Archive for the 'Lakes Escapes' Category

The Keeltappers and Grunters Social Club 2010 Patterdale Meet – Saturday

Posted by on February 10th 2010 in Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes, YHA
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The morning was bright and sunny with a low mist when we prepped for our days out. Mike was going out on the water, having brought his self-built sea-kayak "Tootega". Phil would be joining him on the water. Frank was happy to accompany me on a walk from Howtown back to the hostel via Hallin Fell and Beda Head (Wainwrights that I'd not been up), so we made off to the Glenridding boat-landings to catch the first steamer to Howtown. Somehow we managed to pass the pub without going in, despite the enticing aroma of another cooked breakfast...

 

White Lion, Patterdale

 

At the landings we hit a snag - the first sailing was cancelled due to fog on the water. If we had waited for the next sailing then we'd have been short on time for the walk, so Frank suggested going up either Sheffield Pike or Birkhouse Moor (or maybe even both) instead, as he'd not been up them before. Sorted. We started the long trudge up towards YHA Helvellyn and the old mine-works, with me listening intently to Frank telling more tales of climbing and of shagging.

Very occasionally Frank stopped (walking) to draw breath, so I took advantage of such opportunities to take some pics from the zig-zag path:

 

 

Views of Catstycam +/- Frank

 

After taking a deliberate detour up the spoil-heaps we found a nice spot for a breather and a brew, at some old mine-workings near the dam just above the Swart Beck ravine:

 

The view from the top of the ravine

 

After a dryshod crossing and a trudge through some virgin heather on Lucy's Tongue we gained the ridge-path where the views were superb:

 

Glencoyne Head

 

 

More views of Catstycam -/+ BG!

 

From there it was a gentle stroll to the summit, as demonstrated here by Frank:

 

Frank strolling on up towards Sheffield Pike summit

 

The views from the top were impressive, so the camera came out yet again. Here's a 300-degree panorama, you'll have to click it to see it in detail:

 

Ullswater - Hart Side Panorama

 

We counted many folk on Helvellyn and its satellites:

 

Folk on the tops and ridges

 

but despite getting a nice view of Ullswater, we couldn't see Mike:

 

Ullswater from Sheffield Pike

 

On the way down to Glenridding Dodd we passed a potentially-good wildcamping spot:

 

A quiet, sheltered place

 

before getting a good look at the Dodd itself:

 

The High Street range above Glenridding Dodd

 

After more talk of climbing and of shagging we reached the top of the Dodd which gave us views forwards to Patterdale and backwards to Sheffield Pike:

 

 

Patterdale and Sheffield Pike from Glenridding Dodd

 

The rocks of the summit-cairn are obviously volcanic in origin...

 

🙂

 

The final pic of the day was of the view over Glenridding:

 

Glenridding, Place Fell and the Head of Ullswater

 

We descended The Rake above Blaes Crag and steeled ourselves for the road-walk back to the hostel, but got side-tracked while trying to pass the Traveller's Rest pub. A cool drink, a real fire in the bar and the Six Nations on the telly were just too tempting. As we were leaving, Frank spotted Mike and Phil in the lounge, so we had to stay for another drink. Just to be sociable, of course. The delay of our departure had absolutely nothing to do with Frank detecting the presence of a fine young lady who surely must be the one-and-only Melanie Frontage.

Anyway, I digress. After the beers/leers Mike gave us a lift back to the hostel where we collaborated to produce a hearty meal for the four of us. Frank cooked a seafood pasta dish and provided some nice wine, I provided a toffee pud with custard, boil-in-the-can caramel stodge and Jaffa Cakes, and Mike brought snacks, dips and beer. Top stuff! Frank retired early in preparation for his planned Sunday activity (I bet you can't guess what that was), while the rest of us stayed up chatting until it was time to sleep.

To be continued...

The Keeltappers and Grunters Social Club 2010 Patterdale Meet – Friday

Posted by on February 9th 2010 in Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes, YHA
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First up - an apology for the choice of post-title. Mike nabbed the best one for his blog. My only other alternative was "The Good, The Bald and The Ugly" and I didn't want to go offending anybody...

Anyways, late afternoon saw me, Mike Bell and Frank Adams meeting up at YHA Patterdale for a weekend of doing "stuff" around Ullswater. I'd had an earlier start than usual which meant that I had time to grab some pics on the way up from Windermere to Patterdale via the Kirkstone Pass. There wasn't much snow on the tops but they were quite picturesque despite the failing light:

 

Looking towards Threshthwaite Mouth

 

The Ill Bell Ridge

 

Middle Dodd

 

After we'd got ourselves sorted at the hostel we headed off to the village in search of vittles. A glance through the window of the White Lion revealed a few folk inside enjoying fine food, but we pushed on to the Patterdale Hotel to see what they had to offer. The beer was OK but the place was eerily quiet and the food a tad pricey, so we supped up and went back to the Lion where we had good meals and fine beers. We had a good moan about all sorts of things, and Frank entertained us with his tales of climbing and of shagging. Mike's paddling-friend Phil joined us for some beers before we rolled back to the hostel for more chinwagging and to sample various breeds of alcohol before lights-out.

To be continued...

We need a go, no-go for launch

Posted by on November 30th 2009 in Fundraising Folk, Great Escapes, In the News, Lakes Escapes, Weather

There's snow on them there Cumbrian Fells and the winter gear's prepped and ready for the off when the opportunity arises.

But there's a dilemma. Something twisting in my mind that I've got to get straightened out before I can commit to another visit...

During the current post-flooding clean-up and repair operation, would my going be a drain on the resources of the area or would it help to contribute to the local economy?

Just getting there could be a strain on the transport infrastructure, what with the trashed roads and unsafe bridges that are the focus of repair gangs and the Army. I'd planned to stay at one of the YHA hostels and maybe eat and drink out, but I can't see that much of the spend would benefit those who are in most need. Besides, I'm sure that the LDSAMRA would have better things to do than to chug up a hill to stretcher me down if the need arose. They're all volunteers from the local community, they've been involved as rescuers during the recent disaster and no doubt they all know somebody who's suffered because of the deluge. I don't want to be a potential distraction while they deal with the aftermath of the floods.

Maybe the best thing for me to do is to stay away for a while and let them concentrate on getting the basics sorted out. In the meantime, a contribution to the Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund via The Cumbria Community Foundation website or to the Cumbria Flood Appeal 2009 via The Wainwright Society's website would seem to be the best way to ensure that help gets to the folk that need it. John Hee recommends supporting MREW's Basecamp, more details here.

The people and places of Cumbria have given me much joy over the many years that I've been going there.

It's time to give something back.

Doing a one-eighty-one?

Posted by on November 20th 2009 in Great Escapes, Health, or lack thereof, Lakes Escapes, YHA
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I'd had an early night so I was awake well before breakfast. I got up and looked out of the window - good, it wasn't raining. Grabbing the map, I mulled over the options for a three-hour walk... Rosthwaite Fell was just over the road, I've never been up there so it seemed ideal. The hostel warden had said it was OK to leave the motor in their car-park after checking out as long as it wasn't an overnight thing, so there was no need to drive-and-hike.

After washing and dressing I got the pack ready and headed for the stairs down to the kitchen, being in need of a cuppa before breakfast, but there was a problem. I'd been walking about just fine on the flat, but the knee that I twisted the day before while descending the Lining Crag cascade just didn't want to go down any steps - it was most peculiar and most painful, although there was no visible damage. After I'd hobbled down, it was fine on the flat again, and after another good three-course hostel breakfast I went back upstairs to the dorm and all seemed OK, so I collected my gear to take it out to the car. Yes, you guessed it - the stairs beat it again.

So that was the day scuppered. Going up and along would be OK, but descending would be a nightmare and I didn't want to risk making things worse.  Ibuprofen would kill the pain but it wouldn't make the knee work, so I packed the car, said my goodbyes and started headed home, just as the heavens opened again. I was annoyed to the point of distraction, and didn't even yield to the temptations of the Ambleside gear-shops.

Suffice to say that it's all fixed now - just a couple of days of rest and the knee seems to be fighting-fit again. Even so, I'll give it a couple of weeks before I take it to the fells, just to be sure that all's well.

One-eighty-one can wait for a bit longer. How much longer depends on my injury/Wainwright ratio, which has been pretty dire this year.

Hopefully the season will end with some decent winter-walking - I can't remember ever falling or slipping in frozen conditions.

Doing a one-eighty

Posted by on November 18th 2009 in Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes, YHA
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The usual battle on the M6 didn't happen - the drive up was a sedate and rainless affair, mainly due to those excellent "average speed" cameras set up along the many miles of carriageway-widening scheme works which aims to provide us with four lanes each way by first cutting us down to two. Borrowdale YHA was reached at a reasonable time, and I got the pick of the bunks in the dorm - needless to say, I nabbed the one by the radiator. While I was sorting the gear the rain started and became so strong that I decided to stay in the hostel for the evening meal instead of paddling to the nearest bar. This turned out to be a shrewd move, as the three-course hostel fare was excellent, the lamb hot-pot being the best I've had for a long time.

After an evening of chilling and route-planning, I'd decided that the objective for Saturday would be Ullscarf via Greenup Edge, with the option of doing a one-eighty and extending the route to include High Raise if time and conditions were favourable. I packed the kit accordingly and hit the sack early.

Next morning I was up bright and early. The rain had stopped and things were looking good. After a hearty three-course YHA breakfast I donned the pack and ventured outside, just as the rain started again.

 

 

 

 

The walk through Stonethwaite, across the bridge and up Stonethwaite Beck, was sodden underfoot but for that first half-hour I was comfy using the Rab VR Climb as defence against upper-body wetness. It all changed as I passed Galleny Force, however, as the gods put the weather-machine into overdrive. The rain suddenly got much heavier and an evil wind started chucking it down the valley. As predicted, the Rab Corrie jacket had to be wielded in anger for the first time. I've never seen so much water running down the fellsides...

 

 

 

 

The run-off had submerged the path in many places, which meant that crossings were dodgy affairs, not so much because of the depths but more because of the force of the water. I waded the worst of the crossings as I slogged up the Greenup Gill path as far as the confluence of Greenhow and Mere Gills but there I found the water impassable without both danger and loss of dignity. After heading upslope alongside one of the two Mere Gill tributaries and finding no better options for crossing, I decided that my best option would be to change the plan and attack the fell directly, rather than via the Edge. It didn't look too steep on the map - just a few bits of 45 degree stuff, easy to zig-zag. So up I went.

Well, it was a knackering experience, all the better for the ground being slippery enough to ensure that the adrenaline never stopped flowing. I found just one small level place, near the top of the steep stuff, where I dared to stop and take some pics. I'm glad that I went up that way though, as it's a great place from where to view the glacial features of the hanging valley and the proper proportions of Lining Crag without it all being distorted by perspective:

 

 

The view down to Eagle Crag and Borrowdale wasn't too bad either:

 

 

From there on it was a marshy trudge to find the ridge's line of wireless fenceposts, which crosses the summit and hence was a good guide in what was now the base of the clouds. After 20 minutes of alternating clarity and wind-whipped clag I found the summit-cairn and stopped to take pics:

 

 

Then I did a one-eighty and headed back towards Greenup Edge, into the wind-driven stinging rain and weighing-up in my mind the option of extending to High Raise. Occasionally I could make out the path up there from the Edge, but it was mostly clagged up and didn't look appealing. As I neared the decision-point deep in the flooded marshes atop the Edge it started hailing big-time, which made the decision obvious - a dignified retreat to Lining Crag and a descent from there seemed much the more sensible thing to do. After slopping and wading to the big cairn overlooking the way down to Greenup Gill I found the path and set off to Lining Crag.

 

 

The views from the Crag were impressive during occasional breaks in the cloudbase, and I took some pics, but soon it was time to continue the descent. And that's where it all started to go bad...

There's a made-path down the side, where the crag meets the fellside. It's near-enough a straight-line down at a severe angle and due to the incessant rain it had become a cascade (it's the stream that you can see in the first pic of Lining Crag above). The rocks used for the path have been set at a slight angle downslope so that they don't retain water, but that just makes a slip more likely in descent. And that's what happened, several times, straight into the cascade. One particular slip ended in a twisted knee which I thought was going to be a day-wrecker, but it held together quite well and didn't cause any major hassle. By the time I got to the base of the crag, I was utterly soaked and the pack was full of water. Luckily all of the important kit was in roll-top liner-bags.

At the base is a small grassy flat where two couples were having a breather before their attempt to go up the path. They didn't have much of an option as they were practising their "Coast-to-Coast" route, bound for Grasmere via Greenup and Far Easedale, but I'm sure that they thought twice about this section having watched my antics. We chatted for a few minutes, during which I told them about the conditions on the path and up on the Edge. After a few more minutes I left them to it and started off towards the valley just as the rain started to ease.

The descent was uneventful until I got to the stream that had blocked me on the way up. The level had dropped by a couple of feet and I judged it safe to cross,  but I underestimated the force of the water and was swept off the submerged stepping-stones and ended up standing in three feet of white water. It was a very effective way to clean the mud off me boots. Walking further, I grabbed a few more pics in the improving conditions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was beginning to think that I would make it back to the hostel with no further hassle, as the wind had dropped and the rain had stopped, so I paused for a breather at the bridge just above the confluence with Langstrath Beck, where there is a magnificent view of Eagle Crag. My poor camera skills don't do it any justice whatsoever:

 

 

 

I started back down the easy last few miles just as the weather kicked in for the last time. The wind had done a one-eighty and was now full in the face, and the rain started stinging again.

And did I care?

Not one bit.

I was wet, yes, but I was warm and happy. There was no point in avoiding the streams and flooded paths, so I just waded and splashed through them, just like a big kid. Great fun! Even the livestock seemed to be enjoying the weather:

 

 

 

Right at the end of the walk I dragged the camera out again for a few more pics before the light failed. The views from the hostel grounds are quite good - much better than shown in these shots :

 

 

 

 

Back at the hostel my gear took up a good chunk of the drying-room. I even had to get the warden to put my camera and lenses in a safe place to dry, as they were wet through. Later, while sat in front of the open fire, I put a tick against Ullscarf on my Wainwrights list and then double-checked the total number visited so far.

The number?

One-eighty, of course.

To be continued...

.

Lead us not into temptation.

Posted by on November 8th 2009 in Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes
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Afar in foreign graves they lie,
Not here where they could wish to be,
"Under the wide and starry sky,"
Upheld by British crag and scree.


And yet we felt their spirits dwell
Amidst the circumambient air,
Above the heights they loved so well,
Austere, enchanting, cloud-capped, bare.


For those who bravely die, 'twas said,
Their tomb is the wide earth's extent,
And Gable is for these, our dead,
Their playground, and their monument.

 

W. Snow.

 

 

Next weekend I'm off to Borrowdale YHA to sample the infamous high levels of precipitation again. In theory, this could be the first time I get to wear my Rab Corrie jacket in anger - for the last three years it's stayed in the bottom of the pack whatever the weather, relegated in favour of the Rab VR Climb and the Montane Featherlite Smock. I'd best check that it still fits me!

So far I've not figured out where I'm going to walk, I might just leave that decision until I'm there and can assess the weather first-hand. The obvious choices for me are the three Wainwright fells thereabouts that I've yet to visit properly. Of the three candidates only Ullscarf and Rosthwaite Fell are really in the frame, as a long time ago I decided to save Castle Crag for my "compleation" fell.

The problem is that Borrowdale's so near to the heart of Lakeland that a foray to the bigger fells will always be a temptation. The Scafells are probably beyond my range at the moment due to me not being at the pinnacle of human fitness, but there's always the draw of Great Gable which, by then, should be wearing its traditional red cap of Remembrance despite requests by the FRCC to not leave poppies or wreaths on the mountain. Maybe it's time to go back there again by a different route - such a fine place deserves yet another visit, and it's another chance to honour the fallen.

 
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