|
|
| Just in case you didn't know where you are! |
The view south with Seathwaite Fell in the foreground |
| As we set off it was very warm but the view
ahead was spoilt by the haze. We made our way along the road and
I could make out our probable first destination of Allen Crags in the distance.
I had already sort of decided maybe probably (I know
that's bad english but it is suitable!) that Scafell Pike would be too much today, it was
just too hot. The last time I was here was when I did the 3 peaks, it was
4am and we had just walked in from Seatoller as the coach we were on would
not come down to Seathwaite, I can remember being none too chuffed about
that at the time, and couldn't understand why we had not gone to Wasdale
Head to start this leg of the journey. But that's another story! |
|
|
| Sour Milk Gill |
Seathwaite |
| Already I was beginning to have second thoughts
about today's trip. As we walked along the road my eyes were drawn towards
Sour Milk Gill. The thought of scrambling up by the side of waterfalls
really did seem like a good idea today. I tried to mention this to the
others but it seemed to fall on deaf ears! Maybe I didn't try hard enough
though as I was starting to get a bit down about the number of hills that
we had climbed. After nearly a year it was still quite low (42 "Wainwright's" +
2 of the Yorkshire 3 peaks + Tryfan in North Wales + 2 "Wainwright" repeats
for myself !) and I really wanted to push things along! (am I greedy or
what?) |
|
|
| Allen Crags in the distance |
Seathwaite Fell |
| We passed through Seathwaite and said
hello to to the National Park Ranger sat by his Landrover. Looking at us
he commented that "If we were lucky we would get a good suntan, if we were
unlucky we would all get sun stroke!" With those helpful words of wisdom
we left Seathwaite and headed up Grains Gill. The way ahead lay along
a nice easy path and soon we began to get good views of Seathwaite Fell
on our right. |
|
|
| The first choice. |
Taylorgill force |
| We soon came across a strange sight. The footpath crossed
over a wooden bridge, by the side of the bridge was a ford. Today with
absolutely no sign of water this looked quite comical and the effort required
to mount a set of steps onto the bridge seemed pointless so we just walked
straight on! As we neared Seathwaite Fell the sight of Taylorgill
Force attracted our attention. Perhaps that would have been a nice walk
today along side the waterfalls, but no, we carried on along the Grains
Gill path. |
|
|
| Stockley Bridge |
The view back to Seathwaite from Stockley Bridge |
| We soon came across Stockley Bridge. For some strange reason
up to here the others had lagged behind me as we walked along the path.
This was unusual as I knew that I was walking slowly today, but the others
seemed to move even slower. This was soon to change! Whilst waiting
for the others to catch up I took a couple of photo's. Looking back towards
Seathwaite there seemed to be no real height gain. This was soon to change
as well! It was very hot but at least there seemed to be a gentle breeze
coming down the valley that helped slightly. |
|
|
| Red Gill or is it Allen Gill ? |
The path up Grains Gill |
| From Stockley Bridge the path turned into one
of those horrible remade paths. Even though the path climbed gradually
it really started to seem like hard work. We soon came across a wall
across the path. John had suggested that we stop for some refreshments
and I replied that the wall might be a good place, it might even offer
a small amount of shade! As we made the wall we all gratefully shed our
rucksacks (apart from Sarah as John was still acting
the gentleman!) and
took a well deserved drink break. As we enjoyed the break and a chance
of something to eat and drink a few other walkers passed us. After pointing
out to Sarah that one lady that passed us was wearing a bikini top Sarah
thought about it for a few minutes and removed her top to reveal a bikini
top as well. A few minutes later a couple passed us with the lady wearing
bikini bottoms. Sarah drew the line at this though! |
|
|
| Looking back to Seathwaite |
Great End coming into sight |
| After some refreshments we set off again. From here the
path started to climb upwards and even though it was a good surface we
seemed to make really slow progress. We soon came across a footbridge
across a stream. This was Ruddy Gill. The water looked crystal clear in
the small pools, very inviting on a hot day like today! |
|
|
| Looking down Ruddy Gill |
Looking up Ruddy Gill |
| The couple that had passed us before, with the bikini clad
lady had made their way up the gill. I suggested that we follow them as
a bit of scrambling up the gill seemed like a really good idea, but
the others for some reason decided to stay on the path. As I took some
photo's of the gill I was left behind as the others made their way up the
path. From the footbridge the path started to steepen allot and I made
really slow progress trying to catch them up (as usual!) I passed a group
of people lounging beside a small pool in the gill, enjoying the sunshine
and generally taking it easy. |
|
|
| Shall we? |
Yes let's! |
| This had obviously given the others pause for thought. As
I caught up with them they were deep in conversation, all very conspiratorial.
As I stopped for a breather and looked back to enjoy the view the
others sneaked off to one of the pools by the path and decided to go for
a swim. Well John and Mike did whilst Sarah looked on. John was the first
to gingerly take the plunge into the very cold water slowly followed by
Mike. |
|
|
| John taking an early shower! |
Looking down to Seathwaite from one of the pools |
| John, with some encouragement even took a shower! I
must admit that it looked very tempting but the thought off wet feet and
shorts did not appeal to me, Sarah felt the same as she decided not to
join the fun. Mike slowly lowered himself in as well. then there was no
stopping them! |
|
|
| Great End |
Sarah keeping an eye on the children! |
| Whilst I took some photo's and had a drink John and Mike
went to a pool further downstream and jumped into that one, again Sarah
just watched the "children" at play and I looked on. If there was
any thought about getting up to Scafell Pike left in my mind it had totally
disappeared now! After drying out we eventually set off again, John and
Mike feeling totally refreshed, Sarah and myself feeling like we had missed
out on something! |
|
|
| Great End getting nearer |
The path alongside Ruddy Gill |
| The path became really hard work for me from here. There
is something about these remade paths that seem to make it really hard
work for me, I just can't seem to find a rhythm when I walk on these paths.
Maybe it is the unevenness of them, I don't really know, but they are hard
work! I had taken a bit of a head start here but I was soon caught
up again as I kept stopping to take photo's of Great End which showed itself
more and more as we walked, due to the way the light was it seemed to be
a vertical cliff that blocked the way forwards, very strange! |
|
|
| Great End a bit nearer! |
Nearing the head of Ruddy Gill |
| John, still feeling refreshed after his shower and swim
started to remind us off all the "daft" things that we (mainly
him and Mike!) have done on the fells. This got him to thinking about extra
web pages about "extreme sports" that have been undertaken on these walks,
(John says extreme sports but I like to think of them
as John being daft and doing silly things!) such as scree running, swimming in rock pools,
body sledging in the snow and mad scrambles. All this thinking had obviously
made John feel hungry so we soon stopped again for something to eat as
we reached a nice place to sit down. |
|
|
| Looking back down Ruddy Gill |
The head of Ruddy Gill |
| I had taken the opportunity to eat whilst the others were
swimming, so I just had a drink and decided to carry on and let them catch
me up. I asked for a head start (at least half an
hour!) as I was really
finding it hard work and slow going up this path, I had no doubt that they
would soon catch me up! The head of Ruddy Gill made for some interesting
photo's and at last I came out to the head of the gill and was able to
see the full extent of Great End at last. |
|
| Great End |
| When I was thinking about this walk I was reading
AW's description of the gullies of Great End and Cust's Gully in particular
(always the optimist!) . I had even contemplated trying this. Seeing Great
End up close I was still thinking about it, but then again I am still thinking
about it now as I write this account! I was very pleasantly surprised to
see that another fell walker/web master had attempted this route (without
success) on the very same day. Have a look at the walk description and
photo's at andyfellwalker.com or try this
link . Skew Gill is a definite must for the future! (still thinking
about it!) |
|
|
| Great Gable from the head of Ruddy Gill |
Heading for Esk Hause |
| Now that the others had caught me up
we stopped for another drink break and sat and admired the view. At last
we could actually see something apart from the gill, Great Gable was in
view but because of the haze it was a bit of a disappointment. This
was a busy place today, people were coming up from Styhead Tarn, down from
Esk Hause and up the way we had come. One noticeable thing was a father
and son carrying camping gear that started to make their way directly up
towards Great End. As the son, probably around ten years old had already
been told off for messing about at the head of Grains Gill and had to be
told where to place his feet to avoid slipping down the gully we did not
hold out much hope for him on Great End! This was amusing to watch at first
but we soon began to feel sorry for the young lad, hope he made it! With
this slight distraction over with we set off for Esk Hause. |
|
|
| Allen Crags, at last! |
Great Gable, Windy Gap and Green Gable |
| From here on the path was not "remade" and I felt a lot
easier walking on it! A big plus was the fact that it was not as steep
and we could actually see what would probably be the first summit of the
day, Allen Crags. |
|
|
| Nearing Esk Hause |
Esk Hause |
| Even though I was finding it easier I was still
left behind as the others made their way towards Esk Hause. AW goes into
great detail about Esk Hause, the Esk Hause that I soon arrived at is not
the true Esk Hause, that is slightly higher up and away from the shelter,
but on a really hot day like today did it really matter! |
|
|
| Esk Pike from Esk Hause |
Great End from Esk Hause |
| Esk Hause, whichever one you are at, is a great place to
be. You are surrounded by summits, Great End, Esk Pike, Allen Crags. Paths
lead from here to the valleys of Borrowdale, Eskdale, Langdale, Langstrath
and Wasdale, as well to the summits of many fells. It truly is a lakeland
crossroads! |
|
|
| Every one deep in thought about what to do! |
Looking back to Esk Hause with Ill Crag in haze |
| Because AW had taken some time to write about Esk Hause
I wanted to have a look around the area but time was pressing and we still
had not reached a summit yet! I ran through the options that we had with
the others. Ranging from carrying on to Scafell Pike (after
all most of the hard work had been done), Seathwaite Fell, Allen
Crags and Glaramara, or just returning to the car. In the back of my mind
I think that Allen Crags and Glaramara had always been the favorite for
today. Sarah made our minds up for us and made a beeline for Allen Crags! |
|
|
| Nearing Allen Crags summit |
Allen Crags summit |
| The path was quite rocky, more so than I was expecting but
then again AW had written about this over 40 years ago in 1960 ! Soon
the summit was reached. This felt like it had been one of the hardest summits
to reach so far on our quest. With the heat today I was worn out! It was
around three o'clock and it had taken us nearly four hours to get here,
even with a long swim break we had set no records (not that we want to
set records!) |
 |
| 360 degree panorama from Allen Crags |
| The summit of Allen Crags should have been a great viewpoint,
but with the haze I was really disappointed. Bow Fell, Great End, Great
Gable, all should have been seen really clearly, but not today. Still
we could see them, just! |
|
|
| The terrible trio plus one at Allen crags summit |
Allen Crags summit cairn |
| Taking the usual summit photo's I tried my best to get a
good shot of Great Gable. The photo's that you see on this web site are
reduced in size as well as reduced in detail to try and make them load
quicker. Due to the haze even the original high res photo's do not do justice
to any of these mountains, Oh well, maybe next time! |
|
|
| Great Gable over Sprinkling Tarn |
Glaramara in the haze |
| I think that everybody cheered up at the summit of Allen
Crags. We had eventually achieved something and with Glaramara looming
through the haze we could all sense that the next part of the walk would
be a lot easier going than the trudge up Grains Gill. We all enjoyed another
long drink here, talking about drinking I think we must have set some sort
of record for carrying water today, John's back was stating to ache after
carrying both his and Sarah's water supplies and Mike never seemed to be
without a bottle in his hands! As well as my frozen 2 liters of Vimto I
also had 2 frozen 0.5 liters water bottles and 1 unfrozen one. I had frozen
the two small bottles in an effort to keep my sandwiches cool! (great
planning cos it actually worked, more on this later!) That made for a total of 3.5
liters of liquid for myself. I know that vimto is not isotonic, it is not
an energy drink but when there is still a large block of it frozen in the
water bottle it makes for a really refreshing COOL drink on the hills! |
|
|
| Glaramara |
One of the many Tarns along the ridge |
| Leaving the summit of Allen Crags ever ones
spirits soared as we headed off for Glaramara, we were going downhill at
last! Obviously we made quick time down here, passing a couple of
other walkers on the way coming in the opposite direction. In fact we probably
made too good a time really because Sarah soon realized that she did not
have her cap with her anymore! We all stopped and looked around, no, it
was not in sight so she decided that she must have left it on the summit,
or did she put it into John's rucksack ? John (still
playing the gentleman) offered to go back and get it, but Sarah graciously decided that it was
not that important to retrace our path UPWARDS to get it! (Phew!) |
|
|
| And another, with Pike O'Stickle behind |
And another! |
| If anything it was getting hotter now, the
haze was making the visibility poor in all directions and the breeze that
we had enjoyed for most of the walk disappeared, but at least we were walking
along a levelish area between Allen Crags and Glaramara! This was
great, around every turn and twist in the path there seemed to be a small
Tarn. It really was a nice place to walk, high up, along a nice path with
something new to see around every corner, all the trails and tribulations
of Grains Gill seemed to be long forgotten! Unfortunately Glaramara did
not seem to get any nearer! |
|
|
| Looking back to Allen Crags and some more! The one on the left has a
name, High House Tarn |
An interesting route choice can be made! |
| Along here I seemed to get my second wind.
I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the walk, to my way of thinking this
walking along ridges or high level between summits is what it is all about,
all the hard work that you have done to get here in the first place is
forgotten about and you can just enjoy the moment and the place that you
find yourself in. It really does not get better than this! I even
managed to keep up with everyone, in fact I led the way. Yippee! |
|
|
| And another! |
Glaramara getting nearer |
| Past High House Tarn the path started to climb
again. This came as a sort of shock to our legs as we had just enjoyed
half an hour of downhill or level walking. Our legs immediately went on
strike as they felt the strain and it was time for another drink stop! Before
I mentioned that I had frozen two small bottles of water. This was to keep
my sandwiches cold as I had decided for a change to try a different sort
of buttie, bacon and egg mayonnaise. I once had a rather horrid experience
when I had made a chicken mayonnaise sandwich and left them in my car on
a warm day. The mayonnaise turned into something rather slimy and rancid
but I had no choice. It was a case of starve or eat the repellent looking
sandwich (I still have nightmares about the taste
of them!) The night before
I had boiled the eggs and grilled the bacon and made them up in the morning.
So now, not only was I able to enjoy one of my favorite buttie's cold,
I also had a liter of frozen water to enjoy as well. Talk about forward
planning! |
|
|
| Looking like some fun up ahead! |
John taking the direct route |
| One consolation about stopping here was the
fact that Sarah found her cap in John's rucksack! Can you imagine what
would have happened if John had retraced his steps up to Allen Crags summit
to look for this alleged missing cap. I think that Sarah would have become
very intimate with the direct descent down to Borrowdale as John threw
her off the path! Anyway as we set of again after this refreshment stop
(my buttie's were cool and tasted really great followed
by some ice cold water!) we soon stepped out onto some higher ground. We were confronted
with a depression and what looked like a steep climb up to Glaramara. Sarah
seemed taken aback by this and sort of groaned about it being another one
of those "secret summits" sort of place! I was not particularly pleased
about what lay in front of us but I decided that saying nothing and just
pushing on was the best thing to do. Passing the depression the path
skirted to the right some crags. John decided that he needed some adventure
and passing his rucksack to Sarah for the first time today set off straight
up the crags. |
|
|
| A guard sheep playing chicken! |
Glaramara |
| We made our way up the steep path that was
fun enough for us and came out above the crags to be confronted with one
of those sights that can be very frightening on the fell tops, a sheep
with attitude! John was somewhere off to our left and we had to walk along
the path that this sheep had decided to make it's own. It just stood there
and stared at us! Normally sheep will run away at the first sight of walkers,
not this one though. It stood its ground and just intimidated us! With
no steep precipice to be thrown off we felt safe enough to slowly walk
up to the sheep. As we passed it we found the reason for it's belligerence,
it's lamb was sheltering behind a rocky outcrop trying to keep out of the
sun! Leaving the sheep to it's guard duties we soon reached the top of
the rising ground and were able to see the summit of Glaramara in front
of us (or so we thought!) |
|
|
| Nearing the summit plateau |
The third summit |
| I had a wander over towards what seemed to
be higher ground to see if it was indeed the summit. Unfortunately I was
able to see higher ground quite a way in front so I had to shout back to
the others that we had to carry on and pointed them in the right direction. The
sight of this higher ground seemed to infuriate Sarah somewhat as I rejoined
them a few minutes later, these "secret summits" really wind her up! At
least we enjoyed a bit of scrambling as we made our way up to the top of
the third summit as it turned out to be! |
|
|
| The third summit cairn with a very hazy Great Gable behind |
Heading for the second summit |
Once we all rejoined at the cairn after taking
our own scrambling routes it was apparent that this was not the summit,
well it became apparent only after we stopped for a drink again and I
read AW's account of the summit and made use of the GPS! Glaramara has
three summits and we had only reached the third, or our first traveling
in this direction. Confused?, well not as confused as I am looking at
the photo's I took, AW's summit description and trying to make some sort
of sense of them and which was which and in what order! (I really would
not want to be here in mist !) |
|
|
| Glaramara's second summit |
and a view back to the third summit |
| So from the third summit we could see even higher ground,
so after another drink we set off again. We soon reached the next summit,
the second summit (at least this is always the second
summit in whatever direction you are traveling!) Once here we could make out even higher ground
to the south with a depression between us and what we hoped was the true
summit! Without much of a pause I set off straight for it. |
|
|
| Glaramara's summit |
Looking back to the second summit |
| The final part of reaching the summit involved
a bit of scrambling, just what we needed to cheer us up after the slightly
annoying "secret summit" sort of thing! By this time Sarah was starting
to have trouble with her feet as the training shoes were rubbing on her
heels (I tried to warn her!) Here I am trying to give advise on footwear
and feet problems when I am the worst one of the lot (Kettle, pot black.
Just rearrange these words to make a well known saying!) |
|
|
| Glaramara's summit |
The terrible trio plus one on Glaramara's summit |
| Anyway, I suppose that there could be no doubt that this
was the summit at last (the first summit) even though it was our third!
(still confused!) After taking the usual photos I had a look around and
found a shelter just below the summit, it made good use of the summit rocks
itself and looked quite interesting. |
 |
| 360degree panorama from Glaramara |
| So here we were on our second summit of the
day. Psychologically it had probable been one of the hardest yet as
we had been confronted with false summit after false summit on the way
up from Allen Crags. It was still very hot and very hazy but we were still
happy as it was all downhill from here! |
|
|
| The summit shelter |
The path heading for Seatoller |
| We again had a drink and as I had finished
the vimto it was onto the still cold water now. I took the chance to properly
read AW's summit plan and it all started to make a sort of sense to me
now! With that confusion out of the way I started to chuckle about his
comments about the "twenty foot rock step" and ladies! I had to read this
out aloud to the others as I found it highly amusing at the time. This
made our minds up about a descent route of the summit for us. |
|
|
| Wainwright's 20' rock step from above |
John and Mike have read Wainwright's comments! |
| I quote, "Ladies wearing skirts, in mixed parties,
can best preserve their decorum at this point by insisting on going down
first and rejecting offers of male assistance. Conversely when ascending
here, they must send the men up first" Sarah commented that as she was
wearing shorts this did not apply today. John and Mike did not hang around
to hear this comment as they had already set off straight down the rock
step at breakneck speed! I graciously came down with Sarah and preserved
her decorum! |
|
|
| Looking back to the 20' rock step |
The easy to follow path |
| As I had sat at the summit of Glaramara I had looked at
the map to see our descent route. We had two choices, the map showed a
path down Hind Gill but as I could not remember seeing any path on our
way up, I thought that it was probably one of those imaginary paths that
the OS think up! The alternative was the long descent down Thorneythwaite
Fell to Seatoller and the return up the valley. For some reason this did
appeal to me as I thought that the direct route would be way too steep!
I had given John the map and asked him to navigate us back to the car,
he was able to quickly see the two route choices and promptly set off along
a well trodden path. As we made our way from the rock step to the beginning
of the path a solitary walker joined us. After a nice greeting he asked
us where we here heading for, when we replied "Seathwaite" he seemed to
cheer up somewhat and set off along the path. I had noticed this walker
off to the left of the summit of Glaramara looking at his map, seemingly
unsure about something. I am always dubious about giving advice and directions
after agreeing with a couple of lost fell runners in a blizzard on Crinkle
Crags that we were at point X on the map when we were actually on the wrong
side of the ridge and heading into Eskdale instead of Langdale! (my
map reading has improved since then!) I quickly added that we would be probably
be getting to Seathwaite via the ridge down to Seatoller just for my peace
of mind in case he thought that we were going down the direct route via
Hind Gill. He mumbled something about it probably being the best as it
was very steep and set off again. This made me wonder if he was actually
checking up on us! |
|
|
| Sarah does a Nikki ! |
Combe Head |
| Making our way along the path Sarah somehow
managed to miss a stepping stone and plant her left foot into a bog, leaving
her training shoe behind. This is known as "doing a Nikki" after another
young lady acquaintance managed to do exactly the same thing during a walk
up to Haystacks on one of the camping trips that I arranged. The ground
was much wetter then and Sarah did not have to reclaim a sodden shoe this
time, but still it gave us all a chance to laugh and remember some fun
times! |
 |
| Rosthwaite Fell |
| Once Sarah had reclaimed her shoe John told me that he thought
that it would be probably best if we went down the ridge instead of the
direct route. I was expecting this as it was around this point that anyone
would have realized that we had missed the path down to Hind Gill! I agreed
and John went on to say that he thought it would have been too steep anyway!
After agreeing with him and not letting on that I knew he made a mistake
I started to take a few photos' of the descent. Rosthwaite Fell had been
another possible addition today and I took a panoramic shot of it. It would
have been nice to "bag" it as well but I think that everyone just wanted
to get back to the car! |
|
|
| This cairn marks a great view down Borrowdale, not today though! |
A very hazy Honister Crag |
| As always, when I stop to take a photo I get left behind.
I must admit that by now my feet were hurting and try as I might I just
could not catch them up again (no change there then!) Instead I just made
my own way down the delightful path along Thorneythwaite Fell. As the path
wound it's way down I could not help but think that it would have been
much better as a way up to Glaramara. From the way we came it was just
a lump on the ridge after Allen Crags. In the reverse direction it would
have been a great walk with an always changing view ahead. |
|
|
| Looking down Thornythwaite Fell |
Seatoller |
| Still trying to catch them up we (I) came to
a point where Seatoller came into view directly below. I was quite surprised
to see how high up we still were, but when I look back at the GPS track
log I realize that at the summit of Glaramara we were only about half way
around this walk in terms of distance! We still had a way to walk and at
this stage I think I got a bit dispirited as I new that we were walking
away from the car, this was probably the same feeling that Sarah had between
Allen Crags and Glaramara with all those false summits, such is the life
of a fell walker! |
|
|
| The path down Thornythwaite Fell |
Rosthwaite Fell across Combe Gill |
| I started to lag even further behind the others,
especially during some of the steeper sections. Just to make myself feel
better I kept stopping to take photo's (I think that
is a great excuse!) But then again you probably have realized by now that I am not as fit as
the others and I need excuses like this! I must admit that the view over
Combe Gill to Rosthwaite Fell was worthy of stopping for though. Combe
Door and a sort of cave or cleft in the side of the Fell made for an interesting
view. At last the others had decided to stop and wait for me. I think that
this was more to do with the fact that for the first time the path lay
in the shade of the sun! |
|
|
| The path and Borrowdale |
Combe Door |
| I was grateful for this as it gave me time to figure out
something that was really annoying me now. My two frozen 0.5 liter water
bottles had for some reason decided to melt at different rates. This meant
that I was able to enjoy a nice cold drink from one whilst the other seemed
to refuse to melt. The result of this was the sound of an ice block rattling
from side to side as I walked, after a while this had really got on my
nerves! I shared some of my water out as the others seemed to have run
out. This was no surprise as I have never walked in such temperatures before
and liquid was a must. |
|
|
| The path eventually reaches the ferns as it looses height |
The path reaches the gate by the road to Thornythwaite Farm |
| Now that we were all together again I vowed
that I would not be separated again. This turned out to be true as Sarah
kept me company as John and Mike raced off again!. At least we had a laugh
at the noise from my still frozen block of ice, how can two identical water
bottles melt at different rates? Very soon we reached lower ground and
the ferns. The path made its way through the ferns and as we were all together
again I noticed some movement and noise in the ferns ahead. We all stopped
to see if we could see what was causing it. It could have been a sheep
or even a deer but it obviously had more patience than us and we soon got
bored of waiting! A family of walkers passed us and as we reached civilization
at last, well a road at least, it soon became obvious that they had better
knowledge than us as their car was there waiting for them by the side of
the road to Thorneythwaite Farm. We still had the trudge along the valley
to Seathwaite to look forward to! |
|
|
| Looking back to Glaramara |
Huge stone walls along the road to Thornythwaite Farm |
| John still has a thing about stone walls and
soon pointed out the size of the wall alongside the road. it was huge!
This wall was at least three times the width of most stone walls in the
area, why? Pondering such thoughts I put my head down and tried my best
not to think about the pain in my feet. I think that Sarah was suffering
even more than me by now as she seemed to be walking slower and slower. |
|
|
| The path leaves the road here |
and makes it's way through the fields |
| We soon came to the end of the road, or the point that the
path left the road. John pointed out the steep sides of the ridge up to
Glaramara and we agreed that it had been the wise thing to do to take the
longer but less steep route from the top. This track was a nice way up
the valley, passing through fields full of sheep. We passed some walkers
coming back in the opposite direction and again I had to think that they
made made the better choice of route! |
|
|
| Seathwaite across the valley floor |
At last ! but the cafe has already closed |
| As we neared Seathwaite we could see the car
parked on the road but the direct route would involve climbing over some
fences. Admittedly we were sorely tempted as by now we had all been reduced
to a crawl, we saw sense and continued into Seathwaite and back down the
road. Needless to say that by this time the cafe had closed and the Park
Ranger had long since gone. We were all hungry by now and more importantly
thirsty so we stopped off in Keswick for something to eat and drink. We
enjoyed a great meal in a pub, not exactly gourmet food but filling and
cheap, in fact is was one of the most enjoyable meals that I had had in
a long time (then again we had earned it!). As we sat in the pub we thought
about the walk we had just completed and new web pages. Sarah has already
suggested an accident book sort of page, John wants a page dedicated to
the daft things we (him) have ended up doing on the walks and someone suggested
a page about the food and different sort of sandwiches we take! Who knows
maybe not such a bad idea after all! Getting back to the walk even John
had found it hard, I think he even said it was the hardest one so far.
I have to agree with him there, it had just been too hot today. At least
with the late finish and a stop off in Keswick we would hopefully miss
out on the worst of the traffic, or so we thought! |
|
| The GPS track log uploaded into
the Anquet software showing the route of today's walk |
We had a quite journey down the A66 and on
the M6. Sarah was in contact with her better half who had said that according
to the news traffic was very bad (why didn't we
listen!) It was OK where
we were but that soon changed as we hit the back of a traffic jam near
Carnforth. It was moving very slowly even for these roadwork's, something
was up! That something was the fact that they had closed the motorway
entirely and diverted traffic off the motorway and through Carnforth,
bad move! I at least knew how to get back to the M6 at Lancaster by crossing
the River Lune at Caton (the opposite side of the
motorway to where ever one was being diverted) , there followed a rather interesting diversion
along pitch black narrow roads with John driving and me navigating. This
proved to be fun as John did not seem to realize the trick was to actually
listen to what I told him, i.e. turn right here, RIGHT, RIGHT, RIGHT!
Somehow, despite John's best efforts we found our way back to the M6
and thought about all those poor souls still stuck on the A6, Ha ha!
I eventually arrived back home at 10.30pm, it was after midnight for
Sarah! A long long day, hard work and hot and a few lessons learnt. When
we did Coniston Old Man and the ridge north I wrote a few tips and points
to remind me about walking on the fells in bad weather, or when there
is nothing to see due to low cloud. After this walk I think I should
jot a few tips about walking in very hot and hazy weather!
1. If it's very hot don't bother walking up a big hill! Find a nice
waterfall of gill to scramble up.
2. If it's very hazy don't bother taking any photo's as they aren't worth it
!
3. If it's very hot and very hazy listen to Sarah and go to the pub instead
!
4. If you ignore points 1 to 3 make sure you take plenty, and I mean lot's
of water! |
