The Pike O'Blisco Adventure

Our walking group (photo by Daxa)

There are always three things guaranteed on a Twitter walk: fun, adventure and chocolate brownies. The Pike O’Blisco walk had all three in abundance.

Our starting point was the Three Shire Stone on the Wrynose Pass and as well as some of the usual crowd, there were new people as well. It is always nice meeting people on these walks and whilst we are all very different and come from different parts of the country, we all love walking the fells. There were nine of us on this walk with five dogs in all shapes and sizes including Tilly. Phil brought along his new puppy Molly and her and Tilly became firm friends.

Molly

We set off on the path towards Red Tarn and whilst cloudy, it looked like the sun could appear at any minute. We were all chatting and admiring the views and the dogs were running around happily. The path was getting snowier with each step but it was soft snow so was easier to grip and it meant Tilly had a great time playing in it as did all the dogs. Red Tarn itself was completely frozen, which upset Tilly as she had been looking forward to a swim but she contented herself with eating some snow instead.

Tilly waiting for me

It was a short but steep final ascent to Pike O’Blisco up quite a rocky path. Needless to say I was at the back but I was delighted to have Daxa for company who is a slower walker like me. We eventually joined the others on the summit and looked out over Crinkle Crags, Bowfell, the Langdale Pikes and the valley below. Beautiful. It was Molly’s first Lake District summit and she seemed pleased with her achievement.

Being "rescued" by Tilly

After a quick chocolate brownie (delicious as always) and coffee stop, we headed on across the slopes of Pike O’Blisco to head down to the narrow road in Great Langdale as our next target was Lingmoor Fell. This should have been fairly straight forward but with snow all around, it proved rather eventful but an awful lot of fun! The snow was thicker on that side of the fell and before long, we were all descending a snowy slope, digging our heels in to try and grip. I think Phil was the first to fall (not helped by having Molly tugging on her lead) and slide a few metres but several people slipped. At one point, there was a short but very steep section and having witnessed the less than elegant descent by some of the group (and noticing at least three cameras pointing in my direction), I decided sitting down and sledging was the best solution. Tilly had already run down it and was playing with Lassie at the bottom but seeing I was taking so long, she came back to rescue me. How sweet! She waited beside me whilst I got myself into position and then (not so helpfully) stood right in from of me just as I pushed myself down the slope so had to leap out of the way!

Tilly action shot from Phil

We got down unscathed and took our turn to watch the rest of the group make their descent. This was pretty much the way the next half an hour went – lots of slipping and impromptu sledging. On one slope, I decided to just sledge all the way and ended with a “ta da” moment with Gina capturing it for posterity. Dave did the same later on but on a rather steeper slope and his efforts to slow down using his walking pole ended in the pole having a 90 degree bend in it!

With all the hard work behind us (so we thought) we were now on grassy slopes but unbeknownst to us, the grass was frozen and Gina had a bad fall and hurt her knee. We did not think it was serious at this point though and just needed rest so we had a lunch break. The views were spectacular down into the valley and to the Langdale Pikes, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags. Molly and Tilly took turns posing for the camera and then Tilly went into “feed me treats” mode (those eyes though are simply heart-melting). Jim decided a traditional sandwich was not enough though and brought out a cooking device with a saucepan and rustled up some potatoes dauphinoise! I need to be a bit more creative with my walking lunches as a cheese and chutney sandwich just wasn’t the same after that.

Lunchtime

Tilly at Blea Tarn

We headed off but it was soon clear that Gina’s knee was quite badly injured so we had a change of plan. When we got down to the road, we split into groups. Some continued to the summit of Lingmoor, Dave, Terry and Adam headed back to get the car and Daxa and I waited with Gina. Whilst waiting, I decided to take Tilly around Blea Tarn as she had missed out on a swim in Red Tarn. We headed off and as the sun had come out she had a lovely swim and chased several sticks. The view along the valley to the Langdale Pikes was mesmerising and I could have sat in the sunshine there for hours. We headed back along the road to where Gina and Daxa were still waiting and before long, Dave arrived in the car (having had a long trek back up the Wrynose Pass) and we all met at the Three Shire’s pub for a drink and to laugh at our adventures.

A girl's best friend (photo from Gina)

Another great Twitter walk. Sadly Gina’s knee was quite badly injured but hopefully she can still run the London Marathon this year. Get well soon Gina!