we headed towards the Band that would take us up the side of Bowfell with Crinkle Crags immediately facing us. There were only a few billowy clouds nestled on the top of the crinkles and it was easy to spot our path from a week ago.......bad step, naughty, naughty step!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A right hand turn off the Band would take us to the North side of Bowfell to the Great Slab via the climbers traverse and this was indeed to be the highlight of our morning. It was a brilliant path, following the contours of the mountain, round the back till we found ourselves at the bottom of the Great Slab. We’d met another walker on this path who was from the Borders and regaled tales of hills bagged and one’s still to be ticked off the list. Over on Bowfell’s buttresses we could see some climbers dangling from ropes and found out later in the day that these climbers were 2 walkers we’d met earlier in the day (G & his pal!) 

 

At the base of the slab was the “natural” waterfall, featured by the lovely JB on one of her programmes. Water from this fall is as clean as you can get, running straight through the rock and passing no sheep poo on its way out of the rock. True enough it did seem and taste clean so we filled a bottle to take with us for later. Cool and refreshing was the spray from the small fall as we stopped for picture moments before thoughts turned to climbing up the slab.

 

What an impressive piece of rock and I love my rock. We made our way through the rock to the side of the slab, some path, some scramble and all of it steep. Our aim was to get to the top for some more picture moments but to at least walk up some of the slab but not entirely sure how slippy the slab rock would be. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad and as I teetered up the last quarter of the slab I was blown away by how impressiveit was and certainly one of the best bits of the walk by far.

 

 

Lunch time number 1 was next on the agenda and a suitable “view spot” was acquired. The sun was shining, the wind was picking up a little and every now and again the cloud would billow over the summit of Bowfell and the disperse again just as quick. The views were amazing with known peaks all around us. It was like celebrity spotting. Blencathra over there, Helvellyn range over there, Lake Windemere over there, Skidaw over there and the rest........it completely took your breath away!

 

 

Lunch stop done and it was the last scramble onto the summit of Bowfell and just when you thought the views couldn’t get any better, round the corner before the last few steps to the summit was the Scafell range in front of us, dominant in its Lakeland home and looking beautiful as the sun highlighted parts and threw shadows on the rest showing it off perfectly. It was an intoxicating view and one that you couldn’t keep your eyes off of. The only other mountain that’s captivated my interest like that in a way that is enchanting, hypnotic and mesmerising is Tryfan. Could this range be a rival to my beloved Glyders???.....hmmmm we’ll see.

 

Video’s taken at the top of Bowfell showing the 360 panoramic views we had that day and then it was off down the side of the mountain again to find the path that would take us to Esk Pike. The wind was really picking up now and light fleeces were back on however it was a comfortable walk down to the plateau between Esk Pike and Bowfell. Esk pike was a nice summit, no falsies to tempt and tease you, what you saw before you was what was on offer and it was splendid. Starting to emerge from the other side as far as views were concerned was Great Gable (CG’s first!) and others. All looking splendid in the dappled sunshine. 

 

 

Coming off Esk Pike we were greeted by the sight of the Rescue helicopter. It seemed to hover a while over the flanks of one of the mountains then whisked off in the other direction and hovered a bit over there, so perhaps there was no emergency today but just a training exercise.  Which is a much nicer thought than the alternative.  

 

Allen Crags were next and this is where we planned to have lunch stop 2 as we didn’t want to ruin our dinner planned for later (much later as it turned out). On route we came across a Tarn which I renamed Infinity Tarn as it resembled an infinity pool in some faraway hotel, beautifully glinting in the sunlight it was indeed tempting. It had turned warm again and when its warm you get a wee bit sweaty and I'm a girly so when we were sheltered from the wind I skooshed (yes thats a word) a wee spray of some impulse to freshen up which resulted in the comment “you’re sandwiches are going to taste of that”, “I’m glad my lid is still on mine” ........the funniest comment of the day and even now as I type this I’m chuckling to myself.....a memory moment to keep.

 

Next was onwards to Glaramara where there would be 2 peaks to tackle (2, or 3 or even 4, perhaps 5, who knew !). The route to Glaramara was peppered with false summits and plateau tarns. More ups and more downs and finally the summit was in sight. But was it the first summit or the second and what was that other summity looking cairn to the left and the one we’ve just been on behind us??? Oh well we’ll just have to do them all and that way we’ll know we’ve been on the 2 that count and Wainwrights and Hewitts can be ticked off confidently.

 

It was time to start the descent and all I’m going to say about that is that it was arduous. It’s been a while since a descent caused me any difficulty and today my knee was playing up just a bit after its hard bang last weekend and started to make its presence known. I was definitely slower than normal but I had no doubt that I’d make it back in one piece just not as quick as I would have liked, grrrrrrr!

There was 1 last fell to conquer before the final descent. Thornythwaite Fell and to be honest we stuck to the path as much as we could, so I’m convinced that we did it as it seemed to form part of the ridge down from Glaramara to Borrowdale below. Another one ticked to add to an outstanding day.

 

 

After an hour or so picking our way through the rocks and grass we were on the bottom and making our way back along to the car park. The sun was starting to go down and the day was coming to an end and it would now be a race against the sun to get along the road to Haystacks to see if we could get a picture with the sun glinting off its lovely curves. Flying along the road through Honister Pass I was driving like a loon to try and beat the sun and by the time we’d reached Haystacks we’d missed it, probably only by a few mins but it was gone. Not to worry there’d be other times. 

 

Last stop was the pub for dinner and a reflection on the day. Tired, a bit mucky we tucked into some chilli and tried not to think of the 25 mile drive back for the other car  nor the 2 hr drive home but just kept thinking of the previous 10 hours and all the funny and lovely things that went to making it an epic and fantastic day.  To round off the day we were presented with the most beautiful moon ever on the drive back to Langdale. Large and looming in the sky it presented quite a special and magical sight.  Shame my camera doesnt do it justice but its another memory moment, stored in my head that I can enjoy for a long time.