Lakes Training Walk December 2012

Hello there Dear Reader,

Well, I thought it was time to trim the fat from the midriff after the Christmas Turkey and get on down to some serious exercise.

I had planned for some time in advance that Karl and I would go for a walk on Saturday 29th December, whatever the weather would throw at us. We decided to go to The lakes to do some peaks in the Langdales, and boy,. the weather did not disappoint! To be fair, this was the wettest year on record, and I arrived on the back of mass floods across the country. Not great omens for our walk.

Karl wanted to do Sergeant Crag and eagle Crag to add to his Wainwright pins, and I wanted to do Pike of Stickle, the only peak missing from this range for me.

We parked at Seathwaite and set off into the gloom at 08.30 just as it got light. We have a maximum 7½ hours of daylight, so we need to be sure we are down in good time in this weather. It fast becomes clear there are no paths up to the tops, merely rivers of differing depths. All the rivers had burst their banks, all streams, brooks, springs and tonnes and tonnes of surface water were all looking for the path of least resistance, namely, our path up to the top. I was lucky I was wearing my heavy duty Meindl boots with Gortex gaiters, but Karl was not equipped for weather this bad. I asked him after 10 minutes if his feet were still dry, after wading through water 12 inches deep for ½ mile. He said his boots filled up the minute he left the car park! So not a pleasant trek ahead for Kark!

My theory was it would get better as we got higher as all the water appeared to be flowing to the bottom. However, halfway up, Karl said once we get to the top, then it really gets boggy! when we nearly reached Greenup Edge, so reaching relatively flat ground, I saw this hiking boot left in the bog. I just thought how desperate would you have to feel to lose your boot, and just leave it and carry on regardless!

I was slightly ahead of Karl as we reached the steep climb to Greenup Edge so I just started to climb this rocky waterfall. I didn't think about my poor Rufus trying to follow his master! I realised I was simply climbing a waterfall, with the path 10 yards over to the left! I jumped across, and poor Rufie tried to jump also. He fell down! I managed to coax him around eventually, looking sheepish and embarrassed (Rufie, not me!).

At the top was the boundary post signifying the high point of Greenup Edge. Rufus and I had been here before on the English leg of our Coast to Coast Walks. Here is a picture from back then as I didn't take one this time around. I was too wet!

The Motley Crew

From here, we started to tick off peaks. it is weird seeing the Langdales from behind, rather than from the front, as I am used to climbing this range from Dungeon Ghyll. We first hit Low White Stones, then High White Stones.

Low White Stones

High White Stones

Karl at High White Stones

I was positive I was already on High Raise until Karl told me otherwise. Whilst I was resetting my Sat nav, he just strode off into the thick cloud. The human compass, who did know where he was, which was more than I did!

We soon reached High Raise where we were battered by hurricane force wind and hailstones We had to batten down the hatches, zip up tight and hold on!

Karl holding on tight to the trig point to stop blowing away!

At this point, Karl suggested we miss out Sergeant Man and eagle Crag, as the weather was crap, and we had limited daylight hours. I had already done them before, and Karl comes up to Lakes every few weeks so can do them another time. We decide to move onto Pike of Stickle then down, which suits me.

I told Karl a story of when I last did Segeant Man and Eagle Crag many years ago. I met up with my friend Trevor and his then girlfriend Ros. We had planned to do some walking as Ros had told Trev she had done lots of walking in the Lakes. I just assumed this was on the fell tops, so planned to do my favourite walk up Dungeon Ghyll force to Stickle tarn, then climb up Jack's Rake to Pavey Arc and then tackle the stickles beyond and come down via Sergeant Man and Eagle Crag. It did not take long to realise Ros was struggling, and we needed to decide whether to turn back or change our route. So I suggested we picnic at Stickle Tarn and return. However, I suggested I would like to climb Pavey Arc via Jack's Rake and run back down to meet them in the pub at the bottom. Trev decided to come with me to climb the rake and meet Ros on the shores of Stickle Tarn and climb back to the bottom to meet me later. Once at the top I decided to attempt harrison Stickle, High raise, then Segeant man and Eagle Crag, so set off at a canter. I was sprinting down to Stickle Tarn after hitting all 5 peaks and then hopping down Dungeon Ghyll Force when I ran into Trev and Ros only 100 yards down from the tarn! I ended up waiting for then both at the pub, and Trev has never forgiven me! Don't blame him.

Here are some images of the Langdales from the Dungeon Ghyll side when I did it on a boiling hot day in July back in 1988, nearly ¼ of a Century ago!

Me climbing Dungeon Ghyll Force. Note, no water! was very hot

Me in front of Pavey Arc at Stickle Tarn.

Sister Charlotte at foot of Jack's Rake (see behind)

Jack's Rake in all its glory

My Sister Charlotte half way up

Me at top of Jack's Rake with Pavey Arc behind

Back to the December trek!

From High Raise, Karl pointed the way to our final destination, Pike of Stickle. Invisible in the cloud, so I trust to Karl's superior navigation skills. Then the clouds all blew away, and the view blew me away! This was worth the slog, and a great looking peak.

We cam across our first fell walkers at Pike of Stickle, apart from the mad fell runner we saw at Greenup Edge. This was yet another scramble for Rufus, but he is a seasoned pro by now.

Come on karl!

Me at the top. A new pin for the 1st time in years!

The trek down was a slog on an endless winding path. My knee started to give out, which is worrying for the challenge ahead. I will be using knee braces and walking poles then. I try the poles for the first time ever, and find I can go much faster which is a good spot for the challenge as we will need to run down the mountains to hit the times we have been set.

View down the valley

The winding path

Petrified tree, given up the ghost!

I really enjoyed this one despite the weather. My feet were damp, but Karl had feet like ice blocks whcih took about 3 days to thaw out.

Roll on next training session. I aim to do some endurance walks over 25 miles a day for the next few months.

See you later dear reader.