Led by Ray and his dog Holly aka "the beast" with Gina & Dave and Gary who were all on the previous walk Blencathra and new friends Tanya , Si and Bruce.
We met up at Seathwaite in Borrowdale . the route was to climb up Sourmilk gill then up to the summits of Green Gable 2628 ft and Great Gable 2949 ft :)
This is where we are climbing first! straight up to the top
A steep climb straight up the Gill Yay!. at this point the weather was looking quite good and clear, with a bit of blue sky so we were all fairly hot climbing up here. of course a few of us , Tanya and myself mainly, kept stopping to take photos :D not that we are slow & need a rest quite often !
when we all reached the top of the Gill there was a nice scramble to negotiate
upon reaching a good viewpoint , it was time for yet another rest ( aka photo shoot :)
"GLAM WALKERS" aka Gina & Tanya with Seathwait valley behind.
a great view from up here
The view from top of SourMilk Gill , starting to cloud over already! Holly had a quick swim too!
At the top of this climb the ground levelled and we got a stunning view across the fells down Ennerdale valley on the left , Buttermere and Crummock centre View larger HERE
a group photo , as you can see the cloud was building now and soon we wouldn't get to see any views!
a short climb and we where on Green Gable summit, no views again! a re occurring theme on our walks recently! Arghhhhh an impromptu group shot on the summit in thick cloud!
another view of the thick cloud obscuring the view! before a steep decent into "windy gap" before the steep climb back up to the summit of Great Gable :)
the decent down into windy gap!
and back up towards Great Gable!
this is where things got interesting , the main group were off into the distance ,
at this point i was way behind and Tanya ,with Ray keeping her company where behind me. once up this steep section i had lost sight of the others in the thick cloud!
here i am just before i got lost in the mist!
as you can see in the above image i am way behind , and Tanya & Ray (who took this image) even further behind me! Tanya remarked later that she thought i had given up waiting for her ! lol , but i couldn't see a thing in the fog , had lost the path & hadn't a clue which way i was going, thank god for Holly (the Beast) who was keeping her eye on me!,i could not even hear the others , i shouted out for them, TWICE but i heard silence! then i heard Gina giggling in the distance! im fairly sure i heard someone say"lets eat all the brownies before the others get here" lol
Upon reaching the summit of Great Gable , the memorial plaque was read before a group photo then a bite to eat and Gina's famous home made chocolate brownies :D the real reason we all go on these walks lol. it was at this point two other climbers appeared , and they too were offered brownies , much to there amazement :)
and Gina s i-phone self timer pic :D
Here is Tanya re-doing her make up, on the summit of Great Gable in thick cloud!
not much else to say about this really :)
Making our way down Great Gable heading towards Styhead tarn , where there is a stretcher box used by mountain rescue. a brief glimmer as the clouds break allowing a view of Seathwait fell.
i think Tanya's make up gave her a boost as she took the lead on the next section with Gary
our first view of Styhead tarn as the cloud clears ,a magnificent view
the cloud is clearing well now, giving glimpses of the fells through the thinning cloud base :)
On our way down the scree slope now , its quite slippery on this loose rock
We made it down to the bottom where the stretcher box is at the tarn side , another couple of group photos was taken :)
We decided to take a longer way back as it was still early afternoon, Sprinkling Tarn was the next target , i have always wanted to see it, the home of "Vendace" a rare mountain fish. this is the path heading upwards towards the tarn. It was at this point Tanya decided to take the lead , and with Gina in tow off the "Glam walkers" went leaving the rest of us trailing behind. lol
Sprinkling Tarn
Gina & Dave
Looking back towards Green Gable (centre), the scree path we have just descended (left side) WOW!
Now we will descend via Grains Gill towards Stockley bridge , its a long way back to Seathwaite.. but amazing views on the way down, more reminiscent of Snowdonia actually . this is called Ruddy Gill i believe
Heading down Grains Gill , its a long way down. would not like to climb up this particular path , its never ending lol
Dave descending the cobbled path
the cloud has built up again behind us now!
Finally back to Seathwaite, known as the wettest place in the country!
The End of a great walk and to meet new friends, pity we didn't get to see the amazing views from the top of Great Gable. but a good excuse to climb it again:)
Many thanks to Gina for organising the walk and Ray for guiding us :)
I'm exhausted just scrolling down that lot. I'm so pleased you do these walks for me! Also pleased you didn't get lost in the mist. That would have been a serious waste of one knowledgeable photographer :-)
ReplyDeleteTracey, I don't do 'lost'. I've walked those routes a few hundred times over the last 9 years, heading for Great Gable or Scafell Pike. A great walking area, rugged but safe if you stop to the paths. Come up sometime, it's a brilliant walking group. Oh, the beers good too.
ReplyDeleteGood blog Phil, at least The Beast didn't try and kill you this time.