Leaving the Fox and Hounds adequately refreshed and
kitted up I headed off to navigate around the southern edge of Ennerdale Water.
There was no sign of old Roy at the pub last night;
I will keep an eye out for him today.
Ennerdale is the first of many lakes that I will
encounter within the Lakes District. Oddly enough finding a lake in the Lakes
District is very hard. Of the 94 bodies of water only one, Bassenthwaite Lake, is called a lake, the rest are called Water, Mere, Reservoir, Tarn or Moss. Don't stress though, I am not going anywhere near Bassenthwaite Lake.
In 2011 we overnighted further north at Kirkland and entered
Ennerdale on the north side of Ennerdale Water, walking on an easy man-made limestone
track with forest on the left and lake on the right. This more trodden south
side was no easy walk with its uneven eroded ground and rough granite boulders;
it was at times a scramble.
Don’t they know what a lakeside stroll should be?
However if you could pick a perfect English day with
perfect weather for walking and put it against a backdrop of perfect English
countryside then this was the day.
Ennerdale was beautiful.
The walk along the lake was to die for. But.
Beware! There is never a free lunch. Not all know what lies ahead.
Once past the Water it was comparatively an easy albeit
long amble along the River Liza and through wild Ennerdale laying in the valley
800m to 900m below the peaks of High Stile, High Crag and Haystacks to the
north and Pillar to the south.
At times my GPS would struggle for a signal, as the
valley was deep and guarded on each side by theses sentinel Mountains.
More like a giant horseshoe of mountains and the
path I am on leading to its center. How do I get out of this auditorium?
I feel very small and very alone.
I needed to make Honister Pass however this is at the top of a mountain.
After making the clearing at Black Sail Hut, which
is the most remote youth hostel in Britain, I was pleased to see old Roy
enjoying his lunch on a bench. I joined him, and asked how he fared yesterday.
He made it into Ennerdale but was too tired to enjoy the village’s hospitality.
I was happy to see him.
 |
| Me and Roy |
Roy finished his lunch and headed off up the
steepest part of the walk.
The route out of the valley is via Loft Beck, at
this point we all need to take care and read the guidebook to the letter.
Mountain Rescue advises “that walkers are making
serious navigation errors just beyond Black Sail Hut and thus fail to turn up
at their overnight accommodation. Rescue Teams have been called out on numerous
occasions to respond to walkers getting into difficulty on this leg. Walkers
are advised to pay extra attention at this point”. I wonder if “this leg” was
an intended pun.
As always it is important to not only refer to maps
and GPS but to keep up with the advice of the guidebook and in particular that advice
given by Mountain Rescue.
It is easy to see how people get lost up here, the correct trail around the hut and to the left it is not an obvious route and the more prominent path to the right is the one most walkers take.
Not everyone hiking is going Coast to Coast, there
are at times many day walkers heading off in all sorts of directions, climbing
their own mini Everests. To just follow the next troop ahead, if there is one,
is not wise.
This prominent path looks at first to be correct,
but it then slowly turns leading downwards in the absolute wrong direction
heading towards Pillar.
Walkers, after descending further into the valley
finally realise the Pass is behind them, above Grey Knotts not ahead over
Pillar and as they backtrack they also realise their steep climb out of the
valley has now become even steeper and if the weather is closing in they can be
in trouble. Maybe this is a good time to call for the helicopter.
I pointed Roy in the right direction and watched
him disappear behind the drumlins.
I followed some time later after giving some advice
to German tourist wanting to climb Bluff Knoll next January. I turned left after
Black Sale and headed straight for Loft Beck.
This Beck is pretty much a waterfall down the side
of a mountain, rising steeply, 240m virtually straight up and underfoot it is uneven,
with again irregular granite boulders that were carved by glaciers millions of
years ago.
I struggled vertically for 40 minutes, stopping
many times just to catch my breath. Reminding myself that it gets easier on the
other side of this bloody great mountain.
I caught up to Roy who had stopped three or four
times and I mean stopped and sat down not just paused to catch his breath.
Roy how old are you? I asked. “Seventy-seven” came
the reply, “and I feel every minute of it”.
Well my friend there is no prize for getting to
the top the quickest, take your time, I hope I will be doing this at your age
was the only encouragement that seemed worthwhile.
He was pleased with that and he rested a while
longer, I struggled on.
From there it was a stroll across the top with sweeping
views over my left shoulder back across Buttermere (that’s a lake) and the Isle
of Man way off in the Irish Sea.
Then as always very steeply downhill through
Honister Pass and through the slate mine that bares its name.
OK I dismissively said steep, it was knee
shattering and my thighs are burning, like a Russian weightlifter. From now on
that is what steep means.
I made it to the slate mine where there is a little
café, I just wanted a water and to keep going. The quicker I make my
accommodation the quicker the pain stops.
The final meander down the mountainside and through
Jonny’s Wood was memorable; the scenery was quintessential picture
postcard one of the most beautiful in all England.
Knowing I had made it up the steepest climb on the
trail I triumphantly walked into the valley of Borrowdale. Nestled here are the
once Viking strongholds of Longthwaite, Rosthwaite and Stonethwaite, finally
making the road that led to my B&B, the Scafell Hotel.
England for your entre walk this morning along
Ennerdale, I give you a 10.
Team Australia you are the first to arrive.
I set off at 8:50 making the Scafell a little after
4:10, not that it was a race but I was pretty happy with my accomplishment.
Excuse me I understand I am first and I know I need
to check in but where’s the bar!
Daily Stats.
Distance 27km
Assent 959m
Descent 970m
Time out 7h
23m
Stopped 1h
29m
Moving average 4.6k
per hour
Weather 10 to 14, mostly sunny with a slight cold
breeze
Fascinating read. Well done Terry
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