Black Fell and Holme Fell

Not every walk goes to plan, and this was the case with Black Fell and Holme Fell.

The weather didn't help, but I was just having one of those days.

I'd made a promise to myself to get up to the Lake District at least once a month over the winter period, and having missed out on a glorious opportunity with snow covered peaks the previous weekend, I decided to get up there no matter what the weather had in store........erm, within reason.

As it happens, the weather forecast was terrible during the week, lots of rainfall meant, most of the snow had been washed away. Heavy rain later in the day was forecast for the Saturday, but undeterred, nearing the end of January and running out of weekends, I decided to go anyway. 

I chose to stay low on this walk, picking the low peaks of Black Fell and Holme Fell and hoping for some views, under the cloud base.

The track of the day in blue

I arrived at an empty Glen Mary Bridge car park at about 8.30 am. As a National Trust member, there was no charge for parking here, all that was required was to scan my membership card at the machine, print the ticket and display in my cars windscreen. 

It was a damp and dull, overcast day. The temperature was plus 3c with light winds, but the cloud base was really low, probably lower than 300 meters, which meant my summits would be in cloud, but at least it had stopped raining....for now.

Glen Mary Bridge Car Park

From the car park, I was heading east, uphill through ’Lane Head Coppice’ which is a small woodland, deprived of good sunlight. The ground cover was made up of moss covered rocks, dead bracken and a covering of fallen leaves.

The path takes you passed a small but pleasant waterfall flowing from the Tarn above, as I followed the path meandering beside the steady flowing waters of the beck. The route is slightly steep and a little slippy in places, it also divides into two alternative options at one point, of varying difficulty.

Looking back at the road from the start of Lane Head Coppice.

The waterfall seen on the way up to Tarn Hows

Nearing the top of 'Lane Head Coppice'

As I approached the tarn ahead, I passed the small dam, which was built around 1862 by James Marshall to flood what was three small tarns and made into the one tarn we see today. So when I emerged from the rough woodland path, it immediately struck me as a very popular tourist beauty spot during the warmer months. The very wide, smooth, and well-constructed path, lined with conifers is part of the Cumbria Way. It circles the Tarn and is perfect for pushchairs and wheelchairs with pretty good accessibility from a nearby car park. 

I would imagine families flock here in their thousands during the summer to enjoy a picnic in these, what would be glorious surroundings.

But it was no surprise it was almost deserted today, just the way I like it.

Apparently, the view of Black Fell summit can be seen from here on a nice clear day, but not on this murky January morning, I could barely see the flanks of the fell, never mind its summit.

A rather murky Tarn Hows

As I made my way to the north end of the tarn I passed just one couple who totally blanked me after I said ”hi” to them. It costs nothing to politely acknowledge someone, it makes for a happier world we live in, some folk eh.

A few spots of rain came and went, and I kept my fingers crossed the heavy downpour forecast would hold off for a while longer yet, and the waterproof over trousers stayed in the pack.

At the north end of Tarn Howes, just before a footbridge, I crossed over a stile that had a notice attached from the ’National Trust’ explaining about a disease called ’Phytophthora Ramorum’ which is affecting Larch trees in the area, and to avoid touching the woody plants to reduce the risk of spreading the disease.

The stile at the north end of 'Tarn Hows' and Rose Castle Plantation beyond

From here, I headed up the grassy hillside to briefly join an ancient road, before passing through a gate on the left, into ’Iron Keld Plantation’.

Looking up at my route from the stile, and possibly the summit to the right?

Looking back to 'Tarn Hows' from the old road

The old road I briefly travelled on

The entrance to 'Iron Keld Platation'

It's a gentle climb through the plantation, of conifers, but the slope was enough to enable two Mountain bikers to come storming down the track at speed and almost colliding with me head-on.

As I made my way up the track, I was soon confronted by a herd of cattle at the side of the track. Without many opinions but to walk close by the cattle, giving them a wide berth would have been preferable, but I decided they looked friendly enough and continued to approach them.

I decided to be boring (I'm good at that) just keeping quiet, and uninteresting as I passed, I believe when you start talking or shouting, waving your arms, or sudden movements, they become a lot more interested in you, and are more likely to charge at you. So I calmly walked on by, and they barely flinched.

After passing, what looked like an emergency shelter built out of branches and foliage by a certain survival expert. 

I cleared the plantation and was now heading into the mist, as I gained height. The undulating path soon brought me to my first summit of the day, Black Fell. 

The summit has a triangulation point at 323 metres set on a rocky outcrop, so there isn't any confusion as to where the summit was in the heavy mist of today.

I could have used this a little later in the day

Walking into the mist as I approach 'Black Fell' summit

Almost at the summit

The trig point also has a graffiti-clad National Trust plaque, stating ’Black Crag’

Why people feel they need to leave their initials or name here for immortality is beyond my comprehension. I guess with this sort of mentality, their lifetime achievement could be summiting Black Fell?

The view was none existent as visibility was down to literally a few meters at times, so there didn't seem to be any point hanging around at the summit. 

Black Fell summit

Wow!!!......... the views

A quiet Black Fell 323m

It was now mid-morning as I casually made my way down from the trig point, only to be caught out by a slippery patch of mud amongst the grass and rock on the summit. I instinctively put my hand out in anticipation of the fall, only for it to land on the sharp edge of a rock. The impact did all but break the skin and stung like hell for several minutes.

Fortunately it was my hand and not my head

I headed west, downhill following a wall part way down the fell towards High Arnside Farm below the cloud base. On the OS map, spaced green dots indicate possible public access, so I was hoping to drop onto the A593 from here.

Heading west, following the wall down towards High and Low Arnside

As I descended Black Fell, I inevitably dropped below the swirling cloud base and was greeted by intermittent views of the farm below, Little Langdale and ’Lingmoor’ beyond. 

I decided to stop here, behind a wall, for a sit-down and a cup of hot Vimto while taking in the atmospheric scenery, watched on only by a flock of Cheviot sheep. My sit here wasn’t long, but it was so peaceful, sat with a cuppa in hand, watching the swirling cloud dance around the fell tops, a solitary moment like this can be just amazing, loved it.

Sat behind a wall, sipping hot Vimto. this was my highlight of the day. Cloud brushing the summit of Lingmoor Fell

My stinging hand was now easing as I continued down to the farm, where I was met by a herd of Belted Galloway cattle, and a signed gate, stating no public access. It looked too private to take a chance and go for it, so I obeyed the sign and retraced my steps a short way.

High Arnside Farm

It was no big deal, It just meant walking a little farther north, and dropping down Hollins Bank to join the A593. From here I was heading to Holme Fell from the north via Hodge Close Quarry. Following a lane for just under a mile.

Heading northwest towards 'Hollin Bank'

The tarmac road turns into a track passing farm property nearing the quarry. 

Hodge Close Quarry just beyond the gate

View of the northern part of the quarry

I'd seen photos of this 19th-century old slate workings and was keen to see the small but deep emerald waters of a lake for myself. The light green slate hasn't been extracted since the early 1960s, but relics from the mining era can still be seen today. 

If I’d studied the OS map a little closer, I would have spotted the waters position, but I failed to do so, not doing my prep work well enough. I couldn't see any signs of the waters as I wandered around the spoil heaps, not surprising really, considering I was nowhere near it!!!

I walked a little way along a track towards Little Langdale as I had made good time. Here, a group of walkers came walking towards me, they all seemed well equipped and gave me the impression they were all experienced walkers.

As the group approached, I asked the leading guy, did he know where the waters of the quarry were? 

With a perplexed look on his face, replied ”erm.....no not really, sorry” then pulled out a small laminated printed o/s map with his intended route highlighted on it. Unfortunately, he was some way off route, and although I was far from the waters, I did actually know where I was, so when I pointed out where we were, I felt a little sorry for him, having to tell his party to about-turn as he'd guided the group the wrong way.......they didn't look very impressed.

I'd given up hope of finding the emerald lake and got back on route for Holme Fell, picking up a trail through woodland. I could still see a quarry road to my right as the rain arrived, just spitting at first. I made my way through to the edge of the wood, lo and behold, the emerald waters of Hodge Close Quarry appeared.

The woodland path I followed to the southern end of the quarry

First glimpse of the emerald waters of the quarry

A shot of the two openings and the remains of the wrecked crane and steel base

A close up of the wrecked crane, base and the two openings of which, one connects to the neighbouring Parrock Quarry.

A number of cars and outdoor adventure vehicles were parked by the quarry, and it soon became clear, it was popular with abseiling enthusiasts for the rock face which stands about 150ft down to the water.

The depth of the water is said to be another 150ft and also popular with cave divers.

The quarry is a dangerous place, its not fenced completely, and only recently a 30-year-old man drowned after jumping in the water from some height, also a number of divers have lost their lives in the underwater chambers, having lost their way and unable to exit.

So I cautiously made my way around the inner path for a better photo, where I could see the remains of the travelling crane in one of the holes. The track can be seen below the water level. 
As the rain continued to fall, I retreated to the safety of the road, and joined a large group of school children, I presume on a field trip, in hurriedly slipping on waterproof over trousers as the rain suddenly turned into something like a tropical downpour.

Rain soaked children do tend to screech, squeal and scream a lot, coupled with shouting adults, presumably trying to encourage the kids into gearing up a bit quicker. I couldn’t wait to leave the chaos behind. Once my pack was back on and sorted, I left the school kids and their disciplinarian guardians and the immense noise, and headed for the peace and tranquillity of ’Holme Fell’, within minutes the only sound I could now hear was the pleasant sound of spattering raindrops on my hood as the rain continued to teem down. 

I was following a well-established track from the quarry, through a gate, then left, leading up to a small disused reservoir. The path becomes less distinct, and somehow I ended up on the western side of the reservoir.

The track from the quarry, leading to Holme Fell

The disused reservoir

Visibility wasn't great as I made my way up and across the boggy ground towards ’Ivy Crag’.

I finally picked my way up through the soft squelching bog, and eventually found a route on this small but rugged fell and wound my way through the heather, and scrambly sections to its summit, a small rocky peak standing at 317m.

I checked my altimeter on my GPS as visibility was poor, just to make sure I was actually on the summit, it read 318m.

But just to satisfy myself this was the highest point, I wandered over to a couple of other potential summits looming in the murky mist, but no, they were not as high.

The climb up to Holme Fell summit

A little bit of hands on here

Looking back at the reservoir from near the summit

Holme Fell summit 317m

The rain was still extremely heavy, as the time approached 1:45 pm. I was in need of some lunch as I hadn’t stopped since mid-morning, but there was no shelter from the torrential rain here.

Descending Holme Fell directly south from the summit isn't a wise option as there are a number of crags to catch out the unwary walker. So once I had descended the peak in a northeastern direction, I was looking to pick up the path which would take me southeast, down through ’Harry Guards Wood’ and back to the carpark, which was about three quarters of a mile away from this point.

But unfortunately for me, I just couldn't find the path, and with the rain pelting down, low visibility and the terrain I was in was just so boggy, time was ticking on and I was feeling damp and cold. 

So I decided to abandon the search for the path and backtrack to the quarry, and return back on the route I was now familiar with.

Difficult ground to negotiate

If it had been a dryish day, I would have probably sat down at this point, got my 

1:25 000 O/S map out of my pack, and looked for my best route option, something not easily done on the small screen of a wet GPS unit, which at 1:50 000 has less information on it. Hopefully I would have worked out, that if I headed back to a gate I passed,  turned left in a southwesterly direction, I would have found myself below Raven Crag and Calf Crag and saved some time and distance.

But I was reluctant to open the pack and soak its contents which were in a dry bag anyway. I was being a bit stupid and lazy really, as the map was outside the dry bag, in its own waterproof case.

So I continued back the way I had arrived at the fell adding 2 miles extra to the planned walk. I passed the now quiet and empty quarry feeling a little despondent.

Continuing along the wooded path I spotted an overhang of rock face, which provided some shelter at its foot, an ideal spot to take a break, out of the weather.

In the dry patch of overhanging cover, the opportunity to check the map for a better option here and save a mile and a half of walking was missed as I now had it in my head my route back to the car. The last sandwich and a cup of hot vimto were downed before pushing on.

Passing ’High Oxen Fell’ I rejoined the A593 and headed south on a parallel path to the road, which was situated a few metres below, separated only by the wall.

Unfortunately, there must have been huge puddles of water forming on the roadside, which I couldn't see because of the high wall or any of the passing traffic, so every so often I’d see a huge wave of water breach the wall ahead of me, dousing the path to a flooded state.

Every time I heard a car pass, I thought ”this is it”  it was my turn for a drenching.

Inevitably, it did come, I was already soaked, so it didn't really matter too much, but having a bucket load of cold water tipped over your head is something I could have done without.

I finally arrived at a point where the path crosses the road, into ’Old Close wood’ just before ’Yew Tree Tarn’ I'm thinking almost back to my car.

I'd crossed the A593 passed through a gate and climbed several steps into the wood.

The path which looked well established then turned in the opposite direction from my finishing point, and continued to climb up through the woodland.

However what looked like a faint path followed a fence line in the direction I wanted to walk in, and more importantly, it was level!!!

At that particular minute, this looked the easiest and most likely option, follow the fence to the car, rather than a climb in the wrong direction.

My GPS didn't show enough detail, but I knew it shadowed the road.....but the map in my pack.....erm.....did show the path does climb in the wrong direction before turning back higher up in the wood.

Within minutes of walking, I was straddling tree trunks, branches and just general overgrown plantation. I'd gone from a reasonable pace, down to almost stopping as the ’trial’ all but disappeared.

I’d need a flippin machete to cut my way through any further!!!

I wasn't returning back to the gate, and by now, I'd realised the path must be higher up. The torrential rain showed no sign of abating, as I made my way up through the wet undergrowth, snagging my shell on thorny stems and foliage. 

Wet, tired, and muddy, I scrambled through the dense ground cover, finally joining the actual path I should have been on for the last half mile.

I was relieved to be back on track, for the short distance back to my car.

Fortunately I keep a spare change of clothes, a snack and drink which I never usually need, but I was thankful for them today.

I must admit it wasn't the best 10 miles out on the hills I've had in all honesty, the weather was rubbish for most of the day, not many good views, and lots of mud to trudge through, not to mention drenched from traffic. I made some basic navigational errors along the way, starting with reading my detailed mapping a little closer, which I will learn from.

On this occasion, I was just pleased that I hadn't led a group through the day.

However, I returned in one piece, had a good days exercise and a magical moment looking out from Black Fell.

And during the 1550ft of ascent, I managed to collect two more new fells to take me to 131/214 so a positive start to 2019.......until the next adventure.

Rossett Pike, Allen Crags, Great End, Esk Pike and Bowfell from Great Langdale

It was mid November, and I had the opportunity to stay overnight at a cottage in Ambleside, when family members vacated the cottage they were staying in after seeing the village's Christmas light switch on over the weekend, which is quite an event, with street procession, fireworks and Santa illuminating the streets by sprinkling his.......erm magic dust to finish.

This opportunity allowed me to arrive in Langdale early Monday morning, without getting up at stupid o clock, for a long night drive north.
Driving to the Lake District on a quiet Sunday afternoon, on my own without the pressure of finding a parking space at the other end of the journey before a walk, was a nice change to the usual. The family had now vacated the cottage and were on their way home, leaving me to settle in for the night with a beer or two along with pizza.

Ambleside's Christmas lights viewed from the cottage

Conditions in the Lake District were dry and free of snow, so a good walk over a hand full of summits was on the cards. 

My plan was to get into the Langdale Valley before dawn, parking at the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, before heading out west along the Cumbria Way, heading for Rossett Pike, using the old zigzag pony route. then onto Allen Crags, Great End, Esk Pike and if daylight allows, Bowfell, returning down ‘The Band’ which should be a little over 10 miles.

I chose anti clockwise because all but Bowfell would add to my Wainwright list of 125. 
if I had little daylight left after Esk Pike, or just ran out of steam, I could bail out at ‘Ore Gap’ leaving Bowfell, and head down to Angle Tarn and return on the now familiar route back.

The planned route and mileage

Monday's weather forecast was reasonably good for this time of year, although overcast with the possibility of occasional snow flurries, the cloud base was expected to be above all summits with temperatures just above freezing at summit height. 
However a strong north westerly wind was expected to blow in at around 40 to 50 mph at times, so it was going to be cold and breezy.

  

After a less than perfect nights sleep back in Ambleside, I was late leaving the cottage.

As always, my gear took longer to pack, and locking up the cottage took even longer.
I arrived at the ODG car park in the Langdale Valley just after 8 am, after driving the 20 minutes from Ambleside in the low light of dawn.

As a National Trust member, parking is free here, and as you’d expect on a winters Monday morning, the car park was almost empty.

I was wearing a 'Fitbit' tracker today for the first time on a hike. This measures steps taken, heart rate, calories burned etc, so I was interested to see what kind of stats it would reveal from the days activities.

With GPS set, or so I thought, and rucksack firmly in place I was finally walking along the Cumbria Way by 8.15 am heading west in eager anticipation of an excellent day ahead.

It’s quite a long flat walk along the valley from the Old Dungeon Ghyll car park to the bridge which would take me across Mickleden Beck, walking a firm stoney farm track towards the mountain slopes.

Leaving the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel heading west on the Cumbria Way

'The Band' seen from the Cumbria Way

Gimmer Crag and Pike of Stickle

This first section of walking gave my old legs a good chance to stretch and warm up before the climb ahead, which was staring down at me in quite an intimidating way.

Being in the valley, the NW wind didn’t feel too bad, but the air felt cool and fresh.

Walking along Mickleden Beck, the rock faces of Gimmer Crag and Pike of Stickle were bearing down from the right. To the left of the track, I could see my possible return route down ‘The Band’ from Bowfell. 
Ahead of me was Rossett Crag and Black Crags of course, this was my intended route. Climbing steeply up to Rossett Pike, Alfred Wainwright described this climb as “Tedious and stony”. It looked quite steep from the valley floor, but in all truth, once on it, it would be fairly easy going. The rest of my route although higher still, was beyond the view I had.
One bonus walking along the valley floor, was the high crags all sheltering me from the wind.

Following The Cumbria Way towards Rossett Crag, my route would take me up to the col on the  the left, before the final section to Rossett Pike summit (right of col)

Looking back along the Cumbria Way towards Great Langdale

I’m not a big fan of night-time navigating in the mountains, and especially in the winter months, probably due to a lack of time and experience walking in the hills at night. 
So I try to keep it to a minimum, knowing a route will be tight on daylight hours, I will make a rough calculation of times and where I should be during the day on paper. This schedule then allows me to decide if I have time or not later in the day to complete the route or not, avoiding any tricky route finding in the dark. It’s not a time I’m conscious of trying to keep to, that would reduce the pleasure of the day and make it a race against time. No it is purely for easy reference to my progress during the day. However this does show if I need to pick the pace up if I decided to commit to my original route or if conditions or circumstances changed for the worse.

I figured it would take about 45 minutes to arrive at the bridge crossing Mickleden Beck from ODG, and I was pleased to arrive at the bridge pretty much on time, which was a good start.

Crossing the bridge over Mickleden Beck, a couple of fell runners came passed me heading towards Rossett Pike, and gave me a polite nod. Walkers or runners would be few and far between during the day, and as I made my way up this old smugglers route, following them at my more modest pace, they were soon out of sight, and once again, I had the mountains all to myself.

The start of the climb up to Rossett Pike

This part of the climb, although stoney, it was a well constructed path with lots of steps, with a zigzag course that takes out much of the steepness. It made the walking slow but it was steady, passing over a layer of pinkish coloured rock in the higher reaches of the fell. 
While negotiating this section, I would stop for the odd breather, while looking back behind me, at the now excellent views opening up of Mickleden below, and the surrounding peaks.

A brief change in colour

Again I’d allowed just over an hour from the bridge to my first summit of the day, and It was looking good. I could now feel the wind picking up as I gained height, and no longer had the crags protecting me from the west.

The final ascent to Rossett Pike from the pony track route is marked by a large cairn. Turning right at this point allows for the short and easy walk, mainly on grass, up to the rocky summit. 

The cairn indicating the right turn up to Rossett Pike. Allen Crags, and Great End's peaks popping up in the far distance.

From here at the cairn though, I could weigh up my route to Allen Crags, dropping down the other side of Rossett Pike’s flanks to Angle Tarn, then a climb to Allen Crags, higher still was Great End, looking west was Esk Pike and my possible bailout route, Ore Gap.

But for now, the summit of Rossett Pike was calling. It’s always nice to reach the first summit of the day, as it’s usually the longest climb and hardest earned, and Rossett Pike was no exception to this general rule. 

View of Rossett Pike summit from the cairn

Rossett Pike has a small ridge formation dropping from the 651 metre summit, to a lower cairn a few metres further on along the ridge, with Rossett Crags below. I thought it was worth a wander down for the excellent views down to Mickleden, the Langdale Valley in the far distance and surrounding fells, and it was worth it.

Looking back down to Mickleden and the route I've followed so far, viewed from Rossett Pike. Pike of Stickle is seen on the left. The Band on the right.

Pike of Blisco (centre) seen beyond The Band.

It was now as windy as hell, and my balance was almost lost a couple of times as I wobbled back, returning to the summit before heading down the grass slope of the north side of the peak, regaining the pony route heading down to Angle Tarn.

Rossett Pike summit 651m

The temperatures felt a little milder than forecast when out of the wind, but the wind speed forecast was probably spot on, making it a pretty chilly day. 

As I made my way up towards Allen Crag. I noticed the Esk Hause junction first, this is about 100 m higher than Rossett Pike. Here a crisscross of paths merge from Sty Head, Great End, Esk Pike, Allen Crags and of course Rossett Pike. Here a wind shelter provides the perfect spot to stop, and although it was only just gone 11 am I decided to grab a bite to eat and drink here, as it was such a good spot. Although I intended to push on to Allen Crags first, I needed a break from the wind as it felt so cold.
Taking my gloves off just to take a photo or eat a sandwich was now uncomfortable, so I was quick to get them back on after retrieving a sandwich from my pack.

The shelter at Esk Hause

It was at this point, while just looking out from this shelter at the col, that two fighters on a training exercise, I would presume, flew straight passed me from the NW into the Langdale Valley. I did manage to capture one of them, albeit at some distance as it took time to get those blumin gloves back off with cold hands, and unfortunately those jets weren’t hanging around.

The jet fighter seen centre of photo from the shelter

Having topped up my energy levels, I slipped my rucksack back on, gloves in place, and pushed on to Allen Crags about half an hour behind my pencilled calculations, a very short stony path winds up to the summit cairns. Again excellent views out to the north looking at ‘Glaramara’ along the undulating ridge. High Raise and Ullscarf to the NE. Keswick can be seen from here too. Dominating the view NW is Great Gable. 
But unfortunately I was being severely buffeted by the wind here, struggling to take a steady photo, in the biting wind, so my stay was cut short, as I retreated back down for some protection back at the ‘Hause’ 

The short climb to Allen Crags from Esk Hause

Allen Crags summit 785m 

Looking north towards Glaramara. Derwent Water and Keswick can be seen in the distance.

The route I was taking up to Great End is usually a busy one, with many Scafell walkers using this route, but it was pretty quiet today, as I made my way up to Calf Cove. It was here the couple of runners I met down in the valley below passed me again, this time descending presumably from Scafell Pike.

Climbing Great End

I reached the windy 910 m rocky summit of Great End just after midday, touching both cairns, not being totally sure which was the true summit. At a little under three thousand feet, Great End would be the highest point of the day. 

I could see the summit construction on Scafell Pike just over a mile away, so close, but it didn’t look an easy mile. No quick there and back, but it did cross my mind for a few seconds to go for it. 

But knowing I still had a good way to go back to Langdale, via Esk Pike and possibly Bowfell, about 6 miles, adding any more mileage to the day at this point, in these windy conditions would be unwise.... for me anyway. I had a route planned for Scafell Pike, which included Lingmell, so I was happy to leave it for another day.

Looking SW to Scafell Pike from Great End

Looking down at Wasdale Head, Lingmell to the left and much of the Mosedale Horseshoe on show including Kirk Fell (right) and Yewbarrow, Red Pike and Pillar in the distance.

I stood admiring Great Gable from the summit of Great End for a short time, barely able to stand at times, as gusts of wind were still strong. 

It’s extremely rare I get annoyed about anything on a day like this, but I had a rucksack strap-end that had caught me in the cheek twice with a whipping motion, while looking right and continued flapping in the wind. This had threatened to happen earlier, my fault of course, I forgot to fix it when I stopped.

Great Gable and Green Gable separated by Windy Gap and Styhead Tarn at it's foot.

I headed back down to Calf Cove, backtracking until I reached Esk Hause again. 
From here, Esk Pike looked an interesting fell, lots of rocks to negotiate and it didn’t disappoint. By the time I arrive at the rocky cairn summit, I was ready for a short stop.
But then the flapping rucksack strap finally caught me in the eye, what can I say apart from, I should have secured it earlier.

Esk Pike and Bowfell ahead

The formidable eastern crags of Scafell Pike

Looking back at Esk Hause and Allen Crags in sunshine from Esk Pike

Sharp rock formations on Esk Pike

Esk Pike summit 885 m

It was just after 1 pm when that wind finally got the better of me. While my foot was wedged momentarily between some of the sharpest rocks I’d seen and felt all day, I lost my balance, and partially fell over, narrowly avoiding a bang on the head. Luckily no harm done, but it was a ‘what if’ moment. There was no one on the mountain but myself, that I could see, I try to be as careful as possible, but there is always a small risk climbing amongst rocks, especially walking on your own, and especially in winter when the mountains are quieter. Any help may not be at hand for some time. It certainly focused my mind again anyway.

Looking at Bowfell from Esk Pike

After a much needed break and drink, perched behind a rock for shelter, it was time to push on down to Ore Gap, although this was my optional bailout route down to Angle Tarn, it wouldn’t shave much mileage off the return route to the car, it just meant I wouldn’t need to climb Bowfell, and then navigating the slightly trickier route down ‘The Band’ potentially in the dark. 
But I felt fit and well, I'd made good time so far. I reckoned it was less than an hour from Esk Pike to Bowfell summit, putting me on Bowfell summit for around 2pm. 

That would give me plenty of time to return via ‘The Band’ before darkness.

Looking south from Esk Pike

Bowfell from Ore Gap

It was the first time for me, climbing Bowfell from Ore Gap. The route was on a nice easy gradient, on a good path part way up, before giving way to a line of cairns to guide walkers through a boulder field, should you find yourself in mist heading to the summit. 

As the afternoon drew to a close, the wind finally started to ease on the tops, and a pleasant scenic view could be admired now without having to brace for those annoying gusts.

A little bit of scrambling was required to gain the rocky summit of Bowfell, at 902 m. Amazingly Great End stands about 2.5 miles away but there is only about 7 metres between them in height.

Last bit of scrambling on to Bowfell summit

Here on the summit sat, I presumed to be father and young son, admiring the fantastic panoramic views. It felt a little awkward hanging around after saying hello, as the pair weren’t going anywhere soon, so I quickly descended back down to the shelf below, latching onto the cairns heading SE, passing by the top of the ‘Great Slab’ on my way down to ‘Three Tarns’ 

Pike of Blisco in sunshine, Windermere (top left)

As I made my descent off Bowfell, the rays of mid afternoon sun brushed the tips of the nearby Langdale peaks, the clouds giving way to blue skies.

The silence from the now calming air was only broken by the dry stone crunching from my boots, and an annoying squeak from my rucksack, as I dipped into shelter from the breeze.

‘Three Tarns’ indicates my turn east and down ‘The Band’ the route south continues up to Crinkle Crags, one I’ve only descended.

There were only actually two small pools of water here today at 'Three Tarns', maybe not a lot of rain recently? I continued my descent now heading east back down towards Great Langdale.

The route down to 'Three Tarns' on Bowfell

This was indeed the best part of my day, my memory was full of the days mountain vistas, and my body was tired but full of satisfaction, I’d achieved my modest goals and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. 

I’m not sure why, but days like this give me the feeling of enormous well-being, just the tonic for some of the down sides to coping with Crohn’s Disease, and everyday life in general.

It was a familiar descent for me down ‘The Band’ a long sloping spur that gently lowers walkers back into the Langdale Valley at Stool End farm.

With the sun slowly setting, I passed through the busy farm, up the lane, only to be welcomed by a flock of sheep, before joining the tarmac road for the last few minutes of the walk to the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, arriving back at 4.20 pm.

The Langdale Pikes seen from 'The Band'

Great Langdale

Stool End farm sits at the foot of The Band

My welcoming party

Looking back at Stool End Farm

Back at the The Old Dungeon Ghyll

Unfortunately I didn’t reset my GPS properly at the start of the day, so I didn’t get an accurate mileage reading.

However, my Fitbit recorded the days efforts, which I found interesting.

Once again an excellent day with some staggeringly beautiful views in all directions. a bit windy at times but the visits to four new summits was worth it. an absolutely unforgettable experience, and my Wainwright journey takes me to 129.

All that was left for me to do, was make the two hour drive home, stopping only for a Burger King at Lancaster's M6 service station, before joining the industrial wheel again the following day......