#LakeDistrictBid Advent Calendar Day 9 - Because it's beautiful

Right, back to my #LakeDistrictBid advent calendar - which is also now doubling up as a reminder to everyone as to why they shouldn't cancel their holidays up here just because of the recent flooding incident.  We still want you to come so tell your friends (hell, you an even bring your friends if you like them enough!) that we are open for business - and if they need persuading, show them the photos below - just a random selection of some of my favourite pics that Steve has taken.

Please click HERE to visit the Lake District National Park Authority website where you can learn more about the whole process and register your support for our bid to achieve World Heritage Site Status.

Click HERE to go back & start the advent calendar from to Day 1.

Red Screes Inversion

Alcock Tarn

Snowy Fells from Kirkstone Pass

Red Screes Inversion

From Loughrigg

Flanks of Helvellyn

View from Sca Fell

Herdy!

Pillar from Ennerdale

Dorothy Farrers Spring Wood (Kentmere)

Photographer - Stony Cove Pike.  :-)

Drifting Away on Great Gable

(Blog & pics by Steve) The sun was shining in the south lakes so I thought it a great opportunity to get out and get some snowy fells lit up by the sun. As I drove around I thought I'd go further afield and go for an easy path higher up and headed to Seathwaite to get some shots of Great Gable, Styhead & Sprinkling Tarn. As I should have expected I suppose the further into the middle of the lakes you go the more likely it is to be cloudy. Darn, snow looks much better in the sun.

Once you get to Seathwaite Farm, it's a popular long steady route to get to Scarfell Pike. At Stockley Bridge you have a choice, go left straight up to Sprinkling Tarn, continuing left the path winds it way up to several peaks,Eskpike, Lingmell & Scafell Pike. Or at the bridge take a right to Styhead Tarn, Great Gable and up to Scarfell Pike via the corridor route. As you can see the left path go on & on ahead of you all the way up, I prefer going up the path to the right.

Cloud lingered over Great Gable and far below Lingmell so opted to stop at Sprinkling Tarn. As luck would have it the sun came out over Styhead Tarn where I stopped for lunch and had a chat to a nice old man. We made our way up to Sprinkling Tarn both stopping every other footstep to take another photo as the cloud disappeared and the sun and blue sky came out. A churpy chappy from Langdale stopped for a quick chat before he yomped off looking for somewhere to camp (or dig out a snow shelter I think he said) somewhere on the other side of Great Gable.

The sun was beginning to set only minutes after it had came out and was giving the snowy mountains a lovely golden glow so couldn't resist, saying goodbye to the nice man as he made his return journey I headed up to side of Allen Crags to get a view over the valleys. As the sun set, I returned down the other path to Stockley Bridge. At some point I shall try this route up, it's long and stepped a lot of the way and I'm not sure which is best, going up or down steps.

As I got to the bridge, I said hello to the nice old man again as he sat having a snack. Turned out he would have had to walk down the road to the bus stop at Seatoller or wait an hour for it so I drove him down and caught it just in time. Nothing worse to end a good hike than a long tedious road walk.

Some are better equipped for winter walking than others.

Beautiful but oh so dangerous.

I was really looking forward to yesterday; after a week of not hiking we were finally heading back to the fells.  Plus I'd had 2 days of work cancel on me and although that means we feel a bit of a financial pinch at least the weather and the fells were spectacular.  I can't lie, we had an utterly glorious day full of stunning views and breathtaking adventures. As we made our way around the Langdale Pikes I was, as usual, running through what I might write in this blog.  I had in mind something witty and silly along the lines of my "bog bound" blog, but this time about the challenges of walking on ice.

The thing is, late yesterday evening when I finally found time to catch up on the day's news I read about a walker tragically killed on Sca Fell, just a few miles from where we were hiking.  It struck me that this is not a time to laugh about the ice but an opportunity to demonstrate that however stunning the fells may look right now, they are a very dangerous place to be.

The first few shots show you just how beautiful they are and why people like us are inexplicably drawn to their summits, even in full winter conditions.

Looking toward Crinkle Crags

Loft Crag & Harrison Stickle

Harrison Stickle up close

And here's a few shots to show you what it's really like up there.  Everything that looks like snow isn't soft and fluffy and lovely, it's hard and slippy and dangerous.  Though still undeniably wonderful to look at it's pretty deadly to walk across.

A simple path down and across a small beck, now
just a sheet of thick ice.

View from Harrison Stickle to Pike of Stickle

Scafell Pike lost in the mist.

Snowy/ icy traverse.

Take another look at the picture above.  Just to the left is a sheer drop down into Dungeon Ghyll; there is no margin for error on a day like this.  A few minutes after I took this shot we crossed another more dangerous section and, had it not been for me having the right equipment and our combined experience of the fells, what was breathtaking bit of adventure could have ended very differently.

We had planned our day carefully; a safe, well marked/trodden route we were both familiar with and no difficult ascents/ descents, and yet it was still incredibly challenging.  We had all the right clothing, equipment and provisions and may have looked over-encumbered for such a relatively short hike, but in these conditions it's best not to take any chances.

I've no desire to scare people away from the fells, they are truly in my blood and are a glorious place to visit but, if you plan on hiking please make sure you are properly equipped.  Each Mountain Rescue call out puts other people's lives at risk and all of them are volunteers.  If you want to contribute to their amazing work, please visit my Mountain Rescue page where you'll find a link to their Just Giving account together with a map showing all of their call outs since May this year.  Enjoy the fells but please, stay safe.

Scafell Pike & Lord's Rake Part 2

So, at the end of part I we were perched at the end of Mickledore looking for a route up onto Sca Fell.  From this starting point you have 2 options available to you; neither of them are easy, but both of them are fun.  We opted to start by dropping down underneath Broad Stand and then picking up the “path” to Foxes Tarn.  I’m making this sound an awful lot easier than it actually is.

The route down underneath Broad Stand is a very unstable scree slope which, just to make things interesting, is littered with tiny waterfalls which drip down onto you from the rocks of Sca Fell above.  As you slip and slither your way down this route you realise just how big and imposing Sca Fell is; all that scree has to come from somewhere so be sure to take things steady and keep your eyes and ears open the whole time. To be honest I did most of this on my backside and that turned into a bit of a theme for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I have a pretty awful sense of balance so find it best to opt for as many points of contact as possible whenever the going gets slippy.  Unfortunately it means I get through a lot of walking trousers, which is expensive, but at least I remain intact.

At the end of Broad Stand the “path” up Sca Fell leads away to your right.  I say “path” because it’s actually a rock strewn gill with no real discernible path.  If you’re up for a scramble though it’s tremendous fun and there are plenty of hand and footholds along the way.  Of course being a gill means it’s slippy so don’t try anything heroic, this is about getting to the top in one piece and not setting any speed records.  At the top you’ll be rewarded with the tiny but perfectly proportioned Foxes Tarn; a perfectly peaceful sheltered little spot, ideal for the final flask of tea and a spot more chocolate.

Another scree scramble brings you to the summit ridge of Sca Fell.  We took a detour to the summit but sadly as we’d headed up the mist had come down, so there was nothing to see apart from showdy crags as the mist blew across.  So we braced ourselves and headed for Lord’s Rake.  Now, how do you tackle a challenging route if you’ve never done it before?  You keep your sensible head on, take your time and use all the experience you’ve gained from elsewhere to get you through safely.  If the Corridor Route had been easier than expected then this was definitely harder.

We dropped down off the summit via Symonds Knott and along Scafell Crag.  The entrance to Lord’s Rake is easy to spot but intimidating from the off.  If you are at all unsure of your ability to complete this route then stop now, return to the summit and head back via an alternate route.  The route drops very steeply down a muddy scree strewn slope, along a narrow path, up a heavily screed gully before the biggest drop which will return you to the main path down from the fell.  The route has been closed on regular occasions in the past due to land slips and it’s easy to see why.

We made our way very slowly and carefully down the first drop, keeping close to the edge and using the solid crags for balance.  The short narrow path at the bottom gives you a little breathing time before the final “up and over”.  I find it a lot easier climbing this stuff than I do descending it and we were soon at the top of the final, gut wrenching, descent.  It’s at moments like this that I question my sanity.  By now it was 7:30pm on a Saturday night and across the breadth of the land millions of people were curled up in front of the TV with a pizza and a glass of wine.  What on earth possessed me to be stood at the top of one of the trickiest descents in the Lake District with a dirty great grin on my face?  Clearly I need help!

It’s not the sort of drop you should stand staring at for too long, you’ll just scare yourself silly, so we set off, slowly and carefully making our way down the gully.  It is a genuinely dangerous route with the very real possibility of getting injured either from slipping on the scree or being knocked by rocks dislodged by the person above you.  Away down below us we could see the clear and stable route down off the fell, all we had to do was keep our heads long enough to reach it.  As we inched our way down it was apparent that there were some very recent rock falls, which didn’t do a lot for our nerves, but we persevered, keeping our wits about us at all times.  As we emerged from the main gully the ground became a lot firmer as we made our way back to the main path.  As I stood and looked back at it I couldn’t quite believe what I’d just done.

After all of that the rest of the descent was very straightforward and uneventful, the path is very clear and mainly paved and we were finally back at the car by 10pm.  Would I do Lord’s Rake again?  I very much doubt it, but I can’t wait to get back to Sca Fell, most definitely my new favourite fell to play on.

Scafell Pike & Lord's Rake Part 1

Question:  What do you do when work and family commitments have kept you away from the fells for a few weeks?  Answer: you cram your newly received Berghaus rucksack with as many warm clothes, food stuffs and flasks as it can handle and head for the hills.  We decided it was about time we tackled some of the big name routes that we hadn’t gotten around to yet, so we whizzed off to Wast Water, nabbed a parking spot near Wasdale Head and headed for the big lumpy stuff.

Our plan was to head up Scafell Pike but this time via the Corridor Route; after that we would drop down Mickledore to Sca Fell then down underneath Broad Stand and up onto Sca Fell via Foxes Tarn before finally descending via Lord’s Rake.  An ambitious plan but exactly what was needed to put the new rucksack through its paces.

If you’re not familiar with our hiking habits then you need to know that this time of year we are very late starters and it was 12:15pm before we left the car.  This routine usually works really well for us as we still have daylight until 10pm but most people have headed home long before then, thus giving us the peace and quiet we crave on the fells. 

The first part of the route was very easy, winding past St Olaf’s church, along Lingmell Beck and up to Sty Head tarn.  90 minutes later we were enjoying lunch in the sun overlooking the tarn and admiring the perfectly framed view of Blencathra away in the distance.  There was a cool breeze so we didn’t hang around long, plus we were keen to get stuck into the Corridor Route.  We were both under the impression that this was a tough and challenging route but the reality is that these days it’s a very straightforward and largely paved route up past Lingmell to Scafell Pike.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s very pretty, but if you’re after a challenging hike then this isn’t it.  It’s also far from quiet and we were passed by dozens of people as they made their way back down towards the tarn.

As we came up onto Lingmell Col we couldn't resist quickly nipping up to the top of Lingmell and enjoying the wonderful views of Great Gable – by far my favourite fell to look at.  It just looks like a “proper” fell; when you’re a kid and you draw a picture of a mountain, it looks like Great Gable.  Well mine did anyway.  That’s not to say my favourite cars are the ones that look like the ones I drew as a kid, for a start that would mean they’d all have very oddly shaped wheels… Anyway, back to the hike!

The final haul up to the summit of Scafell Pike is a bit of a scramble in places but still very straightforward and clearly marked.  Each time I ascend Scafell Pike I wonder how the height of the mountain is measured as it appears to be nothing but scree on the top; I wonder where the solid ground begins?  After the obligatory photos we huddled down beside the war memorial for a spot of drink and some chocolate before making our way over towards Mickledore.  (Incidentally, did you know that this whole area was gifted to the Lake District National Park following the death of its owner, Lord Leconfield, in World War I?)

The route down to Mickledore is well marked but you do need to watch your footing on the lose screes.  At the foot of the screes is a short col linking Scafell Pike with Sca Fell, this was easily passed in the good weather we had on Saturday but it’s not a route I’d fancy tackling in torrential rain.  Mind you there aren’t many routes that I think could be improved upon if only there were an apocalyptic downpour. 

As you cross the col towards Sca Fell you become immediately aware that you are now dealing with an entirely different type of fell.  Scafell Pike is the famous, sanitised fell that everybody wants to climb; Sca Fell on the other hand is big and brash and makes no concessions for anyone.  It reminded me in an odd way of Princes William and Harry.  Prince William (Scafell Pike) is the public face, the one that has to behave and be accessible to the public; Prince Harry (Sca Fell) on the other hand, can get away with being rather more mischievous and badly behaved.  I immediately warmed to Sca Fell…

Join me in part II when we scramble up a gill, successfully navigate through the mist and finally descend the infamous Lord’s Rake.