Terrain Overview
Walk Overview
The scorching hot weather of recent weeks continues. Temperatures all over the
Country in the low 30 degrees with wall to wall sunshine. Another opportunity not
to be missed presented itself for a quick one day spur of the moment visit to
Lakeland to take on some of the Central classified Fells around Langdale. Tough
walking in parts due to the heat and a little confusion at times due to the pathless route to
Blea Rigg summit. Similarly with Sergeant Man, but after that straightforward
navigation for the rest of the way
From Ambleside take the B5343 towards Great Langdale and head for the
New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. There is an NT car park on one side of the road
charging (at the time of writing) £8 for 9 hours, OR there is the field opposite
that belongs to the NDG Hotel that charges £5 all day. To pay for this you go into
the Walkers Bar and pay there.
A popular choice for many today. Here we are on the parking field looking
towards Crinkle Crags
From the field entry gate turn right and head towards the Walkers Bar that is
a couple of hundred yards down the road
Past the bar area and a wooden gate gives access to a small field
Through the gate and head left to the top corner to pass through a gap in the wall
that brings you onto the start of the Stickle Ghyll path
The start of the Stickle Ghyll path
Almost immediately the path starts to climb steeply alongside Stickle Ghyll
An indication of the drought period shown by the empty Ghyll. The upshot of this
was that the Hotel could not cook hot food as their kitchen runs off hydro-electricity
that is generated by the waterfall
Looking back down the dry Ghyll as Sue pauses for a water stop
Yes Jones, I`m getting your water now !
Crag rats on Swine Knott
The path though steep is good and easy to follow
At one point along the path a huge rock buttress blocks the way and a little rock
handling is required to get over it. This also signifies the point at which you
cross the Ghyll to the left hand side of the ravine
Crossing Stickle Ghyll. Under normal conditions this can prove to be hazardous
when the water is gushing down; however no such difficulties today
Looking back down the Ghyll towards Side Pike and Wetherlam in the distance
After an arduous toil in the heat, the welcome sitght of Stickle Tarn in front of
Pavey Arc. Jack`s Rake can be clearly seen cutting a swathe across the Southern
face. We saw a number of climbers ascending via this route
Looking over the Tarn towards Harrison Stickle
Close up on Pavey Arc with the route of Jack`s Rake indicated. It is officially classified
as a rock climb, so Fell walkers must have confidence in their ability to attempt it
From the wall at the top of the Ghyll and in front of the Tarn, turn right to take
the path along the shoreline
Further down the path at the point at which you follow a track that leads off to
the right, more or less parallel with the end of the Tarn
The path to Blea Rigg forks off right
On the route to Blea Rigg
Looking back to Harrison Stickle and Pavey Arc from the path. From this point
the footpath to Blea Rigg is a tad sketchy in parts but discernable nontheless.
Head for the highest of the rock Tors would be my advice
The summit of Blea Rigg with Easdale Tarn below. Click here for a 360 degree view
The barely discernable path towards Sergeant Man (the big bump on the right).
After a confusing start the path does improve
Easdale Tarn (right) and Coledale Tarn (left) from the path to Sergeant Man
The path (now cairned) journeys through "Pile of Stones" on its way to
Sergeant Man that is right of centre in this shot
Tough climbing in the heat
Approaching the summit of Sergeant Man. It`s a lot easier than it looks
Ste on the summit of Sergeant Man
Team shot on the summit of Sergeant Man. Click here for a 360 degree view
Looking through the heat haze towards Great Gable
The clear path heading North to High Raise
The path is easy to follow
Approaching the summit of High Raise
Looking North towards Skiddaw from High Raise. Click here for a 360 degree view
One hundred and fifty summits for Rob
From the summit we make a left turn and head now towards the Langdale Pikes
We journey along the path for around a mile or so as it climbs
gently towards Thunacar Knott
Pike o`Stickle from the summit of Thunacar Knott. Click here for a 360 degree view
Looking towards Harrison Stickle from the summit of Thunacar Knott
From the summit of Thunacar Knott we turn left travelling South East and journey
the half of a mile trip to visit the summit of Pavey Arc. Here we are looking down
the Langdale Valley. Click here for a 360 degree view
Descending Pavey Arc to return to Stickle Tarn via the North Rake.
It`s very steep and boulder strewn so care is needed with some rock
handling required in parts
Sue at the bottom of the North Rake feeling very pleased to have made it down
in one piece
Once off the Rake it`s mostly a grassy and stony path back down to Stickle Tarn
The re-entrant path back to Stickle Tarn, with the sun still blazing down
Approaching Stickle Tarn again to get to the path back down
Looking towards Harrison Stickle for one last time before we descend Stickle Ghyll
Starting the descent of Stickle Ghyll
Back down at Dungeon Ghyll and a look back towards Harrison Stickle at
the end of a fantastic day out on the Lakeland Fells
