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The walking thread

Walked hadrians wall over 5 days last week Sat to Wed. Chose to do it from west to east. Was a pleasent enough walk but to be honest the 3 days from carlisle airport to heddon on the wall were the interesting and picturesque bits. The bookend of carlisle and newcastle are very urban and although nice enough could be anywhere.
 
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Did a ~11km yesterday with the outlaws. It bucketed down for a short time as we crossed the most open section of the entire walk. Then the next day - doing high wire obstacles in the local go ape style place - both levels. Going to ache.. and I'm aching now lol.
 
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The word of the day was "rocky", which aptly describes much of this route. Started off really early Saturday morning with a half 4 alarm which I promptly turned off and dozed another 45 minutes, but hey ho, I still managed to park up at Walna Scar car park by just gone 7. Didn't mess around either and within a couple of minutes I was hiking up the Walna Scar road.

I was a little disappointed that the weather wasn't clear yet as there were still a few lingering clouds shrouding the summit of the Old Man and what was even more concerning was my incessant yawning as I plodded up the rocky path towards my first objective. Before that though there was the non-Wainwright of Brown Pike, which was fading in and out of clarity as the low cloud breezed by in a vibrant wind. Its where layers come into play as I spent a few stops trying to figure out whether I should take my coat off or not.

Got to the top of Dow Crags which would have been a little more interesting in fuller visibility but did the short scramble to the rocky peak and then started descending slightly when the weather just cleared and I got my first proper views of the Old Man of Coniston. It didn't take me long to summit there either and already I was starting to see more of the Great British public, whom I had the pleasure of encountering the best and worst of today.

I didn't linger too much around the summit and proceeded along the rocky path to Brim Fell where I found a quiet spot to sit and eat some food. The clouds were still coming over occasionally so it did get chilly at times. I made my first navigational error, more a lapse of concentration coupled with a desire to get to the top of a peak that I had misidentified and found myself at Swirls How, my 4th Wainwright of the day and it was an interesting rocky outcrop with some bow fabulous views over the Old Man and Levers Tarn as well as views to the north at Scafell and a distant view of Sellafield Site!

I then reversed my route as I tried to course correct and went over to Great Carrs with again some fabulous views, particularly to the north east. Then down and up again towards Grey Friar which was definitely and interesting viewing spot for Wrynose and Hardknott Passes as well as all the hills to the north. It was hear where I had my first encounter with the Great British public by jumping down off a rock, not realising a man was sat below eating his lunch and completely startled both of us.

Course correction now complete I was back and Swirl How and about to descend a really cool rocky path when I had encounter number 2. There were two hikers coming up as I was going down and I cracked a banal joke to the first one about this being in ankle breaking territory with the loose rocky terrain and steel decline. I said hello to the second who had paused to let me pass. He didn't say hello back so I just thought "oh well" and carried on without saying another word. As soon as I passed him he started berating me for not saying thank you. Yeah mate, you never even acknowledged me with a hello back so you can shove your thank you. Exchanged some further pleasantries and I carried on down the ridgline to a bit of a decision point.

I was at a crossroads now, I could walk another mile to get to the top of Wetherlam and save me having to do another long hike just to tick one Wainwright off or keep descending down the valley back to my car. I chose the former and with now very tired legs I started to ascend the steep rocky path upwards again, almost grinding to a crawl. Encounter number three was from a lady saying good morning to me when it was clearly two minutes past midday...

I was still seething a little at encounter number 3 and it got in my head a little. I started humming The Doors "People are Strange" until I got to the top of Wetherlam, now feeling completely drained of energy, but what an amazing view! One thing I really enjoy about my Lake District adventures is that I really like learning how to piece the landscape together through walking it and being able to now confidently point out lots of prominent features and correctly ID hilltops. Wetherlam gave a great view of Coniston and Windermere, as well as the Fairfield Horseshoe which I'd hiked a few months ago in the snow and towards the Helvellyn range beyond.

I stopped here for 20 minutes to eat more food and try to recharge a little before the last descent. I took a bit of a detour from my planned route now and went up to Black Sails (a ridgeline south west of Wetherlam) and descended down that gorgeous ridgeline to the shore of Levers tarn. It was simply stunning. I took so many photos and stopped so many times on that bit and even better was that I was completely alone, the only soul taking this path. That was a pretty special ridge and the views were incredible.

Rounding past the tarn now and the final descent past "Pudding rock" - just a big rock! And my penultimate encounter. I was still simmering about the thank you guy when a brash couple asked my abruptly "is this the way to the top"?. A little taken aback by their fairly rude tone, and still a bit annoyed, I just replied "yes, its A way to the top", knowing full well that they were really after the quick quarry path and had already missed that turn...oh well, plan better.

And finally my last and thankfully very pleasant encounter with a friendly man who had just stopped for a breather after doing a two hour trail run up the Old Man and back. Had a lovely conversation with him for a few minutes and then got back to my car as it was starting to spit.

It was another long hike this one, with a few extensions thrown in and additional unplanned hills, taking to about 20km and 7 more Wainwrights, bringing the running total now to 65/214. The views here were often amazing, if a little industrious given the mining heritage of the area, but it blew a lot of the fells I'd done before out of the water. I was very impressed and pleased I chose today to tackle this route whilst the weather was clear. Declined to buy an icecream from the car park icecream van and just headed straight off, with my very very last encounter as a lovely old lady kindly opened the car park gate for me to let me out without me getting out of my car!
 
Best day in Lakeland that I have had so far.

Set off super early at the ungodly hour of half 5 (with an alarm call of half 4), suncream applied and set off up the M6. Part of me was thinking that it is a bit silly doing a hike in this heat, the other part of me was thinking about how clear the views would be. Fullee ny water bladder up to the max before I left, left another water bottle in the car for my return (and as it will transpire, that was about the most pointless thing I'll do all year).

Parked up on the side of the road and set off, but hit with my first snag in that my Garmin was failing to sync the route for some reason (did a aoftware update last night and stupidly didn't check that the route was ok). Seathwaite isn't much more than a collection of old farm buildings that now act as a hub for a busy campsite and I was quickly through there and into Grains Gill valley, turned right a bit and I was a bit lost with my bearings in all honesty and it took me a while to piece together the landscape as its an area of the fells I haven't been to before.

I was going very slowly, even for me. I was trying to conserve my 3 litres of water and also just conserve my physical state for what was to come. The first thing was the steady rise up Seathwaite, steady that is, until I took the left hand "path" that clearly filtered out the loonies from the normals. Loonies to the left...

It didn't look too bad from the bottom...

It was a steep rocky, grassy, mossy river gulley that went directly to the summit (more or less) and it didn't look as bad as Gray Crag that I had done a few months before which was slick wet slippery steep grass. However, I don't cope well with steep slopes and it really is a big mental challenge for me. I started off well, just breaking the ascent up into small chunks, but then it started getting very steep. It was at times all fours stuff with slippery shale and grabbing of chunks of moss. I wasn't enjoying it at all but I was going very slowly so as not to get too out of breath or tired if I had to react to a slight slip here and there. I got practically all the way up and decided to perch my behind on a rock for a moment to gather my breath when I suddenly found my heartbeat racing rather than falling and a slight bit of nausea. Not quite sure why, don't know whether it was the release of relief for finally getting up or what but it took me a few mins to gather myself again.

Always a bit unsteady when you stand back up as you adjust your balance, but a short scamper later and I was at the top. A really nice fell with lots of small tarns, finally getting to the crossroads opposite Sprinkling Tarn. The last of the few wild campers were taking down their tents and already I was coming across the early pace setters heading past Great End and up to the Scafell range. Not for me today though, my goal finally appeared in view and I descended down to Styhead Tarn where I begun the stepped slope up towards the top of the Great Gable.

I was a little surprised to find my route so far lacking of people. There was absolutely nobody mad enough to go up Seathwaite Fell and really oddly nobody seemed keen on following me up to the summit of the Gable either. Every man, woman and goose was headed to the top of Scafell Pike, and more fool them in my opinion...

The ascent up the Great Gable is a long but steady one devolving into a rough rocky path to the summit, stopping every so often to take in the views and photographs. I got to the summit at about 11am and to my great surprise found absolutely nobody there. And it continued to be the case for another half an hour before the first other hikers were to join me.

I couldn't believe it.

The views were absolutely incredible and the best I have seen so far on my travels. I sat and ate some of these feta and red pepper roll things which I got from Sainsbury's only really intending to eat a couple but ended up chomping the whole pack as they were so good! I must have spent about an hour just sat in various spots gawping at the views, taking endless panorama photos and wondering what it would take to get me to leave. It was just bliss.

What it took however was a gaggle of young teens and their parents... That was it for me then and I descended north easterly down quite a scrambly little path full of loose shale to Windy Gap. I counted my blessings now as a hoard of people were clambering up the now baking hot rocks. There was no wind to this side and it felt a furnace just descending so must have been absolutely awful going up.

The Green Gable was pleasant, and I overheard a conversation between a probably 10 year old boy with his dad...
Dad: come on, enough rest and time to go...do you want to now what this next fell is called?

Son: No. I really don't care anymore.

That made me chuckle.

The landscape was starting to all fit together now too and I finally got all my bearings as to what I was looking at, Great End, Scafell Pike, Kirk Fell, Haystacks, Fleetwith Pike, Honister Slate mine, and now my final Wainwright of the day, Base Brown. A bit of down and up and I was at the summit. Pleasant enough, but they heat was here now and there was no breeze on any of the descent, and as it would turn out, until I got back in my car to feel the rush of the aircon.

Descended off Base Brown and through. The Sourmilk Gill river valley, where I came across and older couple who were clearly finding it really hard going in the wind-less heat cauldron of that valley. I didn't envy them, I'd have hated to be ascending in this heat now. The path back round was starting to annoy me a fair bit it was rocky and loose and very uneven underfoot which meant constantly assessing your foot placements, slow going and now increasingly hot.
Made the final turn east towards Seathwaite and descended past a beautiful river and waterfall. I stopped for a few minutes to wash my hands in the cool water, half wondering whether I should just go ahead and dunk my whole head in. Descended down through some slight scrambly bits which I would imagine would be treacherous in the wet. There were some bit slick slabs of rock in places that would be risky to cross in wet conditions. No such risk today. Back to the farm and back to my car.

I have got a new car recently, having said goodbye unlovingly to the Focus and said hello to a Kia Sportage. I was very glad of that decision today, because actually working car aircon was an absolute godsend. It was heaven to be cooler again, which is more than could be said for the boiling hot water in my car bottle I mentioned earlier. It was totally undrinkable.

A word on wild camping though. I was a little disappointed to see so many people with their tents still up well past 10am with little to no sign of them coming down. There were just a lot of them and I was left a bit dismayed wondering whether the set up at dusk, leave at dawn unwritten rules were being flouted here to the extreme.
4 Wainwrights, Seathwaite Fell, Great Gable, Green Gable and Base Brown, 6 feta and red pepper roles, 1 hot cross bun, 3 litres of water, one fruit salad mix, 12 km, 1000 m ascent and free parking.

70/214
 
The word for today's hike is: surprises!

It was surprisingly difficult and somewhat of a slog towards the end, owing mostly to the heat and the length, and surprisingly interesting! It was very much a change of pace from the Great Gable on Monday and although none of the fells were particularly high, it was actually a very pleasant route.

Starting point was Legburthwaite and headed directly to foot of Raven Crag over the Thirlmere dam. The ascent was fairly steep and unrelenting for the most part in its gradient until the top but the views from the little wooden platform were very good, looking out over Thirlmere and the Helvellyn range. It was a good warm up in all senses of the word, already dripping with sweat and of course I had to wipe it from my eyes which just ended up mixing it with my suncream and stinging like crazy!

There was a big gaggle of people, numbering about 30 at the summit and they moved out fairly slowly and I tagged along at the back making a friend before I got fed up of the loud conversations disturbing the peace that I craved today, so I put my foot down and made my way swiftly through the pack, off the front, the lone breakaway rider (my first cycling reference of the day) and soon put some daylight between us. As the voices faded in the background I took a right turn and headed out into the heathery swampland and south towards Armboth Fell.

This area lived up to its reputation, but I had purposely timed this walk following a dry spell so that somewhat mitigated things. But for the most part it was like walking on a big sponge for miles. It was suprisingly energy sapping and the "path" often came and went, sometimes disappearing altogether and resurfacing 50 metres to my right at a complete tangent to the original line. I submerged my boot a few times in the sinky peat and at one point got surprised by a slithery creature. I didn't see it for long enough, but it moved in a serpentine fashion, possible a small grass snake or some kind of newt?

Wainwright wrote of Armboth Fell "it can be said of very few fells that they are not really worth climbing, Armboth Fell isbone of the few". And I can see where he was coming from. Given that I didnt really ascend it directly from Thirlmere, I shimmied across from Raven Crag through the quagmire, I think its generous to say I truly climbed this fell. The summit is merely a raised pinacle of rocks sticking out from the mud a bit, its nothing really remarkable in its own right, yet I found it oddly satisfying. You are surrounded on all sides by the greater beauty of other fells, and I think that is worth something.

Trudged through more bog to High Tove. Wainwright wrote of High Tove: "it is hard to imagine that anybody feels any affection at all for High Tove, apart from the sheep whose natural heaf it is" and he is right in this respect, its nothing more than a bit of a boggy mound of mud in the middle of nowhere. I moved on, to High Seat, where a path appeared again, then went again....

I finally started to come across more walkers, nobody deemed it worth bothering with the aforementioned except for the hardy Wainwright bagger. And it was a little busy on the top but some lovely views to the west now towards Catbells et al. Moved out pretty quickly from this over undulating heathland towards Bleaberry Fell, which was probably my fell of the day. There were panoramic views of the northern fells as well as towards the Dodds in the east and the western fells....er....in the west.

Stopped and had my lunch a little bit away from the trig point as I'd bumped into the big group from earlier and wanted some peace and quiet (they were all lunching too!). When I finished I set off after them and again filtered through their ranks and spat out the front of the group towards Walla Crag. I was feeling confident now descending loose gravely tracks and I made good time and felt fit when I got to a packed out Walla Crag. Lovely low level views of Keswick but that's all that it really offered so I left the crowds and descended into the valley towards my 7th and final Wainwright of the day, High Rigg.

Its fair to say though, that the heat was beginning to get to me and I was well on the way to tiring, hot sweaty and bothered. Bothered even more so now as my headband snapped so had nothing holding back some of the loose wispy hairs from getting in my eyes and sticking to my sweaty nose (ew).
I'd lost all energy at the foot of High Rigg. Running on empty and another cycling reference for the masses: I was "pedalling squares" a bit now.

Just as I was starting to knock the throttle back a little bit to slow up my pace, I was relieved to see high level cloud cover now rolling in which took the edge off the sun and made it a little more bearable. Limping to the summit, took my photos and although there were only a handful of km to go, I could see it would be testing for me.
It was a descent down to the car park along the ridge, but whilst it did descend, it also ascended at times and bobbed an weaved its way along. It was energy sapping, up down up down up down stuff and my knees were now weakened to the point of not really being able to descend at the same pace I started the day.

It was actually another really interesting fell, similar to that of Lingmoor Fell, lots of nooks and crannies and little areas to explore, but for another day, as my mission was now to get back to the car as quickly as possible, whilst expending the least amount of energy.

Which I did, not before cutting my hand on a branch of a fallen tree that had given up the ghost across the main footpath, then on short the walk back to the car, it started raining...

Although it lacked any blockbuster lakeland names, I really enjoyed this route. Though unspectacular in their own right, each trig point was different in its own way and offered its own unique views. I won't be hurrying back, but it was surprisingly pleasant and actually very interesting most of the way round.

7 Wainwrights, 22km, a lot of bog, 1 mysterious animal encounter, another 3 litres of water consumed and a surprisingly lovely day out.

77/214
 
Decided to go for a long one before an operation later this week.

Started off in Edale, went up Jacob's Ladder. past Edale Rocks, then onto Kinder Low, slight detour to Kinder Scout, back down and then across to Kinder Downfall, after that it was onto Kinder Reservoir following it around untill a climb up to Brown Knoll, across the moors left onto Lord Seat and then of course onto Mam Tor... I use to love Mam Tor, but its too bust now with instragrammers, ticktokers and people that carry portable bluetooth speakers playing music loudly... anyway past there and up around Loose Hill and back down to Edale, one swift pint and was done.

Ended up at around 35km and about 1200m of ascent, was a really nice walk, not too hot at all, was actually quite windy up Kinder :)
 
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Stelly said:
Decided to go for a long one before an operation later this week.

Started off in Edale, went up Jacob's Ladder. past Edale Rocks, then only Kinder Low, slight detour to Kinder Scout, back down and then across to Kinder Downfall, after that it was onto Kinder Reservoir following it around untill a climb up to Brown Knoll, across the moors left onto Lord Seat and then of course onto Mam Tor... I use to love Mam Tor, but its too bust now with instragrammers, ticktokers and people that carry portable bluetooth speakers playing music loudly... anyway past there and up around Loose Hill and back down to Edale, one swift pint and was done.

Ended up at around 35km and about 1200m of ascent, was a really nice walk, not too hot at all, was actually quite windy up Kinder :)
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I've never bothered with Mam Tor because of the reasons you've mentioned. I have no interest in going to a place like that at all. Plenty of other lovely routes.

I did Kinder Scout + Jacob's Ladder a couple years ago, although the opposite way of your route! Started in Edale, headed up Kinder Downfall and up around to Kinder Scout before heading down to Jacob's Ladder and back to Edale. Really lovely walk. I'd love to go back at some point.

Hope your op goes well.
 
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Nabinium said:
I've never bothered with Mam Tor because of the reasons you've mentioned. I have no interest in going to a place like that at all. Plenty of other lovely routes.

I did Kinder Scout + Jacob's Ladder a couple years ago, although the opposite way of your route! Started in Edale, headed up Kinder Downfall and up around to Kinder Scout before heading down to Jacob's Ladder and back to Edale. Really lovely walk. I'd love to go back at some point.

Hope your op goes well.
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I do it once a year mate, normally when its horrible and no idiot would go up to Mam Tor, or a nice crisp winters day, walking the great ridge is just one of my favs.

I have done most of the peaks in the peaks across a number of years, and most in North Wales and Yorkshire Dales... what I really need to do is start looking at doing the Lakes, not bothered for some reason but I'm sorta wanting to explore new places, so might start planning some around there :)
 
Stelly said:
I do it once a year mate, normally when its horrible and no idiot would go up to Mam Tor, or a nice crisp winters day, walking the great ridge is just one of my favs.

I have done most of the peaks in the peaks across a number of years, and most in North Wales and Yorkshire Dales... what I really need to do is start looking at doing the Lakes, not bothered for some reason but I'm sorta wanting to explore new places, so might start planning some around there :)
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That's a good shout actually. Going there during the off peak times.

Funnily enough I'm heading up to the Lakes on Bank Holiday weekend. First time for me up there too.

Quite excited, although a bit concerned about the weather. I heard it's quite changeable around there, so wondering if there's any particular routes that are better in poor weather. I can't imagine going up Scafell Pike while there's a gale blowing would be a good idea.
 
Nabinium said:
That's a good shout actually. Going there during the off peak times.

Funnily enough I'm heading up to the Lakes on Bank Holiday weekend. First time for me up there too.

Quite excited, although a bit concerned about the weather. I heard it's quite changeable around there, so wondering if there's any particular routes that are better in poor weather. I can't imagine going up Scafell Pike while there's a gale blowing would be a good idea.
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Going up Scafell wouldn;t be ideal at all mate, let me know how it goes, I'm thinking about doing the Brecon Beacons at some point after the op and I'm fit again its on my hiking list and I want to get it done so might be an airBnB and yolo it I think...

Off Peak is the best time to do any hiking, I'm always up around 6am checking weather and information about areas then I'm off to the hills, its the best way to do it when the weather isnt going to be great.
 
I'm doing the Munros and mostly go on Mondays and I'm always meeting folk. A few weeks ago, the forecast was for rain coming in from the west during the day so I did the most easterly Munro, Mount Keen. It's an easy hill to do as it's just a long plod up a mostly gentle slope. Having said that, I did turn back on this hill the first time I attempted it as it was winter and climbing over the 6 foot high snow drifts was really slowing me down. This time, the weather was glorious the whole day.

I wondered how busy it would be on a Monday and kept count of the folk I seen and counted 27 plus 3 dogs so quite a few folk must have read the forecasts.
 
I'm after a decent waterproof jacket for long day hikes in all weathers. Any recommendations? Something I can layer up under and no get soaked in a storm!
 
Jiffy said:
What's your budget?
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Up to 250ish I think.

I've found a few not sure on how good they are:

Mens Evolve II Triclimate 3-In-1 Jacket

Order The North Face Mens Evolve II Triclimate 3-In-1 Jacket today from Cotswold Outdoor ✓ Expert Advice
www.cotswoldoutdoor.com www.cotswoldoutdoor.com

Cairn Waterproof Jacket

Designed and tested in Scotland, our Cairn Jacket is a versatile multi-sport mountain jacket for hillwalking, ski touring and winter climbing. It takes advantage of our innovative 3-layer Aquaflex technology to offer waterproof and windproof protection in...
www.outdooraction.co.uk www.outdooraction.co.uk
www.millets.co.uk

Men’s Maitland 3-in-1 Jacket

GORE-TEX® 2L fabric - completely waterproof and breathable for comfort Warm microfleece inner - can be zipped in and out for versatile wear Adjustable hood with high face guard Front full zip - with external stormflap Adjustable cuffs and hem Warm microfleece inner Colour: Grey Marl
www.millets.co.uk www.millets.co.uk

and rather amazingly for the price this seems well rated from searches for day hikes

 
North Face: I'm not a fan of 3 in 1 jackets. You're paying for a fleece and an extra zip in the jacket. I'd rather pay for better shell fabric, pockets and hood.

Keela: I've no personal experience with this brand but I've only heard good things about them. Perhaps the highest recommendation is that mountain rescue teams use their gear: https://outdoorsmagic.com/article/keela-munro-waterproof-jacket-review/ Outdoor Action sell that jacket for £185
The one downside is that, like Paramo (which I use in winter) it's rather warm. I couldn't wear it in summer.

Berghaus: Again it's a 3-in-1. The big difference between this and the North Face is that it's Gore tex.

Decathlon: Their stuff is very good for the price but I wouldn't trust that to keep me dry for a long day in really bad weather.

For £250 you can easily get a good jacket. I recommend Sports Pursuit. You have to register to see the deals but it's worth it. Here are some deals for heavily discounted GoreTex jackets around £150:

Montane, Marmot and Haglofs are top tier mountaineering brands. I bought a Montane one from them myself. I also got a Arc'teryx Alpine Guide jacket last week reduced from £675 to £189! That was direct from Arc'teryx through their outlet site (it quickly sold out).
 
dannyjo22 said:
I'm after a decent waterproof jacket for long day hikes in all weathers. Any recommendations? Something I can layer up under and no get soaked in a storm!
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I've had this waterproof jacket for years mate. It's never let me down.

www.trespass.com

DLX Mens Waterproof Jacket Oswalt

Stay dry in style with the Trespass DLX Mens Waterproof Jacket Oswalt. Premium quality for ultimate protection. Order now!
www.trespass.com www.trespass.com

Usually just over £250, but it's currently on sale for £120.

Excellent in the rain and wind. Breathable too. Can easily wear layers underneath it like a fleece if needed too.

In fact, I just got back home yesterday from a 5 day trip at the Lake District, which was wet for some of the days. This jacket saved me on the 2 days that it did rain up there.
 
Stelly said:
Going up Scafell wouldn;t be ideal at all mate, let me know how it goes
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So we set off for the Lake District last week on Friday morning and we just got back home yesterday evening. We did a mixture of hiking and non-hiking things throughout the trip, mostly due to being knackered if we hiked all 4/5 days.

We did a shorter hike late Friday afternoon once we arrived up there. Cathedral Cavern from Tilberthwaite, just north of Coniston. Not too difficult in terms of walking as it's just rough tracks and paths, but there's a little scrambling required inside the cave. Started off going through a 100m long dark and wet tunnel. We definitely couldn't do this without a torch. After the tunnel and a little scrambling over rocks, we found ourselves in an open to the sky pit, and over to the right was a window into the main cavern, the Cathedral itself. Inside had a sloping pillar, which was basically holding the roof of the cavern up. There was also a pool of water that was ice cold. A very cool walk, worth doing.

On Monday, we attempted Scafell Pike. Key word is attempted, as we ended up getting lost after not following our map properly and climbed a different peak altogether... From Wasdale Head, we traversed up the mountain. Lots and I mean lots of boulders and loose rocks throughout the route, so just something that we were aware of while climbing. After getting up to Sty Head, which had a large rock and MRT stretcher box, we walked SE from there and a bit too far SE, as we missed the turning for Scafell Pike and ended up climbing Bowfell.

All in all, it was a bit of adventure getting lost I suppose and we still very much enjoyed it! Visibility wasn't amazing with the cloud, but there were some clear bits. Very very windy up there. Some rain at the start, otherwise dry for the rest.

We'll hopefully attempt Scafell again in the future, perhaps on a better weather day too. As we climbed Bowfell instead, we ended up around 12km and about 880m of ascent. It was a fantastic walk :)
 
Nabinium said:
So we set off for the Lake District last week on Friday morning and we just got back home yesterday evening. We did a mixture of hiking and non-hiking things throughout the trip, mostly due to being knackered if we hiked all 4/5 days.

We did a shorter hike late Friday afternoon once we arrived up there. Cathedral Cavern from Tilberthwaite, just north of Coniston. Not too difficult in terms of walking as it's just rough tracks and paths, but there's a little scrambling required inside the cave. Started off going through a 100m long dark and wet tunnel. We definitely couldn't do this without a torch. After the tunnel and a little scrambling over rocks, we found ourselves in an open to the sky pit, and over to the right was a window into the main cavern, the Cathedral itself. Inside had a sloping pillar, which was basically holding the roof of the cavern up. There was also a pool of water that was ice cold. A very cool walk, worth doing.

On Monday, we attempted Scafell Pike. Key word is attempted, as we ended up getting lost after not following our map properly and climbed a different peak altogether... From Wasdale Head, we traversed up the mountain. Lots and I mean lots of boulders and loose rocks throughout the route, so just something that we were aware of while climbing. After getting up to Sty Head, which had a large rock and MRT stretcher box, we walked SE from there and a bit too far SE, as we missed the turning for Scafell Pike and ended up climbing Bowfell.

All in all, it was a bit of adventure getting lost I suppose and we still very much enjoyed it! Visibility wasn't amazing with the cloud, but there were some clear bits. Very very windy up there. Some rain at the start, otherwise dry for the rest.

We'll hopefully attempt Scafell again in the future, perhaps on a better weather day too. As we climbed Bowfell instead, we ended up around 12km and about 880m of ascent. It was a fantastic walk :)
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Am mapping app is great these days, though admittedly getting lost is fun. Still worth getting so you know how to get down if it comes to it.
 
Begbie said:
Am mapping app is great these days, though admittedly getting lost is fun. Still worth getting so you know how to get down if it comes to it.
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Cheers, we had our route set out on a map, but we clearly didn't read part of it properly, so we strayed off too much. We forgot about using an app to be honest, so that definitely would've helped!

We were actually in two minds at one point. I was almost convinced that we were supposed to turn and head up the peak that was slightly to the SW of us for Scafell Pike, but the Mrs was convinced the map was telling us to continue going SE. There was a peak ahead of us, so thought "**** it" and committed to it :cry: Still though, it was fun getting lost.
 
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