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Tuesday, 6th of June
The Langdale Pikes, from halfway up Side Pike
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Side Pike, Take 2
Lingmoor Fell
Descent, and Blea Tarn
My back was still very painful that morning, but that awful sense of doom and fear which had confounded me the previous day was gone. For the first time in a full day, I remembered where I was and why I love this valley. This is Langdale! Even if I wasn't capable of reaching the high summits with my injured back, there is so much else to do there.
So I took up the plans for a route I had intended to do over a year previously, the traverse of Lingmoor Fell from the west. And while I was at it, I had unfinished business with Side Pike. I had never got around to finding that final Grade 1 line. My mission was now to find and climb that line.
Side Pike, Take 2
The conspicuous new zigzags, on the lower slopes of Side Pike
Another hot day! Despite an early start, the sun was baking and I was very glad of my platypus, which enabled me to keep sipping water without all the faff of stopping and getting the Sigg out of my pack. I had decided to take things slow and carefully. The previous day had been exhausting and I wasn't going to push myself that hard again, not so soon after the accident.
So I plodded slowly up the zigzags towards the start of the Side Pike path. I avoided the first two crags on the scramble, having climbed them already. I wasn't in a particularly 'scrambly' mood today and the only reason I was going for the final line was for the sake of completeness. The path turned out to be an interesting one, weaving in and out of craglets and patches of heather on its way up the broad ridge. The views were panoramic.
Looking towards Bowfell at the valley head
The terraced precipices of Thorn Crag and Harrison Stickle, towering above the valley
I gained height quicker than I had expected. Easy walking up a moderate slope seemed to be doing my back good. I soon reached the first path junction I had taken on the evening of the accident, but decided to keep going up the main path in the belief that I would come across another Y-junction. I was correct! Another much more prominent path fork soon came into view, and I realised that this was the path I should have taken the other day. It did indeed lead to the foot of a rocky skyline rib. At last I had found the correct final line to the Side Pike Grade 1 scramble!
The skyline rib. That prominent block at the top is the final point of the climb.
The start of the line ...
... the middle ...
... and the end, at the final block. Surmounting this block is a satisfying way to end the scramble.
I found the climb enjoyable, and totally unlike the nerve-wracking experiences I'd had on steep, blank rock the previous day. This line is at an easy angle, the rock is good and furnished with decent holds, and the atmosphere is of a non-serious scramble. At the time I found it reassuring that you could escape by traversing right at almost any point.
After climbing the final block, I could finally say I had climbed the full length of the scramble! From there it was a short distance over a col to the main summit. The views from this point are jaw-dropping and far out of proportion to the meagre effort required to get to the top.
I had the summit to myself and even managed to find a small patch of shade behind a boulder. For the first time in over a day I was feeling genuinely good about fellwalking again. Moments like that are why I keep doing this.
Lingmoor Fell
Bowfell dappled with cloud shadows
The summit cairn
The dalehead mountains (Crinkle Crags and Bowfell) form an impressive backdrop behind Oxendale and Mickleden
Looking down on the Old Dungeon Ghyll
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Lingmoor Fell
The path heading up the gentle ridge of Lingmoor
Once I'd rested for a while on the summit, I located the descent path and made my way down to the col between Side Pike and Lingmoor Fell. Unfortunately, this required passing directly under The Fear, that awful rock pitch. I wasn't certain how I'd react to seeing it a second time. Interestingly, I felt nothing at all when I passed under the gloomy shadow of the precipice. In fact I can't even remember laying my eyes on the exact pitch I'd fallen off.
But it is an awfully large cliff, and I do remember wondering what kind of insane confidence I must have had that evening to even attempt freeclimbing anything up there!
The Fear is somewhere to the left of that face ...
A view from the col
I found the remaining climb to the summit of Lingmoor Fell very interesting. It's a broad, heathery ridge at a very slight angle, interrupted by the occasional grey rock band which the path does its best to circumvent. The walking was easy, which suited the blisteringly hot weather.
Curiously, this was the first 'small' fell (below 500m) that I had climbed for over a year, and the difference was remarkable. This is not a rough climb over bare rock to the summit of a high mountain: it's a fellwalk in the classic sense, a ramble over grass and heather at a modest altitude. There's a stone wall and a fence running along the length of the ridge which helps to dispell any illusions visitors might have as to the status of Lingmoor Fell as a mountain. It's not a mountain, it's a hill.
However as hills go, this is a damn good one! The view is unsurpassed at this altitude and this walk was a refreshing change from the hard work and sometimes hard decisions that go hand-in-hand with our larger mountains.
Looking along the ridge path
The view: superb!
This is a fine place for viewing the Langdale Pikes
A surprising outcrop of rock marks Lingmoor's highest point
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Descent, and Blea Tarn
The Pikes, seen from the larch valley
It was still early in the day, so I decided to use the 'larch valley' descent directly to Blea Tarn, where I planned to unwind for the rest of the afternoon. As it turned out I had a few problems locating the start of the descent route due to the proliferation of sheep tracks and other paths, but found it eventually.
The descent was steep and the path rudimentary, and by the time I had reached the road linking the Langdales I was tired again. But the difference from the previous day was that this time I felt good about what I had achieved during the course of the day. It may not have been my hardest or most epic mountain day, but it was something new, and I'd enjoyed it ... which is after all the most important thing! Sometimes people--myself included--lose track of the fact that we go into the mountains in order to have fun.
Bowfell looking murky
I soon reached the tranquil lake of Blea Tarn, and found a secluded spot in the woods around the edge where I would spend the next few hours lazing around and skimming stones on the water. The view looking across Great Langdale towards the Langdale Pikes was gigantic and the mountains looked bigger than they actually are. I've often thought that if the Pikes were a thousand feet higher they'd rank among the very finest.
Looking across the lake
Harrison Stickle
Lingmoor Fell's boring side
Side Pike's painful side! I fell off the rocky bit.
When the shadows started to lengthen and the temperature cool off a bit, I made a move. It was only a mile or so down to my tent in the valley and I took my time, enjoying the views and taking pictures. At that time I believed this would be my last trip to Langdale for at least a year, so I wanted to make sure I remembered the place well.
Despite the minor disaster which occurred on the first evening, the trip wasn't a total loss. I did some new things and had some fun, and even the scary part was a very valuable experience to go through. Everyone should find themselves in a bad situation at least once so that they develop the correct sense of personal responsibility and caution necessary for safe mountaineering. And I believe my experience has greatly benefited from what happened up on Side Pike. It may have been painful and frightening at the time, but it has done me good in the long run!
A last view of the Langdale Pikes, until next time
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