When It Doesn't Go To Plan

 It's important to realise that things don't always go exactly as planned. Conditions or circumstances can change meaning your planned day (or days) out in the wilderness don't go exactly as planned.

My recent birthday weekend was one such example...

In the weeks leading up to my birthday, I had drawn up a route to ascend Scafell Pike - England's highest mountain - from Great Langdale. At just over 14 miles round-trip, this wasn't the shortest route up the mountain, but I was hoping to summit five new Wainwrights over two days, with a wild-camp in between.

As the date drew nearer, even though it was mid-August, the weather forecast wasn't looking to promising & the idea of a wild camp was taken off the cards. It was still a walk that could be done in one day though, with an early start.

I arrived at a grey & overcast Old Dungeon Ghyll National Trust Car Park just before 8 AM & got a pay-and-display ticket. As I was booting up, I heard an almighty crash. Thunder? - was my first thought. Then a few smaller crashes could be heard from a nearby crag. It was clear it was a rock fall - a boulder crashing down the hillside.

From the off, I had my waterproof jacket on. It wasn't raining just yet, but it was in the air. I set off down the valley of Mickleden, picking up the bridleway behind the ODG Hotel, towards the head of the valley. There was a lot of water coming down off the hills, and streaming across the track.

At the head of the valley, I crossed the footbridge & reached the cairn which marked the t-junction of the path. From here, the right path headed over Stake Pass over to Langstrath. The left path - which I would be taking - headed up Rossett Gill towards Esk Hause.

Low cloud was persistently hanging over the fell tops, with no sign of abating. I headed up the hillside, and into the clouds.

It wouldn't have been to bad if this was the worse it would get. I've walked through low cloud before without any issues.

Just as I was reaching the top of Rossett Gill, it began to rain. I already had my waterproof jacket on, so up went the hood, out came the rain cover for my backpack, and I continued on, hoping it was just a passing shower.

I then spotted the turn off to my first Wainwright. Just a few minutes from the main Esk Hause path I reached the top of Rossett Pike (#142 - Rossett Pike - 2,106 ft). But, there were no views, and it was still raining.

I grabbed a photo of the shrouded summit, and weighed up my next move.

I headed back to the path from Rossett Gill and continued on until it reached Angle Tarn. Apparently this is a bit of a beauty spot, but the low cloud & rain gave it a very foreboding feel.

With the conditions deteriorating, and the wind picking up I decided the best course of action would be to cut-short my route to Scafell Pike.

From Angle Tarn, I followed a path around the lake which then ascended the lower slopes of Esk Pike to the col of Ore Gap.

The route up was very saturated with water, small streams everywhere & quite boggy underfoot to the point where my boots were starting to feel damp on the inside. My 'water resistant' hiking trousers had reached their saturation point & were now soaking wet, but my waterproof jacket was still holding up, just slight condensation on the inside.

From Ore Gap I turned south onto Bowfell. I then heard voices and saw four silhouette s moving in the mist. It was a group of fell runners - in shorts - heading the same way. They quickly passed me & disappeared back into the fog.

After a short while though I found myself on the summit of Bowfell. There was no point in lingering around, and picked up the path off the mountain, descending via a ridge known as the Band. On the way down I passed a few people heading up onto the fells. Firstly appearing as ghostly apparitions in the mist, giving a knowing nod, or 'hello' in passing, before vanishing back into the ether.

Roughly half way into my descent of the Band I reached the base of the cloud layer, and could thankfully now see the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel in the valley below me.

At this point my trousers were soaked, as were my boots. My boots also felt a little loose. Thinking it was just my lace that had come undone I stopped re-tie only to realise the bootlace had snapped completely. I managed to do a temporary fix that would hopefully last until the car park.

During my stop I also had a look at my phone to check how far I had travelled & how far I had to go, only to find the battery dead - likely due to the cold & damp conditions. Luckily I wasn't dependant on it to find my way back (and if I was unsure, I always carried a paper map with me as a back up).

The rain had stopped by the time I got back to the ODG, so I decided to head into the walkers bar to grab some hot food - and their chilli-con-carne was on the menu.

Although not the best fell walking experience, I did put into practice a number of 'safety nets' that hikers are advised to put into action should the need arise. Mainly - always have a 'Plan B' in place where you can cut short your main route & get off the hill as quickly as possible & secondly, never solely rely on your mobile phone for navigation.

I also learned the difference between 'water proof' and 'water resistant', and so in the weeks following I decided to invest in some proper waterproof over-trousers & a new pair of hiking boots.

Mark