Great Langdale, Mickleden, Angle Tarn, Esk Pike, Bow Fell, The Band. Cumbria. Thu 28 Dec 2006

I drove to the main car park at the head of Great Langdale. The price for the day was £4.80 so I decided that was too much and continued along the road and part way up the steep climb to Blea Tarn. There was plenty of off road parking so I left the car there and walked back along the road. Back at the car park I took the track up Mickleden. My plan was to walk over Esk pike and Bow Fell and the weather up ahead didn’t look too bad as I could see some of the tops. I wandered up the valley, passing the branch up Stake Pass and continuing up towards Rossett Pike.

View back down Mickleden

 It wasn’t long before the mist started to descend and soon I was in cloud. Higher up the ground was covered in snow and the only tracks to be seen were mine. The steep climb is relatively straight forward due to a lot of path building and most of the way being stepped. Over the top I took it carefully as I descended to Angle Tarn and stopped for a brief rest by the tarn outlet. There was a total cover of snow now, though not too deep. I continued up to the stone shelter below Esk Hause and stopped for a drink of coffee. The mist thickened and I saw nothing. As I approached the saddle at Esk Hause the wind began to pick up. This is an area where many people have taken a wrong turning as there are 4 possible ways. The first part of the path towards Esk Pike was easy to see but I kept my compass handy for when it vanished. There were no tracks to follow and I soon found myself climbing through a horrible mass of boulders which were partly covered in snow. It is some of the worst terrain for walking through, especially when the path is lost and the visibility is very low.

All I could do was head on a compass bearing and stick it out. I then decided to cut my walk short at Ore Gap and take the escape route back down to Angle Tarn. It took ages but eventually the ground seemed to slope down in the right direction as I approached the saddle at Ore Gap. To my surprise I saw some fresh footprints coming down from the Bow Fell route. I decided to return to my original plan as I now had somebody else’s route finding to follow. Soon another set of footprints joined the first and I had a fairly easy trail to follow. Approaching Bow Fell I found some shelter behind a rock and stopped for lunch. The walk over Esk Pike had taken longer than expected due to all the mini detours to get round snow covered boulders.

Nothing much to see over Bow Fell.

The view from Stool End.

I’d just started walking again when a party of walkers approached me through the mist. Shortly after that another group, but much larger, approached. I didn’t have any problems finding the way now. I reached the saddle at Three Tarns and started down the stone stepped path. Unfortunately all the boots had compacted the snow on the steps, making the descent slippery. I put my mini-crampons on for a while until I was clear of the snow. I was in cloud all the way down ‘The Band’ and even when I reached Stool End Farm it was still quite misty. It was a pleasant walk along the farm access road and back to the car.