We were supposed to have a walk at the end of May but I got an unexpected trip to Marbella to play golf for the weekend so I had to let Peter down!  So this was the postponed walk from May.  Peter picked me up at 6.30 am and we headed west.  The discussion on the journey was should we do Wetherlam or Harrison Stickle.  Both generally in the same direction but Harrison Stickle would be slightly easier to navigate in poor weather.  The forecast was for cloud and rain so we were leaning towards Harrison Stickle but we would decide when we got there.

We drove through the odd shower but also bright skies and as we got to Ambleside we decided that it was too misty to navigate Wetherlam today so decision made to head into the Langdales and to Dungeon Ghyll.  We arrived at the New Dungeon Ghyll hotel around 8.45 am and got the boots on and tucked into the Angus Steak pie (it’s been a while).  As we were getting ready however, the rain came down heavy.  With the memory of a wet Hellvelyn still very clear we did not want to start off wet so we waited, and waited!

Around 9.30 the rain stopped coming down so heavy and we decided to set off.  We walked past the New Dungeon Ghyll hotel and straight away began to climb.  It was still raining, not too heavy but enough for water proofs.

The path was very well laid and led us directly up Stickle Gill.  There were paths both sides of the gill, the one on the right was much newer.  We followed this path for some way and then crossed over to the left path.  As we neared the top we took a left up a very steep climb through ferns to Stickle Tarn.  As we reached the tarn with Pavey Ark an imposing sight behind, I could see why Peter had made the detour from the path.  This area around Stickle Tarn is one of those places you remember on these walks, a little like Innominate Tarn in the shadow of Haystacks, a really nice resting spot, particularly on a sunny day.   However as you can see from the next picture, today was not one of those days!

We had a bait stop and a cuppa, fed the duck who swam over to see us and fought off the gull that was trying to take the ducks bread, then set off on the last part of the climb.  The next two pictures show Harrison Stickle from the tarn.

As we began this short climb we had a very good view of Pavey Ark and as we got higher could see the infamous Jack’s Rake, a very narrow path up the mountain.  Both Peter and Steve had told me how difficult it was and I was quite pleased that Pavey Ark does not feature on the list of tops I have to conquer!  The weather was improving slightly now with a little sunshine appearing although as we got higher the wind increased.

By the time we reached the summit the wind was very strong.  There were 2 summit cairns, 20 yards apart, one appeared slightly higher than the other but I touched both just to be on the safe side!  It was too windy to get a photo so we turned around and started back down to a more sheltered spot to decide on our descent.

There was a scree run about half an hour away or we could go down the same way we ascended.  I decided my knees were not suited to the stresses of a scree run so we opted for the latter.

We walked back to the tarn and then set off back down Stickle Gill.  We still had the water proofs on mainly because it was a little chilly although as we descended it started to warm up a little more.  As we got back down to around 4 or 500 feet we took the jackets off and by now it was reasonably sunny and warm.

We got back to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel for about 2pm and decided to go straight in for a drink before crossing the road to the car.  It was still sunny so we sat outside, looking back up Stickle Gill admiring our efforts!  Pretty soon it started to rain so we had to retire inside.  It rained most of the way home too, so we were quite lucky with the walk, dodging the really heavt showers.  Another great day on the fells though with a short but very steep walk up the highest peak in the Langdales.  We provisionally planned a walk in mid July – unexpected trips to Spain permitting!

See you next time.