My Mum vs The Lake District
Since 2016 I've been exploring the mountains of the Lake District here in Northern England, albeit sticking to lesser peaks since my post pandemic heart issues, but still enjoying getting out and about up there when I can. Not being a hiker of any sort, my mum had never visited any of the more remote or rugged parts of the park and for some time now, I've wanted to give her a taste of what it's like to get out into the mountains, hoping that she would get as much out of it as I do.
Of course, I had to allow for her level of fitness. As I mentioned, she's never been a hiker and is unfamiliar with the sort of rough terrain I take for granted, so I devised a short tour including minimal short walks that I thought she'd be able to cope with that we'd be able to do in a single day interspersed with driving over the various passes and narrow roads that connect these remote valleys. This included;
- A walk in Great Langdale.
- Blea Tarn.
- The Roman fort at Hard Knott.
- Lakeside at Wastwater.
Part of the idea was to just be surrounded by the mountains, to appreciate the sense of scale without the difficulty of actually climbing them. Of course, on the day we chose for our trip the weather had other ideas and despite a fair forecast the cloud base remained pitifully low, concealing all but the lowest of peaks. This ruled out the walk in Great Langdale, because, nice though it is, there's not a lot of point if you can't actually see the mountains surrounding you, so instead we went directly to Blea Tarn for our first port of call and had a pleasant walk up to and around the tarn.
All images taken hand held with the Nikon Z8 + 24-70 f/2.8S. Processed from single raw files in Capture One Pro 23.
Bleatarn House from Blea Tarn
At 1,183ft, Side Pike is just nudging the bottom of the cloud base, which unfortunately remained in place for the rest of the day. From this location it's completely hiding Bow Fell, Pike O'Blisco, the Coniston fells and the iconic Langdale Pikes.
Lonely Bench
We followed the path around the tarn and through the woods. Here and there were dotted wooden benches such as this one.
A Babbling Brook
My mum admires a little brook that emerges from the woods, only to disappear into a drain beneath the path.
Side Pike
My mum enjoying the view of Side Pike. This is about as far as we went as the path (which eventually turns into a proper mountain path and leads up onto Pike O'Blisco) was becoming increasingly rough and I didn't want to risk her falling.
Blea Tarn
The sun briefly appeared when I took this shot. The Pikes didn't.
Side Pike From The Wrynose Pass
As you join onto the Wrynose Pass from the Blea Moss pass (not sure if that's what it's actually called), there's a rather nice view looking back towards the Langdale Pikes. These weren't visible on this day, but Side Pike was putting on a pretty good show.
Looking Back From The Wrynose Pass
As I drove up the hugely enjoyable Wrynose Pass - a narrow, uneven road that winds its way between the Coniston fells and Pike O'Blisco, peppered with sharp turns and potential for sudden death around every corner - I spotted a fine view in the rear view mirror, causing me to find a safe place to briefly pull over and take a shot. My mum didn't see any of this as she had her eyes closed along most of the pass. I don't think she was enjoying that part of the trip as much as I was.
The Roman Fort
My mum surveys the remains of the bath house. Now, in my memory from previous visits to the fort, I was convinced there was a gently rising grassy slope running from the car park to the boundary wall. When I arrived with my mum in tow, I instantly realised my mistake. It's actually quite steep, uneven, riddled with little streams and very, very muddy. Suffice to say, it took quite a lot of retracing of steps before we actually reached the fort in once piece.
For anyone interested who hasn't already seen it, I did produce a walking video on Youtube a number of years ago with some aerial shots of the fort. You can find it here - www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKFsuTgMgnk - don't forget to like and subscribe ;-)
The Boundary Wall
This is the main boundary wall surrounding the fort. It's broadly square in shape, with a wide entrance like this on each of the four sides. Considering this is nearly 2,000 years old and sat on a boggy, storm battered hillside, it's fair to say that The Romans certainly knew how to put up a wall.
The View From The Fort
This is looking down into Eskdale from within the fort. I suspect the Romans hated it here, given how grey, cold, bleak and damp it is when they could have been back in Rome enjoying fine weather (and no doubt fine wine too!).
Eskdale
Eskdale is such a beautiful little valley. Even in weather like this it doesn't disappoint. What was more disappointing was the lack of mountains. From the fort, we should have had Harter Fell towering over us, with a good view of Scafell and Scafell Pike on the far side of The Great Moss, but no dice, low cloud was all there was to see.
The Wasdale Screes
After another intermission the car, we found ourselves in Wasdale. Having been thwarted by the low cloud in both Great Langdale and Eskdale, I was hopeful that we might get something of a break out here at the foot of England's tallest mountain. This turned out not to be the case, so instead we settled for a sit beside Wastwater enjoying the screes and the general tranquility, because, weather aside (or probably because of it) the place was dead. While we were sat there in the early evening, the screes did get hit with some rather nice soft light.
Looking Towards Wasdale Head
Looking up the lake, we should be able to see Great Gable in the distance, with the Scafell's rising up on the right, but alas, the big mountains were still hiding in the clouds, with only Yewbarrow prepared to give us a hint of what we were missing. It's kind of ironic how my return trip to The Lakes two days later to walk up White Pike (see last week's post) had perfect visibility and blazing sun (making it way too warm for what I was doing), when really, this kind of weather would have been ideal for that trip.
How's The Serenity?
My mum enjoying The Serenity while perched on a rock beside Wastwater. We did try to get down to the shoreline, but were thwarted by mud, clay and inappropriate footwear. She really enjoyed it here, I think this turned out to be her favourite part of the trip (the drive over Wrynose and Hard Knott certainly wasn't!), she'd have probably stayed on that rock all night if she could have.
Illgill Head and Whin Rigg
This pair of fells make up the Eastern shore of Wastwater. I last climbed these in January 2018 and despite it being clear in the valley at the time, the tops were completely covered in deep snow, making for a great snowy adventure and an 11 mile walk, with about three miles of that being in pitch black darkness along the lakeside road having only got back down after sunset. I can only dream of walking that sort of distance these days.
