I've just got back from a week in the Lakes ( my first visit since I
was a child! ) I hope there must be some people here who will be
interested in reading my report !
I stayed in an extreemly nice (although not cheap ! ) cottage,
complete with internet access! I did the following walks:
Saturday 29/09/07
Langdale Pikes from Langdale:
This was very busy but I managed to get free parking in Chappel Stile.
I was trying to follow a pre-planned route downloaded from a web site.
After some considerable confusion with the directions I gave up ! In
the end I resorted to following the OS map (and all the other people).
A clear day and a very enjoyable start to the Holiday.
Sun
Haystacks and Fleetwith Pike ( From Honister Pass)
This was another great walk, I noticed a couple wild camping by the
side of the car park near the slate mine. It was well worth some extra
miles walk along the pass to avoid the parking fee again ! I was
looking out to see the Blacksail YHA from the tops near Haystacks but
I guess you can't see it from there ? The weather was great all day !
I can not see really why this was Wainwights favourite ( If I am
honest ) I met a rather large party of walkers who were coming down of
Haystacks, I wander why people must walk in such large groups, it
seems they would be better off in the Pub !
Mon
Lingmell, Sca Fell Pike and Sca Fell from Wastwater.
This was definiatly my favourite walk of the week. Driving from my
cottage near Outgate to Wastwater was so scenic and driving right
along side the lake itself was simply amazing. The initial ascent was
brutal but uneventful ! I had a moment of disbelief, until I
eventually saw another walker coming down the Corridor route between
Sca Fell and Scafell pike.. ( where the hell is the tarn meant to be
then!) I had walked past the cairn twice not wanting to go off on a
rock climbing expedition. The route down the other side of Sca Fell
was rather steep, and I met a couple of walkers on there way up !
( this was only 2 hours before sun set) they seemed quite happy with
the prospect though ! I was spoiled again with great weather all day
and there were a fair few people about. Most people seemed to be
coming from other routes though, Wastewater is not exactly easy to
find with out a GPS ( or despite a GPS in my case !) I was impressed
with the accuracy of the Altimeter on my Garmin 60 CS, it was only
20ft or so out at the summits, I never expected it to be so
accurate !
Tue
Having read about the route on this group I did the 'Fairfield
Horseshoe' Today was the day that I got my first experince navigating
in hill mist ! I managed to find the path around to the East having
arrived at the shelter on Fairfied despite having walked right past
it. I had almost set off going towards Patterdale ! I arrived back
at Ambleside in beautiful Sunshine and got some smashing photos too!
I realised how one could get into trouble in the hill fog today !
Sometimes it seems to me that if you are not on huge 'gaping gash' of
a path you are going the wrong way when in the Lakes !
Wed.
Crinkle Crags and Bowfell from Langdale
I parked on a road which added some miles to this route. I was a a
little aprehensive to start this one, due to the weather forcast. I
managed to find the path NE along the ridges of the Crinkles, however
I must admit I was rather glad to have my GPS reciever with me. In
virtually zero visibilty it was really quite scary. This was the
quietest day I had on the hills, I think I only saw about 5 other
walkers up there. I got to try out my New Berghause Paclite trousers
in the torrential rain that arrived towards the end of the day. I was
VERY impressed with them, however they are definiatly not as tough as
my trusty old Post Office issued Goretex trousers. They are already
ripped! I happily wandered off on the wrong path at Angle tarn,
(following the arrow on the GPS !) It was about when the weather got
*really* bad ( even heavier fog, gales and pouring rain !) that I
realised that the only sensible way down was to go back to the tarn
and find the correct path. It was dark by the time I got back to my
car. My headtorch got it's first real use and the 'emergency'
chocolate bar saw the light of day !
Thur
Helvellyn from Thirlmere
After the previous days shinanigans I was a little aprehensive,
however the route card I had said this was only a 5 hour walk and it
seemed simple enough to navigate. I went from Thirlmire, note that the
Car park by the church is now a 'pay and display', whereas there is
another un-official looking car park 100M along the road, I did not
like the look of the free one really, or the thought of walking along
the busy road. I made it to the summit with very little visibility and
was more than a little disapointed not to have seen any of the views.
I kept well to the west on the summit thinking I might end up going
off down Striding Edge ! It was a little strange to see people
wandering about in shorts up there considering, On the way back down
(800M according to the GPS ) the cloud, wind and rain all vanished so
I had to go back up to the summit, and was rewarded with the best
visibilty I had all week, over the tarn. It was amazing the
difference an hour had made to the weather ! I decended via the same
route I had come up, which was a little tougher on the knees but a lot
more interesting than the walk through the trees I had intended.
In summary I have had a simply fantastic week, I think I might try
camping next time I go on a Walking holiday, if only to save some
money but the cottage was sublime. Having had some experience now at
hill walking and knowing what kit to take etc. I could get away with
taking a lot less I think, I have over 1000 pictures if any one wants
to have a look. I can post the url. I have not got around to sorting
them all out yet !
Simon