2 Nights in Great Langdale

I decided to take advantage of the unseasonal warm weather being forecast for the weekend and took an extra day of annual leave to supplement my usual Friday off. This gave me enough time to shoot off to the lakes for a couple of days and pack in as much time on the fells as possible.


I left work at 4pm sharp, jumped in the VW and sped off to Great Langdale NT campsite.
I'd planned a long walk for Thursday and intended to take my time and enjoy the views, running where ever possible. My route:


Stickle Tarn via Stickle Ghyll
High Raise
Rossett Pike
Esk Hause
Great End
Broad Crag
Scafell Pike
Esk Pike
Bowfell
Home via The Band 


I felt really alone and isolated heading up towards High Raise. It was like a sudden shock to the system, having rushed up from Cardiff after a busy day in work, to standing above Stickle Tarn with not a soul in sight - the contrast was stark.


Of course, I wasn't alone. There was a group of wild campers going about their morning ablutions just above Stickle Tarn and there was a steady stream of walkers heading up past Angle Tarn, but for a short time I had the open moorland between High Raise and Rossett Pike all to myself in the sunshine.

After Esk Hause the walk turned into more of a scramble so I took my time, enjoying the beautiful views across to Borrowdale and in the other direction, down the Langdale Valley. I never get used to the drama of the landscape in the Lakes. The beauty of the place makes me a bit emotional. Thankfully, I came across a bloke from Llanelli who distracted me from my self indulgent, introspective musings. He was spending his annual leave walking the three peaks, yesterday Snowdon, tomorrow Ben Nevis, just for the heck of it.

By the time I reached Bowfell the cloud had lifted and I could just about see the pub and a pint of cider with my name on it. I'd covered 16 miles and 5,300ft of ascent. A decent day's walking.


I took loads of photo's on route so have just posted them all - some are rubbish.