Lakes 2003, part 1

Without any thing else to put here I'll continue to put old walk reports up. Last month I put the report from my first trip to the Lake District here and now I am proud to present the report from my second trip to the Lake District from 2003.

Monday 14th July 2003
I have returned to the Lake District for the second year because there were many fells I didn’t go up last year; and also because I enjoyed it so much. I took the train up to Windermere this morning and arrived about 11 am. I got into the first bus I saw going to Ambleside and it broke down! It never even left the station! Just as it beginning to look as though my luck this year was going to be as bad as last year, the driver managed to get the bus started and I was able to catch my connection to Dungeon Ghyll. I had decided to walk up to the Langdale Pikes starting at the new hotel and walked up the path to the left of the Dungeon Ghyll stream to Loft Crag. The heat was overwhelming with some of the hottest temperatures of the year so far; the sweat was pouring off me, it was very hard going. Once up to the Pikes things eased off and I headed towards Pike O’Stickle where I had my lunch and from there I headed up to Harrison Stickle. Once the pikes had been bagged I headed north over Thunacar Knott bypassing Pavey Ark and up to the highest point of the walk, High Raise, which I just missed out on last year. It’s much easier when you can see where you’re going.
From High Raise I headed southeast to Sergeant Man and clambered down to Blea Rigg and on across the undulating landscape of Castle How, Lang How and Silver How slowly descending to reach the Langdale Youth Hostel at High Close between five and half past.
This is a good hostel serving tasty food however there is a school party staying the hostel which would potentially not be good, but these children so far seem all right. They are well trained; one even called her teacher “Sir”! I had an enjoyable dinner with two guys, one of whom is eighty and was a prisoner-of-war in World War Two having been captured on the first day of the D-day landings. Isn’t that what makes youth hostels so great? You meet so many interesting people. I spent the evening, as is my habit, in the quiet room reading a book I had found there: a Reader’s Digest Condensed version of John Grisham’s “The Rainmaker”.

Tuesday 15th July 2003
It has been such a very hot day my factor 8 sun cream has proven to be inadequate to the task. Ouch! The walk today was the Oxendale Horseshoe with the added burden of having to walk from the youth hostel along Great Langdale to the start of the walk and then back again at the end. Once in place near the old Dungeon Ghyll hotel I walked up Pike O’Blisco in sweltering temperatures with very little wind and got through almost half my water just on the ascent. This sort of weather may be good for sunbathing in but it doesn’t make walking up fells easy. From the top it was down to Red Tarn and up between Cold Pike and Great Knott to the glorious scramble over the Crinkle Crags. This was great fun going up and down the sheer rock walls. It would have been a different story in worse conditions but the excellent weather that I had made the traverse a tremendous experience. Once I had passed over the crags I descended to the Three Tarns, which were almost dried up, and ascended Bow Fell the highest point of the walk. After all the exertion to get up Bow Fell I came back down again and descended the fellside over White Stones and The Band. The most fun was to be had while at the top of the hills where it was windy and cooler. Down in Langdale it was very hot and windless and I had a long walk ahead of me back to the youth hostel. Before I reached my destination the back of my neck began to ache terribly from the sunburn, and other exposed parts were no better. I heard on the radio that it is not recommended to use sun cream below factor 15 and now I can see why. Today’s walk was very enjoyable but only when I was not being boiled alive. If the temperature doesn’t drop I am going to have serious problems during this holiday unless I can get a higher factor sun cream. This evening I continued reading “The Rainmaker”, but I have had to leave it unfinished as tomorrow I am heading off to Black Sail Youth Hostel.

Wednesday 16th July 2003
Today has seen some amazing sights. The walk started by following the same route as yesterday through Langdale before branching off to pass the front of the old Dungeon Ghyll hotel to take the Bridlepath down Mickleden. For this section of the walk I had the company of the chap I’d had dinner with last night who was from South Africa. You certainly do meet all sorts of people in youth hostels! He was walking the Cumbria Way so he went up over the Stake Pass while I climbed Rossett Gill. I had intended on taking the bridlepath all the way up but missed it at one point and ended up scrambling beside the Gill; this is just what the National Trust have been trying to prevent. And I don’t blame them; the gill route is very tricky. Once over the top and around Angle Tarn I walked up Esk Pike, because I’ve never been up it before. However I found this very wearing in the tremendous heat and also because of my tendency to have a runny nose when doing strenuous walking. I just felt that any energy I had was draining out of my nose!
After lunch on Esk Pike I walked down to Esk Hause and along the path beside Sprinkling Tarn down to Sty Head. After a rest in the shadow of the Rescue Box I headed up over the Windy Gap between Great Gable and Green Gable. This was also very trying but this time due to the scree near the top on both sides. Going down scree is much more difficult than going up but thankfully there was less scree on the far side. The heat wasn’t as much of a problem because I had taken advantage of the delicious water running down the Aaron Slack. I don’t usually drink stream water but in this case I had little choice because I was almost out of the two litres (!) I had taken with me. It tasted so refreshing I may just do it again.
I dropped down over the other side of the Windy Gap onto the Moses’ Trod path that runs by the side of Gables turning left round to Dale Head and then took the path by the side of Kirk Fell. I had taken this route because I couldn’t see a path that went from the Moses’ Trod down Ennerdale to the Black Sail hut. However in the event I left the path I was following half way round Kirk Fell and went straight down the hillside to the footbridge and so to Black Sail.
And what a hostel! It is so unlike any hostel I have ever stayed at. It’s so relaxed and informal. It’s an amazing place. And tomorrow it’s curry night!

Thursday 17th July 2003
The weather has changed and is still very changeable; it has been a day for the waterproofs and the sunglasses. I set off this morning up to Black Sail Pass and then tried to go up onto Kirk Fell, but found this extremely difficult either because I had taken a wrong turning or because the path is just very difficult. I ended up having to struggle up very steep rocky cliffs, so it was with great relief when I finally achieved the top of the crags. From there, despite the low cloud, it was easy going following the boundary posts and cairns until I reached the top and was rewarded with views of Wastwater and Burnmoor Tarn. I continued over the fell and descended down to Beck Head from where I took the path round the side of Kirk Fell back to the Black Sail Pass.
By the time I had returned to the pass it had started raining so the waterproofs were put on before beginning the walk over Looking Stead and Pillar. I avoided the high level traverse to Robinson’s Cairn and the Pillar Rock because of the bad weather and stayed on the top of the ridge all the way up to the top. It was a pleasing walk and the rain accordingly stopped; when I reached the expansive summit the sun came out. I had my lunch at the summit in bright sunshine as I thought about what I would do next. In view of the good weather I decided to descend to the Wind Gap and up on to Scoat Fell. Once up to the top I noticed dark clouds heading over and decided it was time to leave. I descended Scoat Fell over the top of Steeple following the ridge down into Ennerdale reaching the tree line just as the rain started again and the waterproofs came back on. When I had descended to a forest road I headed up the valley all the way back to Black Sail Hut. The hostel is much busier tonight because it’s curry night! All the curry you can eat! Tomorrow I may just do a short walk to Borrowdale and rest for the remainder of the afternoon.

Friday 18th July 2003
The curry night last night was incredible with a stunning array of seven curries. I had a tremendous time at the Black Sail Hut with some very friendly people. Even I felt uplifted by the sheer enjoyment of socialising with people I’d not met before. It has been a great experience, the highlight of my holiday.
Today however I have been paying for the curries I ate yesterday. My digestive system has been in a terrible state all day. This coupled with general fatigue after five hard walks in six days plus a desperate need for a shower and a chance to wash all my clothes made me cut the walk short today. I headed up Ennerdale on The Tongue this morning in strong wind and low cloud; the heavy rain had finally stopped but that was little consolation. With great effort I managed to reach the Moses’ Trod path beneath the Windy Gap and turned left along it. Staying on this path I blindly followed it in the cloud until I neared Honister where the cloud level lifted and I was given a view of the Hopper Slate Quarries and Buttermere in the distance. By the time I was reaching Borrowdale coming down the old road from the hause the sun was out and it turned out to be a glorious afternoon.
However I didn’t feel like any more walking and rushed to Borrowdale Youth Hostel where I’ve been ever since. I have showered and my clothes have been washed. I am not breaking wind as much as I was so maybe my digestive system is recovering. All I need now is a good night’s sleep and I can resume the hill walking in full vigour tomorrow. The book I have started reading here is another John Grisham: “The Pelican Brief”.

Saturday 19th July 2003
The weather today was similar to yesterday. Rain, wind and low cloud in the morning, blue skies in the afternoon. Today’s walk started by heading up Glaramara, but I didn’t get very far when I needed the toilet. Given the delicate nature of my digestive system lately I decided to reverse my steps to Seatoller to the public convenience in the car park. This forced a change of plans so I headed to Seathwaite and up Grains Gill on a good path with the going was easy even as I soon plunged into the clouds. At the top of the path I headed left up to Esk Hause and then left again up to the Allen Crags. I had my lunch on the summit as the cloud began to lift. As I made my way towards and over Glaramara the cloud lifted completely revealing a glorious view of Borrowdale and the surrounding area all the way to Keswick. My route down was now fixed and I had no option for prolonging the walk (except maybe retracing my steps) so it was with great reluctance that I descended over Thornythwaite Fell back into Borrowdale. This evening I have continued reading “The Pelican Brief” but I haven’t been able to finish it. I am up to the beginning of chapter 33. Tomorrow I’ll be walking to Keswick.

part 2

Lakes 2003, part 2

Sunday 20th July 2003
I’m a little annoyed about today. Things didn’t go very well. At least it has taught me certain things. The weather forecast for today appeared to be showers in the morning and heavy rain and thunder in the afternoon. I took this to mean I ought to go to Keswick as quickly as possible. I decided to miss out Dale Head and walk up Tongue Gill past the disused Rigghead Quarries up to High Spy and proceed north along the ridge. It did indeed rain and quite heavily at times but it was an enjoyable walk with clear views despite the rain. However when I got to Cat Bells the sun came out and stayed out for most of the afternoon. I felt cheated by the weather forecast. Not only have I failed to walk up Dale Head two years running but I have had to spend most of the afternoon wandering around Keswick. The British Grand Prix was on but instead of listening to it on top of the ridge I was walking through the streets towards Keswick and the reception on the radio was much worse. When I think back to the enjoyment of listening to the Grand Prix last year I am rather annoyed and disappointed. The race seemed to be very good with Barrichello winning in a brilliant fashion out racing everyone. Montoya was second, Raikonnen was third, and Schuey was still there, fourth. I look forward to watching the race when I get home.
Book-wise I started “The Girl of the Sea of Cortez” by Peter Benchley but it wasn’t inspiring me so I later resumed reading Lord Peter. Tomorrow the target is Blencathra.

Monday 21st July 2003
It’s been a rather disastrous day in one respect. I’ve lost my wallet, my YHA card, debit card and £30. I have no idea where it is; I’ve looked all around and asked at the hostel and the bank: nothing. Isn’t it just typical?!
The walk today started from Mungrisdale, which I caught a bus to. I walked up on to the ridge just north-west of the village and walked along it to the top of Bowscale Fell and then proceeded south-south-west towards Blencathra. I avoided Sharp Edge because it was damp, very windy and I’m a coward; so I walked up the hillside over Blue Screes to the top of Atkinson Pike. This took me above the cloud line and so I had to proceed in total white-out past the white crosses on the ground up the fellside to Hallsfell Top and the summit of Blencathra. Unfortunately there was no view to see but I’m sure it would have been spectacular. From the top I passed along the top of the ridge to the western end and steeply descended Blease Fell to the Blencathra Centre. Following the footpath signs through the fields I descended to the Keswick Railway footpath and walked back to Keswick along this magnificent old railway bed. I got back to the hostel at 2.15, which was a little early, but as it turned out I needed the time. While on the walk I discovered that I didn’t have my wallet. Back in the hostel I had a good look around but couldn’t find it. So I had to go to Barclays and report the card lost and ironically get some money from the same branch I had tried to get some money from last year without identification. This has been really annoying, I just hope no one been helping themselves to my money! This evening in the hostel I have been reading the Peter Benchley book. I thought I might as well read all of it. Well, it’s Skiddaw tomorrow.

Tuesday 22nd July 2003
It’s beginning to look like the weather will get worse and worse. In fact the weather has got worse throughout the whole holiday. So I don’t think I’ll get much walking done while at Helvellyn. Today I had planned to walk up Skiddaw; I never got there. I walked up the river Derwent following the Allerdale Ramble across the fields till I got to Thornthwaite Forest. I steeply ascended the wood till I got to a forest road and then followed it north through the wood till I had left the wood and was at the foot of “The Edge”. Now at the time it was raining, it was windy and the cloud level was about 1000 feet. I had planned on walking up The Edge to Skiddaw but it didn’t strike me as being a fun walk in the weather conditions. If I had someone with me who was willing to go I would have done it but in the end I returned to the wood going to the main car park and consulted the map there for any way-marked walks in the wood. Two things struck me as worth looking at: an osprey watch and Dodd summit. So I had a look through telescopes at the only ospreys in England and then ascended Dodd. At 1612 feet it wasn’t much of a mountain but now that all the trees have been cleared from the summit there were some good views to be had. The cloud level had risen to above 2000 feet so I considered having another attempt of going up Skiddaw from Dodd via Carl Side. In the end I decided against it and descended the wood alongside Scalebeck Gill coming out of the wood near Millbeck. It was then a simple matter to follow road and path along the Allerdale Ramble back to Keswick. In the event the day has provided an enjoyable full day’s walk. I just hope I can do more walks in the three remaining days of this holiday. In the hostel I finished “The Girl of the Sea of Cortez”, a mediocre book by Peter Benchley and, after a final walk around Keswick read some more of Lord Peter. Helvellyn tomorrow.

Wednesday 23rd July 2003
The weather is getting worse and worse; the walk today was in some amazing conditions with wind and rain slashing down. I started the day doing a final look for my wallet, even going to the police station to ask there but to no avail. So I started the walk down the Railway footpath following it all the way to Threlkeld. That was where I had to make a decision. Do I go onto the hills or take the low-level route? Well, the weather had turned bad, the cloud level was 1,500 feet and it was raining. Eventually I made the decision, for the second day running, that a high level walk was out of the question. So, almost having to double back on myself for a bit, I headed down St. John’s in the Vale across the fields down to Legburthwaite. It was still raining. After a quick lunch I started up the Sticks Pass. It was all right to begin with but as I got higher the wind really began to blow and the rain started lashing into my face. It was terrible conditions. I loved it!
I struggled up the pass getting wetter and wetter from a leak in the Gore-Tex lining in my right boot. Soon I had a very sodden foot. Apart from that the wet wasn’t really a problem for me. I could have continued walking in the rain much longer and did, all the way over the pass and down the other side past the remains of Greenside mine and down to the youth hostel. It was an interesting walk, it was just a pity the weather was so bad. Maybe the weather will improve tomorrow. Fat Chance.

Thursday 24th July 2003
This is the last full day of my holiday; I go home tomorrow. It has been a long holiday and I think I am ready to go home. Today the weather has been much better than yesterday, it only rained a little this morning so despite being windy with low cloud it’s been good. I walked up the valley from the hostel up to Whiteside. Then turning around I headed north along the ridge over Raise, Stybarrow Dodd, Watson’s Dodd and Great Dood. These are the peaks I’d planned on walking over yesterday. I stopped for lunch on Great Dodd and pondered where to go next; since I had ran out of high fells I had no choice but to retrace my steps. Returning to Stybarrow Dodd I headed east over White Stones and descended Southeast down the slope at Glencoyne Head. I then ascended the much smaller fell of Sheffield Pike, which being smaller was below the cloud level and gave me tremendous views over Ullswater and up at all the fells around. They were the highlight of the walk. Descending over Heron Pike I headed down into Glenridding just in time to see two coaches full of old women swarming around the souvenir shops. I quickly headed back up the valley and returned to the hostel. Tomorrow I plan on going over St Sunday Crag en route to either Grasmere or Ambleside where I will catch a bus to the station and thence, home.

Friday 25th July 2003
The final walk of the holiday involved walking along Glenridding and up the sides to Lanty’s Tarn before descending into Grisedale. The weather seemed to be improving so I decided to walk up onto the opposite ridge beneath Birks and onto St Sunday Crag. Continuing along the ridge I descended onto Deepdale Hause and the climbed onto Fairfield. After lunch in the clouds I headed off Fairfield onto Hart Crag and thence to Dove Crag down the ridge over High Pike and Low Pike all the way into Ambleside. It was a good walk staying dry and I had some good views when below the cloud level of about 2,500 feet. I caught the bus in Ambleside to the railway station and thence the train home. It was a satisfying end of a good holiday.

Endnote:
Once again it is fascinating to read this more than two years and a lot of hills later. It still astonishes me how inexperienced I was just two years ago. My equipment by this time was up to scratch but I still lacked experience on hills away from the Brecon Beacons. At this time I had never been up any mountain in Snowdonia even Snowdon itself and it wasn’t until later that year that I began build up my confidence in walking in bad weather. The reports showed I was still at this time avoiding bad weather and staying low when it rained. I missed out on going up so many hills during this trip simply because of what I thought the weather would be like, which was prudent at the time, but I think more than anything it taught me about the changeability of the weather.

The very hot weather at the start of the holiday also taught me a number of things. Firstly that factor 8 is unsuitable and I now use factor 15 sun cream. I also decided that as an added protection against the sun I needed a wide-brimmed hat to protect my neck which seems to be particularly sensitive. I have always worn a baseball cap when walking but on this occasion it was found to be not good enough. I now take a sun hat with me as well and have found many times that it works very well. Despite all the things I still had to learn about hill walking I had great time during that holiday. I did some great walks and I will never forget those two days at Black Sail Hut. It was a magical time; just a pity that the whole holiday wasn’t as trouble free.