A JULY JAUNT WITH THE MEANDERING LAKELANDER

Another great report Dave, brings back memories of our trip, I remember The Struggle from April when is was covered in snow, twas a bit tricky then. 

Another point about typing up reports on a document first, it saves a lot of frustration when you've typed for hours and just as you post the internet drops off. 

Friday 19-7-13

Hot and sunny again as we drove the 4 or 5 five miles to Elterwater and parked in the large public car at the usual reasonable price of £7.00 all day. About two thirds of the route I wanted to follow was on the Cumbria way so did not foresee any major problems. So out of the car park, which is quite handily situated about 100 yards from the Britannia Inn, which would be visited later in the day,  left over the bridge with Little Langdale Beck flowing very shallowly below and right up a short ascent on road before dropping down to the banks of the aforementioned Little Langdale Beck. Followed this for a few hundred yards then turned off left from Cumbria Way and he headed off south towards Little Langdale through a thinly wooded area and after about 4-500 yards were regaled with a wonderful views of the Langdale Pikes. Onwards a bit further we passed through the working slate quarry at Elterwater although not much action at this time. More great views over the quarry towards Chapel Stile. Several way markers for Little Langdale kept us on the right paths until we reached a road!! Several sign posts of which did say Little Langdale and was pointing in what appeared to be the right direction. A quick read of the map confirmed that the signposted track was the way to go!!!! Left would have taken us back to Elterwater, and right albeit more of a track than a road would have taken us along the lower wooded slopes of Lingmoor Fell which headed out towards Great Langdale to rejoin the Cumbria Way. So we went a few yards up the track to another way marker showing Little Langdale and set off up a reasonably heavily wooded slope. A couple of other folk made their way past us so we had no reason to think we were wrong. So onwards and upwards climbing steadily through the trees which also agreed with the map….or at least where I thought we were on the map!!!.... Kept checking the map and all OK should still be in the trees. About a mile or so up this hill we broke out of the trees to be greeted with magnificent panoramic views of the lower parts of  Great Langdale with Chapel Stile nestling in bottom of the valley. It very soon became evident that we were on the wrong path going in entirely the opposite direction!! Oh well it was a lovely hot sunny day, so tell the wife, suffer the moans and groans and study the map again. Even knowing where we were and where we should have been, I could not see on the map where we had gone wrong. We had certainly not missed a signpost. So back down the hill and through the woods towards to road again. As we got closer to the road I started looking for any obvious tracks that we could have missed but there were none. About 50 or 60 yards from the road was a very indistinct path through the bracken which in hindsight might have been the path but was not considered earlier as it just did not seem well trodden. And this route we were walking this day is a very popular one, so I am still at a loss as to where we should have turned off to head for Little Langdale. She who likes to be obeyed looked at them too and the lie of the land and amazingly agreed that the reason we had gone wrong was down to very poor signposting and ‘not necessarily’ my fault. Which I thought was quite magnanimous of her!!! So we eventually took what would have been the left option down the road towards Elterwater, at least you cannot get too lost on a road. Low and behold a few hundred yards, on a bend further down the road, was a very sharp turn off to the right very clearly marked Little Langdale, with several folk already on the track and a few heading up from Elterwater. So upwards again much to Anne’s disgust, but she had her new walking sandals on again today, along with the newly acquired walking poles, so her feet were more comfortable and it was obviously much easier for her. The climb was partly wooded so a bit of respite from the blazing heat of the sun was very welcome. Before long we were in open country again and the walking was easier as we started to drop down a little towards Dale End, with the eastern slopes of Lingmoor Fell rising quite sharply on our right. At Dale End we returned to a tarmac road surface for a short while until reaching the path past Little Langdale Tarn, sitting very pretty with Lingmoor Fell to the right and the Little Langdale valley beyond. From here it was follow the signposts to Slater’s Bridge, another of the many stone pack horse bridges dotted around this area. I had intended to stop here for lunch but someone had other ideas, so on we trekked. Mixed tarmac and tracks for the next mile or so to Stang End and eventually the little farmstead at High park where we finally joined the Cumbria way again. So very clear paths now all the way back to Elterwater with no real chance of getting it wrong. Two options for the Cumbria way here, one takes a higher more direct rout towards Colwith and the other, which we took takes a lower path to pass by Colwith Force. As with most of the rivers and falls this visit the water was not very high so the falls, which are quite difficult to get to photograph decently were avoided although the faint rush of the cascading water could be heard. A bit further down the path and out onto an unclassified road for 50 yards before negotiating a stile off to the left and across some fields towards Skelwith Bridge. The relatively easy walking of the fields didn’t last too long as with a quarter of a mile we crossed another stile and immediately started uphill again!!! Quite sharp and steep but did have some form of steps which does help at times. A bit of open land at the top and my suggestion to stop here for lunch was still rebuffed so on we went now on much easier terrain, nice smooth paths and open fields. The sun still beating down very warmly. Nearing Skelwith Bridge we turned off into the trees, as opposed to taking the other path which comes out on the main Ambleside to Coniston Road, and headed toward Skelwith Force but being on the south bank of the river Brathay the fall is not easily visible. But there were far too many people on the opposite side to make the trek back there worth bothering with. It can wait for another day when the light will be better and not so many folk around. A few yards further on and across the footbridge over the Brathay and we were soon out in open fields again alongside the very gently flowing River Brathay. We soon arrived at a little sandy opening right down to the river right where it flows out of Elterwater where Anne finally decided to sit down and give her feet a rest. So I presumed this was gonna be our lunch stop. And I was right, even though it was now 3.30 and we had passed countless numbers of nice grassy tree shaded areas during the last 2 hours!!!!! Half an hour later with a few more photos of the Langdale Pikes on the card off we set for the last half mile or so back to the car. Rucksack, water bottles and all other unnecessary  items were dropped into the boot and off to the Britannia Inn for a well deserved pint or two. Cider for me, a bit more refreshing than beer, and bitter shandy for the wife. A quiet 30-40 minutes later and we were on route back to Ambleside where the car was parked and everything taken into the cottage. Just got sat down for a few minutes and Anne decided a walk round the village was in order so off we went. Half an hour or so later she came up with the amazing question, ‘Do you fancy a beer?’ Having taken her a mile or so the wrong way up a hill earlier in the day I was not really an position to refuse!!! So the last visit of the week to the Golden Rule ensued. 3 pints of Dizzy Blonde later it was a case of fish and chips, back to the cottage and start packing. Packing does not take us very long these days, in fact I had the car almost fully loaded with only last minute things like fridge stuff and cleaning things to sort on Saturday morning.

So finally we come to the end of this series of Lakeland Meanderings. Sorry they could not be done closer to the correct day but the loss of internet was out of my control. Hopefully the next trip will be completed in a more timely manner. Thanks again for puting up my inane babbling, you really must be gluttons for punishment.

  Indeed Dave, another day logged and another interesting one at that,

 The misread of the map does allow one to see things you did not set out to see, many years ago I remember a drive out on Bodmin Moor and we somehow saw Carne three times - not quite sure how that happened either. Good luck with all the photo organising, we are a patient lot ( there is the matter of the May shots still to come) but we do look forward to seeing the illustrated July Jaunt.