Off To A Rocky Start

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

As the bells tolled to ring in 1st January 2019, I thought back on all my adventures in the Lake District, not just over 2018, but back to when I started my fell-walking journey on that fateful September day back in 2015.

I set a resolution that this year, 2019, would be the year I complete the 214 Wainwright Lake-land Fells.

A Rocky Start

Saturday 5th January 2019

It had been an unusually mild start to the new year. Twelve months previous, I had been on a couple of fantastic snowy winter walks around both the Langdale & Glenridding areas. January 2019 however had yet to see any of the 'white stuff' fall on the hills. Instead, it was mainly damp & cloudy.

But I was getting itchy feet. It had been about six weeks since I was last up in Cumbria, climbing fells whilst away celebrating my Fathers birthday. The hills they were a-calling.

I pulled into the National Trust car park at the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel at just after 8AM. It was dry, no rain was forecast, but it was cloudy skies overhead, with the higher tops wearing their grey hats. The sun was about half-an-hour from rising, and I was hoping to have started my ascent by then.

Heading out of the car park, I headed west along the path, joining with the road to Stool End Farm. The road ran through open fields, where Herdwick sheep were grazing. I noticed there were a few male sheep - known as 'Tups' - within the herd and they had been marked quite colourfully by the farmer, making it look as though punk rock was making a come-back.

Continuing along the road, I headed through the farmyard where a track leaded further into the valley. After passing through a gate in the road. The valley track continued, flatly along the bottom of Oxendale, however my route took the steeper path turning up onto The Band.

I had descended this path back in August, on my birthday walk where I got drenched. I was hoping this return journey would be much drier. I had packed my waterproofs though, just in case!

The first third of the ascent was an unforgiving ascent up the nose of The Band, a ridge leading up to the col between Crinkle Crags and Bowfell. Every now & then I stopped, and looked back at how far I had climbed, and the sky began to show the first hints of sunrise. Subtle pink highlights were picked up on the underside of the cloud base, with a lovely view back over Great Langdale.

The terrain then levelled slightly as I passed below White Stones and over Earing Crag. However, up ahead I could see my route, which turned off the main path to the col at Three Tarns, and instead headed to the start of the Climbers Traverse. It was particularly windy on the open expanse of Earing Crag, so I stopped and pulled out my down jacket, as it would only get colder the higher I went.

I left the main path behind and followed the narrower path up a gully, which surprisingly had a coulpe of stone pitched steps laid. About half way up the gully, a grassy arete jutted out away from the crag, and I headed to its head in order to look back & survey the route ahead.

From the arete I could see over to the Langdale PIkes, the Mickleden valley was a few hundred feet below, and over to Rossett Pike and Stake Pass, which would be my way back down later in the day. A great spot to pitch a small tent in better weather, I thought.

With each step I climbed, I was getting closer to the base of the ominous clouds overhead. The path narrowed at the top of the gully, and I reach the start of the Climbers Traverse.

A narrow path snaked its way below crags which towered overhead. On the other side, a steep drop descended to the valley floor below.

It reminded me a lot of my route up (and down) to Angle Tarn back in October, which followed a similarly narrow path below Heck Crag in the Bannerdale valley - and was in much windier & wetter conditions!

I continued on. Luckily there was no need to worry about getting lost as there was only one way to go - forward.

It was a great little path, with awe-inspiring cliffs. The narrow path hugged the terrain, and gently climbed. The cloud base was now just a few dozen feet overhead.

The path then headed below Flat Crags, and I knew I wasn't far of the foot of the Great Slab.

This is a landmark of Bowfell, and can be seen for miles around. I could actually see it very clearly whilst wild-camping on Red Screes in the summer - which is some 9½ miles away as the crow flies.

This huge, flat slab of rock is tilted at quite a steep angle. The bottom of the slab was quite damp & wet, from water run-off from higher up the fell. There was also quite a bit of ice and icicles around here from the sub-zero temperatures of the nights before. In some areas, I could actually see water running below the frozen ice, air bubbles showing the direction of flow in their attempt to escape. This was a very shaded spot, and I doubt it saw much sunlight, if any, during the winter months.

Apart from the Great Slab, two other huge rock formations also rose from this spot. Straight ahead were Cambridge Crags towering above. At the base of the crag was quite an impressive little spring, gushing ice cold water out of the mountain to form the start of a small beck which headed down into the valley. Wainwright said of the water from this spring that 'nothing better ever came out of a barrel or bottle'. On the opposite side, its top in the clouds, was Bowfell Buttress. Both the crags & buttress were popular with rock climbers - hence the Climbers Traverse route being the easiest way to access.

I didn't plan to climb either. Instead, I turned towards the Great Slab. It is recommended to not venture onto the slab itself - if one was to slip on the sloped sandstone, there would be nothing to stop the slide over the edge. However, there was a small rocky path which ran up through a river of boulders on the edge of the slab below Cambridge Crags. I began my final ascent / scramble to the top.

By the time I reached the top of the Great Slab I was in the cloud. Unfortunately I couldn't get a view of the slab as the visibility had dropped that much. I had been here before though, so I had a pretty good idea of the direction to take. I soon spotted a frosty cairn which marked the path which runs over the top of Bowfell, so I followed it until the faint pyramid shaped outline of the summit mound appeared through the cloud.

It was cold up here. My gloves were on. Rime ice had formed on the cairns, stones& grasses all around. Rime ice is formed by water vapour rapidly freezing on an object in cloud or fog.

As I climbed up the boulders up to the summit, the rocks became quite icy, and on the westerly side of the summit, the frost was even more prevalent. It was odd, however that the worst of the conditions were on the last 40 or so feet of the climb. Below that, it was just frost, and the rocks weren't icy.

Just as I approached the summit, another chap arrived. We had a brief chat. He had climbed up from Seathwaite in Borrowdale, and, after Bowfell, was going to attempt Scafell Pike!

We took shelter in the rocks on different parts of the summit, and a had a few sips of hot chocolate from my Thermos to keep me warm, before setting off on the next part of my journey.

Heading north off Bowfell, the path became much less frosty, and for a short time, I descended out of the clag whilst crossing the col at Ore Gap. I remembered this area from my birthday drenching, when I had cut-short that walk and took a short-cut up to here from Rossett Pike.

This time, I headed straight over the red-tinged ground before ascending from my only new Wainwright on this hike - Esk Pike.

Although not quite as high as Bowfell, the climb of Esk Pike still involved heading into the clouds. Being 60 foot shorter than Bowfell, it looked as though Esk Pike was out of the zone for rime ice, but it was still pretty cold & damp.

The summit itself is a long rocky outcrop about 7-8 foot in height which is conveniently situated right beside the path. A quick scramble, and I was on the top, keeping my balance in the wind whilst grabbing a shot of the diminutive cairn. (#166 - Esk Pike - 2,903 ft)

It was almost half past one. I explored around the summit, and below the outcrop, I found a nice little sheltered area out of the wind behind some rocks, where I stopped for a bite to eat.

After lunch, it was time to descend. Picking up the path, I headed north west of the fell. The path headed down a rocky gully, which was icy in patches, but, as the saying goes "slow and steady wins the race".

Soon I was back out of the cloud, overlooking the well-trodden mountain cross roads of Esk Hause. Mountain paths converge here from all directions. As well as the route to Esk Pike, from here paths also lead down to Eskdale, up to Scafell Pike, over & down to Seathwaite, across the ridge of Allen Crags & Glaramara, down into the Langstrath valley & finally - the route I would be taking - a path back to Langdale.

From here, I was hoping to see up close the mountain I have planned to end my Wainwright journey on - the aptly named Great End, part of the Scafell ridge. Unfortunately, Great End, the 7th highest mountain in England, had its top in the clouds. A few walkers were descending its grassy slopes however, and there were a few people passing over Esk Hause overall - like Piccadilly Circus!! Haha.

Making sure to pick up the right path, I headed east. The route was well graded & stone pitched. The path began to descend into a 'bowl' with the high crags of Esk Pike & Hanging Knott on one side. I recognised this area from my birthday walk again, it was from here I took the short cut up to Ore Gap...and it was nice to actually see & appreciate the surroundings instead of hunkering down in my waterproofs.

The view that was shrouded from me last time, was of Angle Tarn (different to the one I camped at for the Deer Rut), which was at the bottom of the rocky 'bowl'.

Ahead of me was Rossett Pike, just a short walk up the stone path. Just before the path began to descend down the other side to the Rossett Gill route, I turned off onto a grass path & up to Rossett Pike's summit. I felt after my birthday drenching that this little peak deserved a second visit.

From the summit of Rossett Pike, the path continues along the precipice above Rossett Crags, providing a lovely view over Langdale - although the cloud lingering above Bowfell meant it was a dull view this afternoon. The cloud had lifted slightly, however, and I was able to look back & see the Great Slab, and the route of the Climbers Traverse I had taken a few hours earlier.

The above is an annotated photo of Bowfell's Climbers Traverse (route in red) - as viewed from Rossett Crags.

Continuing along the top of Rossett Crags - which seemed to be another good wild-camping location, with its own small tarn for a water supply - I was keeping a look out for a minor path to descend below Black Crags & meet up with the top of the Stake Pass path.

I found the minor path, which I wasn't 100% sure was a path or sheep-trod, but I followed it anyway. There were a few sheep on the path as it skirted below Black Crags, but after just stopping and staring at me (wondering why this bloke has appeared out of nowhere to disturb their grass munching), they hopped out of the way, and got back to their grass.

The top of Stake Pass was in sight, however the path I was followed had faded into nothingness. Luckily, all that was between me and the pass was a gradual grass slope - in no time at all, I was on the stone pitched path of Stake Pass, descending it's zig-zags with weary legs back down into Mickleden valley, and, at the opposite end of the valley, the Old Dungeon Ghyll, my first hike of the year, done.

Mark