Anyway we left Honister slate mine and followed the old tram way in a repeat of the Remembrance Sunday walk last November, the only difference today was it was a lot warmer and strangley quieter!
It seemed to take no time at all before we reached Beck Head and enjoyed a little break, I remember taking what seemed like ages to get here last time, but then again we did have a slight hiccup in navigation last time, this time we made sure we took the right path.
Roger had been setting a nice steady pace and at one point I asked him if he ever felt like he cheated or did Great Gable a disservice by walking up from Honister Pass and not starting from valley level. He was quite certain that it was not cheating!
During our stop at Beck Head he started to talk about walking around the Gable Traverse instead of heading straight up, perhaps my question had got him thinking! We agreed and headed down towards Wasdale to pick up the path, Helmut seemed a bit unsure about what was happening and when he asked Roger why we were walking down Roger replied that he was “just nipping down to the pub!”, I don’t think this cleared up the confusion in Helmut’s mind somehow!
The start of the Gable Traverse is across a boulder field, the only way to recognise it is a slight difference in colour of the rocks made by passing feet over the years. As the path rounded the southern shoulder of Great Gable it got better and better. Across the valley the Scafell’s looked very impressive. The boulder field gave way to a small path on grass amongst rocky outcrops and it was a great place to be. Wainwright thought that the southern traverse of Great Gable was one of the best 6 places to be in the Lake District apart from on a summit, I agree!
and Sam (of course) and a rather surprised Helmut!
The only problem with this traverse was the occasional scree run that had to be crossed. Due to the nature of these places no path existed and on the other side there seemed to be a multitude of choices as to where the path was, this meant for some interesting route choices. Another problem I found was Sam. He would cross the scree run then turn back to check on my progress, as I would be dithering he would return to me. All this tooing and frooing began to give me kittens as he would look at me as he started to drift downhill as he tried to walk across the scree, I could see the questioning look on his face “why am I going downwards when I am supposed to be going straight across?”
We crossed Little Hell Gate, passed beneath Napes Needle which I was slightly miffed at not visiting because I had spent a couple of days climbing there when I did my outward bound course back in 1981, and then had a parting of the party just before Great Hell Gate. Roger and Helmut descended slightly and made there way around a large outcrop while I decided to head straight up it. I had the advantage of grass and rocky ledges to help me up to a point directly below Tophet Bastion, while Roger and Helmut must have had a harder time as it took them a while to reach me, struggling up the scree of Great Hell Gate, it was the only time I was in front the whole day!
After a brief stop we headed upwards, the basic idea was to cross Great Hell Gate and get onto the mountain side and then just head upwards until we joined the path up from Styhead. For some reason I found this a real struggle and Roger and Helmut soon disappeared above me.
We eventually joined the main path up from Styhead and then made quicker progress to the top. There were only a handful of people up there today, including an elderly American couple who after their lunch started to look for the FRCC memorial, as I was walking around the summit after my hurried lunch I pointed it out to them, right behind them!.
When I rejoined Roger and Helmut it was time to head away. Roger wanted to visit the Westmorland Cairn but Helmut after so many miles of walking and bike riding over the last few days seemed reluctant to do any more descent and renascent than was necessary so Roger soon realised that he was on his own and turned around and we headed for Windy Gap.
The descent to Windy Gap was interesting, the nearer we got the more noticeable the wind became. The last easy section along the path to Windy Gap was suddenly turned into a battle against the wind. Normally I love the elements, gusts and strong wind can make life interesting when on the fells, but this was ridiculous. All of a sudden walking upright, breathing normally, and looking straight ahead seemed impossible.
It felt like ice skating, every pace felt like a step on ice, the wind was so strong that it threatened to blow you right off your feet, it was mad, no gusts, just constant gale force wind, something like sticking your head out of a car window on the motorway when exceeding the speed limit slightly! As Roger and Helmut waited at the col the inevitable happened and I lost my balance and bang, I was blown off my feet and straight down to earth! I felt really winded and rolled about on the ground in pain, oh I was suffering! I was only a few yards away from Roger and Helmut but because of the wind they could not hear my wimpish “ouch’s”, they could not look around as they sat there as facing into the wind meant an inability to breathe! I was left to suffer in silence! After a few minutes I felt slightly better but sat there on the path I was contemplating the inability to do anything but crawl forwards in the face of such strong winds. Sam came up to me and huddled against me hoping that I could offer him some shelter against the wind, he too was feeling slightly confused by the fact that he was having to crawl instead of walk!
I took a photo of Roger and Helmut and then watched as Helmut ran across the col and started to inch his way upwards, I think Roger was taking some video clips with his camera, I watched as Roger then ran across the col as well. All I managed to do was crawl on my hands and knees with my face turned away from the wind with Sam right beside me! When we all reached the other side of the col and contemplated the ascent of Green Gable Roger looked behind to see the elderly American couple reach the col. It was obvious that they were really struggling so Roger went back to help them. Using a combination of dog leads, walking poles and brute strength Roger started to help the couple up and away from the col. He guided them off the actual col to a point below the col that might be slightly sheltered from the wind, I did not see this as a good idea because it was nearer to the crags below Green Gable. By this time Helmut had made it to the summit of Green Gable and I was crawling upwards towards the wind shelter. After a few minutes there I thought that I should go back and try and help Roger out.
This seemed to work as once away from the col and even with the wind still at gale force greater progress was made. At the top of Green Gable walking upright was just about possible and without any more hesitation we carried on along the path.
We parted company with the elderly couple after Roger pointed them in the right direction, the wind was still strong and at times it felt like I was carrying another person it took that much physical effort to walk. Eventually we stopped behind a crag near the tarn between Green Gable and Brandreth, what a welcome respite from the wind! I decided that I had had enough of this battle against the elements and opted to leave Roger and Helmut to walk over Brandreth and Grey Knotts while I returned via Moses Trod.
This worked out really well timing wise and we arrived back at Honister at the same time. I was able to see Roger and Helmut descending down to Honister as I walked down the last section of the old tram way.
On the way back to Loweswater to pick up Helmut’s stuff we had a quick stop at Rannerdale to see if the Bluebells were out. Down at valley level there was no sign of any wind, just lovely blue sky’s that showed off some of the north western fells at their best. Roger and Helmut had a good look around while was happy to just stay at the start of the valley.
Back at Loweswater we enjoyed some home made cake and tea and talked about the experience. We thought about words that could describe the conditions at Windy Gap, I suppose the best one we came up with was…an intense experience.
Roger has published his photos from the day and included a video clip of the conditions at Windy Gap, it can be found here. The Hileys - Loweswater Cam.co.uk
For me another great day out on the fells in somewhat interesting conditions, great company and a great mountain.