We chose the Langdale Pikes for
our final walk this holiday, partly because they were easily accessible
from Grasmere, and partly because they are such landmarks that we
felt we could not call ourselves true Lakeland walkers until we
had climbed them.
So we set off to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel
on a beautifully sunny and warm day with hardly a cloud in the sky.
We parked in the public car park across the road. From here, we
could clearly see the Stickle Path behind the Hotel. This was our
intended ascent, which would take us straight up to Pavey Ark's
impressive buttress. |
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the New Dungeon Ghyll hotel with stickle
path and the top of pavey ark behind |
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the langdale Pikes from new Dungeon ghyll |
| We had read in the books on the Langdales,
that this is one of those routes, where one toils up a steep path
with plenty of views back across the valley, but where one's intended
destination suddenly appears at the end, revealing a most impressive
view as a reward for the hard work of the ascent. |
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stickle ghyll and stickle path with pavey ark behind |
| As we started the walk up Stickle
Path, we did not quite agree with the books that say that all the
beautiful views were hidden until the end, as the waterfalls of Stickle
Ghyll were very beautiful in their own right. |
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Waterfalls in stickle ghyll |
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foxgloves at the side of stickle ghyll |
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Bigger waterfalls at stickle ghyll |
A little higher up, the path is
covered in great slabs of rock, and some scrambling is required
for a while.
Having accomplished this, we paused to catch
our breath, and take a look back across Great Langdale to Lingmoor,
bathed in sun on the other side of the valley. |
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Lingmoor fell from stikcle ghyll |
| After a little more climbing, as promised
in the guide books, the magnificent buttress of Pavey Ark suddenly
came into view, towering above us. |
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Pavey ark coming into view |
| And below Pavey Ark is Stickle Tarn,
where one can sit in a magical, hidden world, where everything is
quiet and the views are spectacular. |
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Harrison stickle from stickle tarn |
| We sat at Stickle Tarn for quite a
while, joined by a Lesser Black-backed Gull, just enjoying the peace
and tranquility. |
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stickle tarn |
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harrison stickle behind stickle tarn |
| But we had still to reach our first summit of the day,
so eventually we pressed on, taking the path round the back of Pavey
Ark, where we had good views of Sergeant Man towards High Raise. |
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Sergeant Man from the path behind Pavey Ark |
We were also able to see our last
intended summit of the day, Thunacar Knott, in the distance. In
the books I have read on the Lake District I have often seen it
mentioned that Pavey Ark is merely the front buttress of Thunacar
Knott, so I was interested to check this out in order to make up
my own mind, and to some extent I could see their point.
Whether or not the two are connected, according to our Top 100
list, the two peaks are separate, so we made our way to our first
summit of the day.
Pavey Ark's summit was very rocky, and offered good views all round. |
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David on Pavey Ark |
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the Blea rigg ridge with windermere on the right |
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High Raise and Sergeant man from pavey ark |
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The North Western Fells from Pavey Ark |
| We were able to see the path to our
next summit, Harrison Stickle, the highest of the Langdale Pikes,
quite clearly from Pavey Ark. It is so much easier to do a walk when
the visibility is good! |
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Looking towards harrison stickle |
| We were also able to look back down
on the magical Stickle Tarn. |
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Stickle tarn, suspended below pavey ark |
| The distance between the summits of
the Langdales is not great, and we were soon on Harrison Stickle. |
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Ascent of Harrison Stickle |
| David had his photo taken at the summit,
and then we took in some more spectacular views all round. |
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David at the summit of Harrison Stickle |
| From the summit, we had a direct view
of the next summit of the day, Pike O'Stickle. |
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Pike O'Stickle from Harrison Stickle |
| Beyond Pike O'Stickle, we could also
clearly see Crinkle Crags, the Band and Bowfell, just clear of the
clouds. |
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Crinkle Crags and Bowfell |
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Crinkle Crags from Harrison Stickle |
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The Eastern Fells from Harrison Stickle |
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Glaramara from Harrison Stickle |
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Great End, Great Gable, Green Gable and Glaramara
from Harrison Stickle |
We spent some time taking in the
views, then walked across Loft Crag, though not to the summit. We
had been told by Steve Doyle of Butterfly Conservation on our walk
on Cold Pike a couple of days ago that the Mountain Ringlet butterfly
is found here, so we detoured the plateau in a strategic manner,
looking for suitable Mat Grass.
Although the weather today was much better, and
the sun was out, creating a suitable temperature for the butterfly,
we had no more success than on Cold Pike, and we eventually gave
up and walked to Pike O'Stickle. |
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David on Pike O'Stickle |
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Bowfell from Pike O'Stickle |
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Mickleden from Pike O'Stickle |
| Pike O'Stickle is a superbly exposed
top. It was also, unfortunately, a very crowded one, and consequently
my pictures were taken just below the actual summit after a quick
trip up and down. |
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Rossett Pike from Pike O'Stickle |
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Glaramara from Pike O'Stickle |
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High Raise and Thunacar Knott |
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Pavey Ark from Pike O'Stickle |
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Harrison Stickle from Pike O'Stickle |
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Glaramara from Pike O'Stickle |
When we originally planned the
route, we were of course not sure what the weather was going to
be like, and our track record of picking clear days is not good,
so we had pencilled in Thunacar Knott as an "optional extra",
should our luck, and the weather (!), improve. As it did, we decided
to include it as our final summit, so from Pike O'Stickle we headed
across the bog.
We were thankful it was such a clear day, as
there was no distinct path, and in mist we would have had to rely
on bearings to find Thunacar Knott, but luckily all we had to do
was look ahead and after a slogging it out across the boggy ground,
we got to the large summit area. |
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David at the summit of Thunacar Knott |
| On one of my more optimistic days
of planning our walks, I had added in an additional optional diversion
to Sergeant Man and High Raise, but common sense prevailed when we
saw the distance that would have added to the walk. |
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High Raise from Thunacar Knott |
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Crinkle Crags |
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The Coniston Fells from Thunacar Knott |
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Harrison Stickle from Thunacar Knott |
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Pavey Ark from Thunacar Knott |
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Thunacar Knott |
| On Thunacar Knott, there appears to
be two distinct summits, and as we were not completely sure which
was the true summit, we decided to play it safe by visiting them both,
and David therefore had his picture taken twice! |
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David at Thunacar Knott's other Summit |
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Sergeant Man from Thunacar Knott |
| Having visited both summits, we decided
to call it a day and started walking back across the bog to Martcrag
Moor. |
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Great Gable from Martcrag Moor |
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Bowfell from Martcrag Moor |
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Great Gable and Green Gable behind Glaramara from
Martcrag Moor |
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Eagle Crag and High Raise from Martcrag Moor |
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Rosthwaite Fell (Bessyboot) and Eagle Crag from Martcrag
Moor |
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Glaramara from Martcrag Moor |
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Esk Pike, Great End and Allen Crags |
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Pike O'Stickle with Pike O'Blisco in the background |
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High Raise from Martcrag Moor |
| I have a habit of looking for short-cuts
whenever possible and today was no exception, so I suggested we walk
towards Pike O'Stickle rather than Stake Pass with a view to dropping
straight down at the other end of Mickleden. |
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Pike O'Blisco |
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Bowfell with the Scafells in the background |
| The idea was good, but the ground
soon became uncomfortable, and it was difficult to see where we were
heading, as it was quite steep, so David asked me if I knew what was
below, which I didn't and he, quite sensibly, suggested we turn round
and descend via Stake Pass, which we then did. |
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Pike O'Stickle and Mickleden |
| I grudgingly had to confess that,
although longer, this was a much more pleasant descent, and before
long we were in Mickleden and making good progress back towards Great
Langdale. |
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Stake Pass |
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Stake Pass Waymarker |
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Stake Pass |
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Footbridge on the Cumbria Way |
| From here, we walked back to New Dungeon
Ghyll and our car along the valley road below the Langdale Pikes. |
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The Langdale Pikes |
