Date: 31-Mar-2010
Map: Landranger 89, 90, OL6
Weather: Sleet, a bit of snow - typical Manchester weather
From the car park at Elterwater,
through an old quarry and around the base of Lingmoor Fell.
Up the northern end to the summit and along to the southern
end and back down to the pub in Elterwater :
a 7 mile slog as measured on Satmap GPS
Today was
the first time whilst actually at a location that I had
seriously thought about abandoning a walk because of the
weather. Last year I had arranged a meet up to walk in the
Langdale Pikes, but due to the severe weather - I got a text
saying 'the weather is as bad as it can be - lightning' - so
we postponed the walk. The forecast today over the higher
fells was severe, but as we'd arranged the meet up we
decided to meet in the New Dungheon Ghyll car park and
assess the weather when we got there. We reasoned if it was
too bad we could always take a low level walk, and as I
drove up from Manchester I didn't have that usual warm rosy
feeling that usually preceeds a walk - more a gloomy
disposition with sleet and rain - definitely not warm. I
arrived at the car park aware that this valley could easily
get snowed in if the higher weather decided to visit the
valley.
the car park and the best view of the fells we had
on our way through Elterwater
the path down to the right of the quarry
the steepest part of the day up the spoil heap
Dixie had promised some hot drinks on his stove, but
this wasn't the weather for it so we all jumped into Paul's
car. Dixie had only travelled 60 miles and he wouldn't feel
bad if we pulled the plug if the weather turned worse.
Outside the sleet continued to whizz by. We decided to give
the high fells the cold shoulder and plumped for Lingmoor
Fell which was low, right next to us and we couldn't get
lost. Mike turned up eventually, having been stuck in
traffic, so we all drove down to Elterwater and parked up
there. The weather improved a little now and though we
couldn't see much, we donned gear expecting the worse. A
plan developed to walk along the base of the hill, then up
the other end, along the ridge and back down to Chapel Stile
- so that's what we did. The higher fells were nowhere to be
seen, just a white mass that stubbornly refused to show
itself. We set off across the main road passing by the pub
that we would visit later, and even the rain / sleet stopped
for a while. Navigation today was a bit adhoc and yours
truly got nominated as I had a Satmap GPS up and running.
That was fine but without my glasses on the steering was a
bit remiss.
looking back over to Elterwater
you will enjoy yourselves
on our way up Lingmoor Fell
pausing to ponder the views
don't ya just love Juniper scrub
As we walked up into the walking quarry we took
the right side, which turned out to be the wrong side. We
should have walked left behind the quarry buildings, but the
quarry decided that no signs were needed except 'Private'
etc. After following a path of some sorts (no doubt made by
other wayward walkers) for a while, we were faced with our
first scramble of the day - up the quarry spoil! At this
point (and I use the collective 'we') we should have known
better, but oh no we knew best and continued blundering
along the right hand side - even when we started to climb
slippery slabs we still didn't twig. Finally a kind
quarryman took pity on us and asked 'are you lost chaps?' -
see how that 'we' word is used again. He proceeded to escort
us across to the other side of the quarry, and we could see
he was amused as he said 'fine day for a ramble'. Once we
were on the right route we had a relatively straightforward
mile or three, and into the woods we were nicely sheltered
from the white stuff above. Along a good forest track we
came across a bizarre road sign telling us the mileage to
Great Langdale and Dungheon Ghyll, plan- well done that man
or lady. There wasn't much wildlife to see today as they all
had the sense to bed down for the day. As we reached the far
end of Lingmoor Fell, someone else decided that we should
now head up the side of the end and not the end of the end
of the fell. I'm sure if we'd gone around a little more we
would have found the 'real' path to the top. But up we went
with the initial light dusting of snow, turning thicker as
we went higher, which in turn had us walking like the
flowerpot men of days long gone by. We headed up and up and
made real good progress led by Dixie - straight into a stand
of Juniper bushes and trees. They were all heights from
ankle snappers to shelter underneath size.
Dixie bags the lunch spot
finally out of the scrub
Mike up on the top waiting patiently as ever
Lingmoor Tarn
The sleet got
worse for a while and we decided it was as good a spot as
any and afforded us some shelter from the elements. Lunch was
taken and refreshed we bashed on - we couldn't see a path
through the scrub so we just made a beeline upwards.
Blinking heck it was a tough 15 minutes and because I was at
the front I got the blame for a slightly awkward route. We
ducked and dived like Frank Bruno in his heyday, but for
want of a better way we just ploughed on, and boy was I
happy to see some clumpy heather up the top. Once we were
there our world was a grey and white vista with little or no
discernable features around. We stumbled across Lingmoor
Tarn and established where we were on the map and GPS. The
path ahead was generally whiter than the surrounds as it got
filled in with drifting snow, and managing to avoid dropping
off the edge of the crags we by-passed anymore drama.
the route over to the summit of Lingmoor Fell
looking back down on the Tarn and not much else
looking down on the wrong side of the wall
the right side of the wall
Paul hits the deck - a red card for him
down beneath the gloom at the end of Lingmoor Fell
looking back up to our way down
looking over to the Langdale Pikes somewhere
on our way down the lanes to Elterwater
a last look back at what we didn't see
The
walk led us through a bog which was thankfully frozen though
not solid - goodness knows what it would be like in the
summer rain. After that it was up to the summit for a quick
pose, and it was a simple case of following the compass to
the southern end of Lingmoor Fell avoiding the old quarries
dotted here and there. As we dropped down below the
cloudbase the path became more distinct and we wound down
the side of Lingmoor Fell to take the old farm track back to
Elterwater and the sanctity of the pub. It turned out to be
100% better than we thought it would at the start of the
day, and it sure beats quitting, driving home, turning the
fire on and having a glass of wine.....well most of the time
it does.
Where now:
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