TR : Lakedistrict (long)



T

theo

Guest
First I have to apologise for this somewhat belated TR. After coming home
from my trip to the UK I found my newsgroups not functioning anymore. It
took me some time to work out that my provider had changed their servers.

On thursday June 2nd we left Holland and fridaymorning we arrived in a sunny
Newcastle. We drove to the westcoast and had some rain in the
north-Pennines. After passing Ambleside our in-car navigationsystem let us
down. 'She' didn't know the tiny road over Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass
to Eskdale. After hearing "turn left after 200 meters" for the third time in
a couple of minutes we decided to turn right. The road into Langdale is
narrow and busy. Great Langdale became Little Langdale and suddenly we saw
the little sign mentioning Wrynose Pass. We were on the right track again.
Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass are very demanding for the driver. Putting
your car in rear and going backwards uphill can be quite stressfull. We
arrived at Eskdale YH, left the car behind and walked into Upper Eskdale on
the westside of the river Esk. The river has some nice waterfalls and
gorges. Late afternoon we decided to put up our tents just beyond Cam Spout.
There were some yellow tents below Little Narrowcove. Otherwise Great Moss
was deserted. At 20.30 hrs. we went into our tents. At 03.45 it started to
rain and it kept raining for the next 26 hours. The cloudbase came down to
400 meters during the day. We skipped our plan to do Piers Gill and the
Scafells and stayed in our tents. Sundaymorning 8.30 am. we came out of our
tents again. All nice and quiet on Great Moss ? Forget it ! Cam Spout
waterfall and the little streams beside our tents were completely filled
with water and made an incredible roaring noise. As if a cargotrain was
constantly passing by for more then 30 hours. As Theo Ruyter was getting his
shoes on his backmuscles 'locked' and it was very painfull for him to move,
let alone walk with a 18 kg. backpack. We decided to go back to Eskdale YH.
At arrival we saw it was closed on Sundays and we took the car to Wastwater
YH. A very nice YH on the shore of Wastwater with beautifull surroundings.
Sundayafternoon the skies cleared and the weatherforecast was very promising
for the next days. On Monday we drove up to the Wasdale Head in and from
there we walked towards Great Gable. Where the main path goes left to Sty
Head we turned right to ascend alongside Piers Gill, a very impressive
ravine underneath Lingmell. After reaching the Corridor Route we ascended
the col between Broad Crag and Scafell Pike and turned right to climb
Scafell Pike. Some 15 people were enjoying the sunshine on SP and the views
were grand, although hazy. After a snack, a drink and some chatting with
fellowwalkers we went down to Mickledore. We saw a guy getting stuck on
Broadstand (he got help from guys with ropes) and descended to the start of
the Foxes Tarn Route. For me it was the first time to have to go 'upstream'
to ascend a hill. Quite exhilerating. Except for 'one man and his dog' the
summit of Scafell was deserted. Later we saw the man descending via Lord's
Rake (two days later we saw him again : at reaching the bottom of LR he saw
the warningsign not to attempt LR. Why isn't there a sign saying so at the
top of LR ?) From Scafell we went down Green How to Wasdale. A safe but
uninteresting route. We wanted to have dinner at the Wasdale Head Inn but
sadly it was temporarily closed because there had been a fire and they had a
lot of smokedamage. On Tuesday we started at the same track but instead of
turning right to Piers Gill we went up to Sty Head and frome there did the
South Traverse of Great Gable. Again we had blue skies. The ST has got some
interesting scrambly bits if you stay close to the rocks and crags. We went
up Needle gully to have a look at Napes Needle. The sun acted as a
'backlight' seen from the Dress Circle. An old man we met the next day said
he climbed NN unroped but we didn't give it a try. It didn't seem possible
at all to do it unroped but I think an experienced freeclimber might be able
do it. The real problem is getting back down again ! After passing Little
Hell Gate we descended between Great Gable and Kirkfell towards Wasdale Head
Inn. Dinner and beer was waiting for us in the YH. Wednesday was the third
day with lots of sunshine, albeit with a fresh southwesterly wind. We
already summited on Pillar last year so this year we wanted to do the High
Level Route. From Wasdale we ascended Looking Stead and turned west towards
Pillar. The beginning of the HLR is cairned. No difficulties but in wet
weather there are some tricky sloping slabs to cross. We rested at
Robinson's cairn and could see two climbers going up the north side of
Pillar Rock. Much too slow for my taste :) When we reached the south side
of Pillar Rock ourselves I decided to have a look at Pisgah (or little
woman), the rock just before Pillar Rock itself. It's an easy scramble but
there's a big gap about 23 ft deep and 10 ft wide separating Pisgah from
Pillar Rock. No going further for me than but a impressive viewpoint
nevertheless. After Pillar Rock we went up the north side of Pillar to reach
the summit. We descended along the east ridge back to Looking Stead and
Wasdale. Alas, after three days of beautifull sunshine we had to leave on
Thursday. We had heard some reports about Hawkshead being a good place for
outdoorshops but for a wide variety of brands, good prices and a nice day of
shopping little Hawkshead isn't the right choice. After a 'desastrous' start
of our holiday we had a perfect second half of the week that makes you long
for more. Same place, another time.

P.S. On the subject of walking poles : after knackering my knee on a grassy
slope on Meall Corranaich (Scotland) last September I decided to buy a cheap
pair of walking poles to try them out. They're very helpfull at keeping
balance (and that way saving energy), for crossing streams, pushing up when
ascending and taking the weight of your knees when descending. It's even a
good instrument for measuring the depth of a little (1 ft wide) stream in a
grassy field. It was more then a walking pole deep !

For those who fell asleep during reading this long story I apologise (but
wake up now :)

Theo Fokker and Theo Ruyter
--
Theo
www.theosphotos.fotopic.net

(Pictures of our holiday will be available on my fotopicsite in the future,
I'll let you know)
 
theo wrote:

> left the car behind and walked into Upper Eskdale on
> the westside of the river Esk. The river has some nice waterfalls and
> gorges.


You need to be introduced to the noble passtime of beck jumping. Best
done
in hot weather and not for those of a weak disposition.

:)

Chris
 
On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 14:17:16 +0200, "theo" <[email protected]> wrote:

>For those who fell asleep during reading this long story I apologise (but
>wake up now :)


No need to apologise, Theo, and many thanks for a great TR. It sounds like
you enjoyed yourselves (after the first rainy day, that is !).

--
Try to look unimportant; the bad guys may be low on ammo.
 
Chris Gilbert wrote:

>theo wrote:
>
>> left the car behind and walked into Upper Eskdale on
>> the westside of the river Esk. The river has some nice waterfalls and
>> gorges.

>
>You need to be introduced to the noble passtime of beck jumping. Best
>done
>in hot weather and not for those of a weak disposition.


The Dutch have their own version of that.

Fierljeppen

http://images.google.com/images?q=Fierljeppen

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"
 
On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 13:55:53 +0100, John Laird
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 14:17:16 +0200, "theo" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>For those who fell asleep during reading this long story I apologise (but
>>wake up now :)

>
>No need to apologise, Theo, and many thanks for a great TR. It sounds like
>you enjoyed yourselves (after the first rainy day, that is !).



Seconded - very interesting. I keep meaning to have a good explore
around Gt Gable's crags.
--
R
o
o
n
e
y

"I always knew the entire Green party were nutters" - Ken Livingstone
 
Phil Cook

> The Dutch have their own version of that.
>
> Fierljeppen


I disagree. The objective of beckjumping is definitely to end up *in*
the beck. Ending up in the Fier is a by-product of over-confidence and
alcohol. An end-state desirable only to the crowd.

;-)

Did we import this passtime when the dutch built the drains in the fens ?
If so, what do we call it ?

Chris
 
In article <[email protected]>, Phil Cook
said...
> Chris Gilbert wrote:
>
> >theo wrote:
> >
> >> left the car behind and walked into Upper Eskdale on
> >> the westside of the river Esk. The river has some nice waterfalls and
> >> gorges.

> >
> >You need to be introduced to the noble passtime of beck jumping. Best
> >done
> >in hot weather and not for those of a weak disposition.

>
> The Dutch have their own version of that.
>
> Fierljeppen
>
> http://images.google.com/images?q=Fierljeppen
>
>

Looks like fun! From the same site: indoor beach volleyball.
Honestly.
--
/
Fran O(<|={
\
 
theo <[email protected]> wrote:
That first day was a bit of a turnoff I gather... Glad you had a few
good days afterwards.
--
Rudi Winter, Aberystwyth, Wales
 
"Phil Cook" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
> Chris Gilbert wrote:
>
>>theo wrote:
>>
>>> left the car behind and walked into Upper Eskdale on
>>> the westside of the river Esk. The river has some nice waterfalls and
>>> gorges.

>>
>>You need to be introduced to the noble passtime of beck jumping. Best
>>done
>>in hot weather and not for those of a weak disposition.

>
> The Dutch have their own version of that.
>
> Fierljeppen
>
> http://images.google.com/images?q=Fierljeppen


Yes. Fierljeppen is Frisian for *slootjespringen*(=jumping across a waterway
with the aid of a long pole). Farmers use(d) to jump from field to field if
devided by waterways.
The (indoor)worldrecord using a 8,5m pole is 14m (!). That's a bit like
flying :)

--
Theo
www.theosphotos.fotopic.net
 
"John Laird" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 14:17:16 +0200, "theo" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>For those who fell asleep during reading this long story I apologise (but
>>wake up now :)

>
> No need to apologise, Theo, and many thanks for a great TR. It sounds
> like
> you enjoyed yourselves (after the first rainy day, that is !).


Thanks ! If everything went according to plan we would have been more busy
walking from a to b to c. Now we had more time to relax and discover. It
just had to be so.

--
Theo
www.theosphotos.fotopic.net
 
"Rooney" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 13:55:53 +0100, John Laird
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 14:17:16 +0200, "theo" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>For those who fell asleep during reading this long story I apologise (but
>>>wake up now :)

>>
>>No need to apologise, Theo, and many thanks for a great TR. It sounds
>>like
>>you enjoyed yourselves (after the first rainy day, that is !).

>
>
> Seconded - very interesting. I keep meaning to have a good explore
> around Gt Gable's crags.


It's certainly worth it. IIRC it's called the "Great Gable Girdle', going
around GG on the highest paths.

--
Theo
www.theosphotos.fotopic.net
 
"Peewiglet" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 14:17:16 +0200, "theo" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> Great TR, thanks, Theo. I'm v. glad the weather improved in the second
> half of the week.
>
> (I didn't get up to the Lakes at all the w/e before last. Went to
> Wales instead and was bitten almost to death by midges. You made a
> good choice...)


Thanks ! We had some midges also but they're *friendly* compared to the
dreaded Scottish Midge.

--
Theo
www.theosphotos.fotopic.net
 
theo wrote on Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:27:59 +0200....
>
> "Rooney" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
> news:[email protected]...


> >I keep meaning to have a good explore
> > around Gt Gable's crags.

>
> It's certainly worth it. IIRC it's called the "Great Gable Girdle', going
> around GG on the highest paths.


Yes, it's very worthwhile. When you went up to Napes Needle and the
Dress Circle, you were a little above the Gable Girdle, as described by
Wainwright. (Wainwright's South Traverse path forms part of the
Girdle).

Did you do the nice scrambly traverse from the Dress Circle across to
the Sphinx Rock, or did you go back down to the main traverse path?
This higher traverse follows a line at the very base of the crags, or on
the lower parts of them in places, so it's a good one to explore.

There are also a couple of scrambles up from this higher traverse to the
top of the Napes, from where you can get to the summit of Gable. I was
there last month with some friends, and we did the higher traverse from
Napes Needle to the Sphinx Rock, then up Sphinx Gully and Sphinx Ridge
and on to the summit.

--
Tim Jackson
[email protected]lid
(Change '.invalid' to '.co.uk' to reply direct)
Absurd patents: visit http://www.patent.freeserve.co.uk
 
"Tim Jackson" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
> theo wrote on Thu, 16 Jun 2005 15:27:59 +0200....
>>
>> "Rooney" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
>> news:[email protected]...

>
>> >I keep meaning to have a good explore
>> > around Gt Gable's crags.

>>
>> It's certainly worth it. IIRC it's called the "Great Gable Girdle', going
>> around GG on the highest paths.

>
> Yes, it's very worthwhile. When you went up to Napes Needle and the
> Dress Circle, you were a little above the Gable Girdle, as described by
> Wainwright. (Wainwright's South Traverse path forms part of the
> Girdle).
>
> Did you do the nice scrambly traverse from the Dress Circle across to
> the Sphinx Rock, or did you go back down to the main traverse path?
> This higher traverse follows a line at the very base of the crags, or on
> the lower parts of them in places, so it's a good one to explore.


We left our rucksacks (85 ltr - no daypack) close to the main traverse path
because it would bother us too much while going up the gully. So we got back
to the MTP to collect them. We saw Sphinx Rock (or Cat Rock) before reaching
Great Napes and wondered why we couldn't see it anymore from the MTP. It's
just impossible from *down under*.
There are some interesting fells left for us/me to do and once I've done
these I will come to the LD for some interesting scramble routes.

> There are also a couple of scrambles up from this higher traverse to the
> top of the Napes, from where you can get to the summit of Gable. I was
> there last month with some friends, and we did the higher traverse from
> Napes Needle to the Sphinx Rock, then up Sphinx Gully and Sphinx Ridge
> and on to the summit.


--
Theo
www.theosphotos.fotopic.net
 
On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:15:41 +0200, "theo" <[email protected]>
wrote:

[...]
>We left our rucksacks (85 ltr - no daypack)


85L???

<fx: swoon....>



Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk
 
theo wrote on Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:15:41 +0200....
> We saw Sphinx Rock (or Cat Rock) before reaching
> Great Napes and wondered why we couldn't see it anymore from the MTP. It's
> just impossible from *down under*.


From below the Napes, it either tends to blend in with the background of
the main crags, or the view is blocked by closer rocks. There are one
or two places where you can see it a bit more clearly, if you keep your
eyes open and know where to look.

Napes Needle can be even more difficult to spot from below.

A quick Google found this page with a couple of close-ups of Sphinx
Rock. <http://chezphil.org/hiking/ggable.html> The first of these
would have been taken from the higher scrambly traverse path, near the
foot of Sphinx Gully. The second would be from slightly higher when
beginning to climb up Sphinx Gully. There's also a picture of Napes
Needle which would have been taken from the Dress Circle.

--
Tim Jackson
[email protected]lid
(Change '.invalid' to '.co.uk' to reply direct)
Absurd patents: visit http://www.patent.freeserve.co.uk
 
"Tim Jackson" <[email protected]> schreef in bericht
news:[email protected]...
> theo wrote on Thu, 16 Jun 2005 21:15:41 +0200....
>> We saw Sphinx Rock (or Cat Rock) before reaching
>> Great Napes and wondered why we couldn't see it anymore from the MTP.
>> It's
>> just impossible from *down under*.

>
> From below the Napes, it either tends to blend in with the background of
> the main crags, or the view is blocked by closer rocks. There are one
> or two places where you can see it a bit more clearly, if you keep your
> eyes open and know where to look.
>
> Napes Needle can be even more difficult to spot from below.


It's even possible to see Napes Needle from Wasdale if you know what to look
for. The topsection gives a *unique* sort of shadow on it's own neck if the
sun is shining.

> A quick Google found this page with a couple of close-ups of Sphinx
> Rock. <http://chezphil.org/hiking/ggable.html> The first of these
> would have been taken from the higher scrambly traverse path, near the
> foot of Sphinx Gully. The second would be from slightly higher when
> beginning to climb up Sphinx Gully. There's also a picture of Napes
> Needle which would have been taken from the Dress Circle.



--
Theo
www.theosphotos.fotopic.net
 
On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 08:07:21 +0200, "theo" <[email protected]>
wrote:


>> [...]
>>>We left our rucksacks (85 ltr - no daypack)

>>
>> 85L???
>>
>> <fx: swoon....>

>
>And I carry my tent on the outside ! But we left all unneccesary things back
>at the YH :)


Phew, thank goodness for that, then!

(Off to the Lakes this afternoon with 50L sack, hoping it's big enough
for what I carry :)




Best wishes,
--
,,
(**)PeeWiglet~~
/ \ / \ pee AT [guessthisbit].co.uk