I have been made to feel very welcome in the Lake District and made many new friends in my first few
weeks. Gina and her husband Dave are two
of them and through knowing Gina (a social butterfly who makes legendary
chocolate brownies) I joined a Twitter walking group on a Sunday morning in
July to climb Green Gable and Great Gable.
A “tweet-up”! I had the advantage
of a lift from Grasmere with Gina, Dave and Si and we met Ray (our route
master), Phil, Bruce, Gary
and Ray’s dog Holly (‘The Beast’) in Seathwaite, Borrowdale.
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| Sour Milk Gill |
Seathwaite is the wettest inhabited place in England (there is even a slate sign highlighting this) and there is even a cottage there called
“Rain Gauge Cottage”. Given the recent
weather, this did not bode well but as we started it was warm and there were no
rain clouds apparent although the tops were a bit misty so we headed off and
straight up the steep Sour Milk Gill path full of anticipation for the walk
ahead.
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| Gina & Me - Seathwaite Valley behind |
I have never claimed to be the fastest walker in the world (and
there are plenty who can vouch for that) but as it turns out, I think I just
may be the slowest walker ever! The
route up the Gill was steep and I had to stop often for a breather (I mean to
take photos) whilst most of the others powered ahead with Gina leading the
way. Ray and Phil kept me company and
gallantly tried to make it look as though it was not just me being slow. There were lovely views of the Gill and the
valley below however so stopping to look at them was totally acceptable and thank
goodness Holly decided to go for a swim in the Gill at one point (a good photo/breather
opportunity). I did eventually get to
the top of the steep part and the views to the valley were superb– this is why
the pain of ascent is worth it and I love the photo of Gina and me.
The first fell was to be Green Gable and the route took us
along the Gillercomb path. I was still
bringing up the rear and trying to avoid being captured in too many of Phil’s
photos looking exhausted and having a bad hair day (not the look I aspire to in
photos). Gina and Dave started sprinting
(yes sprinting) up the last part of the ascent to Green Gable (I will gloss
over my thoughts about that other than to say we possibly have the wrong people
in our Olympic team) and before long we had arrived at our first summit, which
was free of cloud. There were excellent
views down to the surrounding valleys including Buttermere and Mellbreak (one
of my favourite fells) and great views of the closer fells even though the tops
of them were hidden in cloud.
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| Great Gable & Green Gable on a sunnier day |
One of the recurring themes given my new role in
Fix the Fells
was everyone commenting on path erosion and where the Fix the Fells teams
needed to focus next. Seems like we are
going to be pretty busy! It was great
everyone was so supportive of the work though and I apologise if I bored
everyone to tears with my new knowledge of erosion, path maintenance and
techniques to repair paths but I am sure somebody asked at some point and I feel
very enthusiastic about it (as you may have gathered)…. And thank you Dave for not placing that large
stone on the summit cairn as I think I would have struggled to move it back
despite my statement to the contrary!
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| Summit of Great Gable (photo by @goldenorfephoto - Phil) |
Sadly Great Gable was in cloud and that was where we were
headed next. Positions restored (yes I
was last again) we made the descent to Windy Gap and then up the steep scramble
amongst the rocks and scree to the summit of Great Gable. Phil had given up waiting for me and it was
left to Ray to give me encouragement to the top. But we made it!
We sat on Great Gable in the cloud and had lunch followed by
Gina’s amazing chocolate brownies. Word
had obviously got around as two guys arrived at the summit and were also fed
brownies. After reapplying lipstick
(Phil will no doubt share that photo at some point) we set off down to the
stretcher box (named because it does indeed hold stretchers) near Styhead
Tarn. At the stretcher box we decided to
take the longer route back via Sprinkling Tarn and Grains Gill. I must have got my second wind as I led from
the front and did not hold up anybody.
In fact, I found myself in the group waiting for others to arrive! (What kept you guys?)
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| Piers Gill |
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| Sprinkling Tarn |
The route between Styhead Tarn and Sprinkling Tarn is
amongst some of the most rugged fells and scenery. The deep, dark cavern of Piers Gill on the
slopes of Lingmell, the rock massif of Great End towering above us and the
bouldery slopes of great Gable behind combined with the gentle grassy mound of
Seathwaite Fell. It is an area I love as
it looks magnificent. Sprinkling Tarn always looks beautiful and the walk down Grains
Gill, which I have not done for many years, was just a joyous ramble.
It was great talking to everyone as well. It is amazing how much you can have in common
with people you have not met before when you share a love of something – in our
case, walking the fells. We ended our
day with a drink at the Langstrath Inn where I confess I had half a bitter
shandy – sorry…you can take the girl out of the south but not the south out of
the girl…. A great day and some great
new friends – thanks for arranging it Gina (and thanks for waiting for me Ray).
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| Slate Sign in Seathwaite |
