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.

Crinkle Crinkle little star what a naughty step you are!

My first trip into the Lake District as a walker and not a tourist had all the makings of an eventful and fantastic day and I can tell you it was certainly eventful and lived up to its fantastic billing.  The weather was the only slightly negative aspect of the day as the forecast was showery and we really knew from the off that we wouldnt get the well known spectacular views that are part of the Lake Districts charm.  Instead we got angry skies, low cloud, poor visibility and rain, soft and drizzly at first turning to more persistant in the afternoon.

So we set off up the path leading from the campsite and followed a mapped out route that would take us to Pike of Blisco.  My very first Wainwright and it was a well deserved Wainwright as the climb to the top of this baby was a hard slog up boggy grass and stones.  Every time we thought we'd reached the summit or could see the summit a dark looming shadow could be seen through the cloud and mist so we kept plodding on upwards until there were no dark and looming shadows in the near distance and the altimeter told us we were infact on the summit.  Yay, my first Wainwright and I spared a thought for the lovely little man and his journeys through the Lakes.  Thanks Alfred! 

My first Wainwright - Pike of Blisco. 

The views were - out there somewhere ! 

I loved the wooly sheep around here.  So cute and fluffy and not at all like their countrymen in other parts who always look a bit scruffy.  These little ones looked like they'd been hand knitted - so cute.  Apart from their cousins, the black ones who looked very spooky with their weird skull like faces (shame I didnt get a picture) 

Down the other side of Pike of Blisco was Red Tarn which signified the start of the ascent of Cold Pike.  Again we had the tough and arduous climb through grass, bog and rocks and its probably wise to mention that these rocks were slippy.  Some covered in slimy moss made the going even harder as you had no confidence in your footfall not knowing if they were slippy or not and since I'd already had 1 tumble today which resulted in a bruised elbow I really didnt want to go down again (little did I know then what was to come later yikes!) 

Cold pike summit was a bit like the previous one in that each time we thought we were there we saw the dark looming shape ahead which told us we had a bit to go yet but finally we reached it and were awarded with the same mind blowing views as before.  360 degrees of nothingness.  We could only imagine the sights that lay beyond the bleakness and we'll just have to go back on a clear day to get the rewards for the climb.

After the delights of Cold Pike it was on over to the Crinkles.  A part of the day I'd been looking forward to all week.  5 Crinkles in all and each of them with their own characteristics.  The weather had not improved and with the help of the map and compass we navigated ourselves easliy off Cold Pike and over to the path that would lead us up to the first Crinkle.  Having found the path it was the first time today we'd come across other people.  A couple sitting at the side of the path looking quite bored and another couple forging ahead in the same direction we were heading. 

The first Crinkle was found and the path lead us up to the top and over quite easily.  The wind by this time had taken hold and it was cold, cold enough for me to put my gloves on.  I was also aware at this point that I hadnt really eaten much this morning (or was it afternoon by now?) and a stop would need to happen soon to eat more for energy sakes than anything else.  4 more Crinkles and the rest of the days planned peaks meant I needed to fuel up.  I hadnt had the luxury of the manly protein shake lol! So it was decided that we'd stop for 1st lunch under the bad step.  Much chuckling was done about the step staying in place and not falling on us but it was a damp and dreary lunch stop surrounded by walls of wet stone that would have to be surmounted at some point.

 The story of the naughty step by Lynne Watson, age 45 (nearly didnt make it to 46)

The way up the bad step looked hard mostly because I couldnt see anywhere to put my feet or hands.  The steps up through the rock just seemed too big for me to get my legs up onto.  Body pressed against the hard and wet rock I moved slowly up the side of the rockface and took a few steps up.  Reaching up and over the top bit to find somewhere to grip with my hands so I could pull myself up I just couldnt find any purchase at all.  My gloves were slipping on the wet stone.  My left foot was balanced on a small round knobbly bit of rock and my right leg was on a wet ledge.  My hands still found no solid crevice of rock to give me any stability and I simply couldnt see anyway I could get my foot onto the next ledge.  My legs simply werent long enough and I couldnt pull myself up because I could find no hand hold for my hands.  With one final bit of effort to get my leg up to the next ledge the other leg slipped off the crevice and I fell down the full length of the rock face.  Probably only about 10ft but as I fell I wasnt sure where or how I'd land and was terrified I'd bang my head.  As it was I landed at the bottom in a sort of roll and after the initial few moments of shock I realised that I hadnt hurt myself much at all.  My knee hurt but nothing else and I couldnt feel any broken bones or anything that hurt more than a bruise.  I was extremely thankful at that moment and thoughts of what could have happened make me feel unaturally vulnerable for a moment.  A lesson learned today.  Just because its there doesnt mean you have to do it.  Wet rock is dangerous and care and sense must come into this activity we love so much.  Today I was lucky.  I escaped with nothing more than a gash on my knee and a few bruises but it will make me more cautious in future.

After the drama of the bad step we continued on in our journey over the crinkles.  The weather lifted just a bit over crinkle 4 or was it crinkle 5......so many crinkles so little time.  In the mist all those darned crinkles looked the same and I cant wait to get back to them at some point in the fair weather and see those views.

The first and only bit of blue sky in the day!

The rest of the day's plans had to be amended as we would run out of time to do the whole circut planned.  The bad weather meant it would be darker earlier than usual and that meant that we only had a few hours of daylight left.  So sensibly we decided to head downwards before tackling Bowfell and headed down the path (where we paused for 2nd lunch) that would lead us back to the campsite.

 The route down gave us views of the peaks we'd been on earlier in the day.  We saw the routes we'd taken and were on the lookout for alternative routes for another day in the hills.

The view over to Red Tarn where we'd been that morning and the flanks of the mountains we'd climbed.

 

 

One final look back to the crinkles which look so splendid sitting there proudly in the valley we continued to venture down the rocky path.  One strange thing we noticed was a few people heading up the path at that time of the day.  The weather again was closing in and one man that passed us with his family had sandals on and his family had nothing more than trainers and kagools.  Madness, the light was fading and within an hour it would be nearly dark and there he was with his family heading up.  Cuckoo!

I enjoyed my first foray into the lakes very much and hope that I'm back there soon.   

Carneddau + Yr Elen & Pen yr Helgi DU

Well it was a day of surprises and all of them good and one of those surprises was the weather. Forecast was heavy showers, thunder, lightning and all the good things that come with that but instead we got sunshine, humidity, showery rain, a rumble of thunder, wind and chilly temperatures at the top of Carnedd Llewelyn. A brilliant day of walking, taking in 2 more peaks than we'd planned and rounded off by an unplanned but thoughourly pleasurable descent.

From the car park at the campsite we headed along the road to Glen Dana where the walk would begin in ernest. I remember this initial slog as boggy and not the most attractive walking around but needs must and we must plough up and through it, crossing the river a few times, before reaching the more dry rocky path to the summit.

A quick detour to Cwm Loer and then it was off through the rocks to get us up onto the final path to the summit (after the little false summit that is). Just after the scramble the skies were clear and Snowdon towered in the distance distinct in its pyramid peak shape but by the time we'd reached the summit the cloud was closing in. That was going to be the way of the day, cloud in, cloud out, cloud up, cloud down, cloud all around.....

Carnedd Fach was the first lunch stop and a rumble of thunder could be heard. I jumped up out of the shelter like a meerkat, scanning the skies for any sign of lightning but that was it. 1 or 2 rumbles was all we were going to get today.

Heading over towards Carnedd Dafydd and then onto Carnedd Llewelyn was a rocky affair with the most spectacular views across the valley floor and the cliffs with some staggering sheer drops. It was a landscape I'd walked before but in conditions that were much worse than today so I'd never actually see it in all its glory. Today's visibility was far better than expected and it was great!

Yr Elen was another example of a mountain I'd stood on top of but never actually seen. I'd walked up it, following the path but shrouded in mist and fog so had no idea of its beauty until it stood there in front of us today. There was no question really that we wouldnt go up it as going up it was a doddle, climbing down off Llewelyn and back up Llewelyn again afterwards was energy sapping but it was worth it a hundred times over.

 Back on the summit of Llewelyn thoughts turned to perhaps our last unplanned act of the day. I'd been mentioning and pointing out Pen yr Helgi Du throughout the day from a distance and we'd decided that all being well we'd tackle that too. Its really great to have the freedom to just say, we're here, why not and there be no restrictions on what you can/cant do but before any thoughts of Pen yr Helgi Du there was the downward scramble off Llewelyn onto the link ridge to contend with first. 

Having done this so many times before I really find it a joy, finding footfalls and working your way mentally and physically through the rock although today it was a bit trickier as the rocks were damp/wet and a tad slippier than expected.

Finally at the bottom Pen yr Helgi Du faced us, impressive as ever and again there was no question that we'd continue forwards instead of heading down the zig zag path as I'd done so many times previously. So onwards and upwards and what a delight it was. Quite steep in places with a nice gully scramble before the summit and seeing view's I'd never seen before.

The summit was a little underwhelming with a small pile of stones with an upright stone in the middle but as unassuming as it was it stood impressively marking the spot and had a certain quaint charm about its character. The views to the North were as impressive as the ones seen from the Carneddau and the views back over the Carnedds was just breathtaking.

 The descent over the spine of Pen yr Helgi Du was again a different route and unlike the waterboard road provided softness underfoot instead of hard tarmac. The relentlessness of the descent was still arduous and long and the farm where the car was parked never seemed to get any closer.

 The sun was now dipping over to the East and Tryfan again looked spendant sitting there in the valley. No helicopter today which can only be a good thing and before long we'd met with the waterboard road after following a Leat for a few hundred yards and the day was coming to a close.

What a brilliant walk. The weather threw everything at us apart from hail and it only made the day more exciting. Thanks Ogwen Valley, you never fail to enchant me.