Another successful day climbing Scafell Pike from Seathwaite.

With the warm weather starting to break the forecast hinted at more cloud on the fells and the possibility of rain. Despite this we were keen for a great day out on the hills. After meeting at Seathwaite we made our way up to the Stockley Bridge. Although the sun was hiding behind the clouds it was still quite warm, so before we climbed by Taylorgill Force we all took off a layer or two! As we made our way towards Styhead Pass we seemed to be walking into a large patch of low cloud, however as we got to the pass it seemed to get blown through. At this point we could not see the tops of the fells.

We joined the Corridor Route and made great progress. As we were below Round How the mist cleared through and we the summit of Scafell Pike was clear for all to see, and with it came a cheer from all the group. After a morning of low cloud, the possibility of having views from the top was now very great! We crossed the top of Piers Gill and made our way to Lingmell Col.

We now turned and made our way up the steep final ascent. Half way we detoured off of the trail to enjoy the great view down over Wastwater.  A short while later we were on the bouldery summit plateau followed by an unusually calm summit. We enjoyed our lunch out in the open on the summit, and although the sun wasn't really present it was nice and warm. We enjoyed the views, and although not extensive the cloud added a bit of drama to it all.

After lunch we descended to Broad Crag Col and then made our way around Broad Crag and Ill Crag. After coming off of the boulders at Ill Crag we descended through Calf Cove to Esk Hause and then joined the top of Grains Gill. We enjoyed a warm descent down Grains Gill back to Seathwaite Farm.

Another great days Navigation Training above Patterdale today.

The weather was a little cooler than yesterday and much more pleasant to walk in.

We set off from Patterdale at 10am and followed the track north from Side Farm running several navigation excercises around Silver Crag and Silver Point before following the lakeshore path north to climb by Scalehow Force climbing as high as The Knight before descending the Hare Shaw path back to Patterdale.

Highlights today included a good sighting of red deer, a sparrowhawk eating another bird in a bush a few metres away from us and a large fih darting backwards and forwards in a small pool very high up Scalehow Beck!

A fantastic sunny day on the Coledale Horseshoe

After meeting in Braithwaite we started our walk by making our way up the steep steps from the Car Park. The start is a bit of a cruel one, but it is great to warm you up! We climbed up the grassy eastern spur of Grisedale Pike, and we didn't have to climb high at all to get some good views over Keswick and Derwent Water. After the initial climb the track flattened out for a while before climbing steeply to the summit. Grisedale Pike is a very interesting mountain to climb, and you can see why it is called the 'Matterhorn of the Lake District'. We enjoyed the views from the summit before making our way to our second summit, Hopegill Head.

From Hopegill head we headed towards the highest summit of the day, Eel Crag. After reached Coledale Hause we followed the gradual track that leads around the back. After reaching the summit we found a nice spot to enjoy our lunches.

After lunch we followed the other half of the horseshoe over Sail, Scar Crags and then onto Causey Pike, an impressive summit overlooking Keswick.

As a couple of the guys were in training for an expedition we opted to add in the extra ascent by taking in Outerside, Stile End and Barrow. We descended off of Barrow back into a Beer Garden in Braithwaite, a perfect end to a great day.

A great day above Patterdale today on a Navigation Training Course.

We set off from the Patterdale Hotel at 10am and climbed by Crookabeck to Boredale Hause and ran several navigational excercises from the Hause and across the Angletarn Pikes and as far as Angle Tarn, stopping for lunch on Stony Rigg before returning back to Patterdale by Boredale HAuse and Rookings.

A great day in wonderful weather.

The 24 Peaks Challenge is a Lake District based Challenge during which walkers attempt to climb 24 peaks in just 24 hours (split into 2 12 hour days).The challenge involves early starts, bucket loads of ascent as well as some of Lakeland’s finest peaks.

Day 1:

After meeting in our shop at Ambleside we boarded our Taxi which shuttled us to our start location, Buttermere. It was 8am and there was not a single soul around. We started by walking along the north shore of Buttermere until we reached the steep path that would take us up to our first summit. This track up to Red Pike is a harsh start to the challenge as it is so steep, and despite trying to take it gently as to not burn out too soon, we still flew up it in a mightily impressive time and soon enough we were on the very windy summit of Red Pike. The wind was a bit of a worry at first as it was going to provide a strong resistance and we had to walk directly into it, fortunately this was not the case for long as it soon shifted its direction.

Now at over 700m we were ready to nag the remaining Buttermere Fells. We cruised over High Stile which was soon followed by High Crag. We descended steeply from High Crag which was hard to swallow after all of our ascent, but that was to be the story of the challenge! After walking over Seat we were at Scarth Gap. We scrambled up the northern flank of Haystacks and onto its summit. We had done four fells in 2 hours, we were feeling good. Next in our sights was the Gables. We descended from the summit via Inonimate Tarn towards the Moses Trod Path. As we reached the path we were just a hundred metres or so from the summit of Brandreth, and although it wasn’t included in the challenge we thought we would bag it anyway! From Brandreth we made our way up onto Green Gable. A short descent into Windy Gap brought us onto our ascent of Great Gable. We picked a quick route through the boulders and just minutes later we were on the top of Great Gable, our highest point of the day so far, and it was just midday. We enjoyed the views over Wastwater, and just over the valley was our next major objective ,Scafell Pike. Even harsher than our previous big descent from High Stile, we now had to descend to Styhead Pass, about 400m below! The knee crunching descent didn’t end soon enough, but as we reached the grass at the col we all dropped our bags and pulled out our lunches. After a longer break than the ones previously, we saddled up and joined the Corridor Route. It took a few minutes for us to get back into our flow again after lunch, but then we were flying again. We got to Lingmell col and branched off to grab Lingmell. We managed to get back up to 800m and walk just over a mile in 45 minutes. From Lingmell we descended back to Lingmell Col and joined the main motorway route up to the summit of Scafell Pike. The ascents were starting to feel a little harder, and as always this one seemed to drag on! We got to the top of Scafell Pike and felt like we had really broken the back of this first day. We now just had 3 summits left to go, and we could see our final one, Bowfell (plus with being on Scafell Pike it must all be down hill from here, right? Haha)

We descended to Broad Crag col and then continued to cruise around Broad Crag and Ill Crag. From Calf Cove we climbed the easy ascent to Great End. The team were all matched perfectly and working well together. We had managed to develop a system of stops and snacks that was proving to be very efficient. From the start we had said we would eat little and often, and we fell into a pattern of walking and not stopping until the next summit, on which we would have a nibble on something for the energy boost to get us to the next one.

From Great End we descended over the boulders to Esk Hause where we climbed the western flank of Esk Pike. As we reached this summit it was evident everyone was starting to feel it, and quite rightly so! 11 Peaks down, 1 to go. Bowfell was a lovely mountain to climb as the final summit of the day, the ascent was gentle, and when we got to the top we had incredible views. We sat and admired them for a bit, whilst revelling in the success of the day. We now had a 4km descent to our finish point in Langdale. After the steep descent off of Bowfell we joined The Band. Much like the descent from Styhead Pass this couldn’t have ended sooner. Our knees were on fire and our muscles were weary, but we had made it to the finish point, and most importantly, the pub! We checked the GPS and it told us we had walked 30km and climbed over 2700m of ascent, all in an impressive 10 hours 30 minutes!

We got our taxi back into Ambleside and went our separate ways, but in just 11 hours we would be back on the trail...

Day 2:

7am and we were at the shop in Ambleside. Unfortunately Mark had agitated an old injury so could not join us to complete the challenge. The taxi arrived and we all walked out to it like a bunch of John Wayne impressionists. Day2 of the challenge is the easier day of the 2, but when you still have a dozen peaks to go how easy can it really be!

Our taxi dropped us of at the Kirkstone Pass, a lovely start point as a nice portion of a ascent is done for us! From the pass we started the day on another unforgiving track as we made our way up towards Red Screes. From a personal point of view (and I think the rest of the team would agree) this was very hard. I could instantly feel the 30km on my legs from the day before and they felt powerless. I was wanting my family size Macaroni Cheese from the night before to kick in so much, but at this point the tank was well and truly empty.

Despite feeling weak we got up to the summit of Red Screes in just half an hour! One summit down 13 to go (You may realise that with 12 peaks done on day 1 , and 14 on day 2 it adds up to 26, but we added Brandreth as an extra and also take in Lower Man)

Unlike day 1 where we could enjoy this height gain for a couple of summits, we had to descend straight away. Psychologically this was tough, especially as the ascent had been so hard. We had all now seemed to have warmed up and the energy was starting fed through to us, it was feeling good again. We climbed up the grassy western spur on to the summit of Dove Crag. We looked back and Red Screes already seemed miles away. From Dove Crag we enjoyed a gentle descent before climbing over Hart Crag. With two summits in quick succession we were feeling very motivated and it didn’t take long to get onto Fairfield. It was just 10am, so we had bagged four summits in just 2 and a half hours, 10 to go.

The next section of the walk looked like the most challenging, and in hindsight, it was. We descended east from Fairfield down the very rubbish track to Grisedale Tarn. After descending a few hundred metres we were now faces with ascended a couple of them again onto the summit of Seat Sandal. We made our way up its steep western side, which again had a rubbish path. We didn’t linger on the summit and soon descended down to Grisedale Tarn again. We now had our last big re-ascent of the day ahead of us, as once we were on the Helvellyn range it was just a case of smaller undulations. We took the zig zag path up the side of Dollywagon Pike, and all keen to get this over and down with we powered up it. Not before long we were on the summit of Dollywagon Pike. It was nearing midday and we thought Helvellyn would be a good place to stop as it was the highest point of the day. We left Dollywagon Pike and on our way to Helvellyn bagged the flat summit of Nethermost Pike. A short haul up the slope brought us to the summit shelter on Helvellyn. We were quick to get into it have a good rest.

8 peaks down 6 to go, or 20 Peaks down, 6 to go, that sounded better! We left the summit and took in Lower Man. A steep desent followed by a long drag brought us up onto White Side. Everyone was still walking well and we had the finishing line in sight. We continued to power on and reached our Raise in just 12 minutes. We descended to Sticks Pass with just the Dodd’s to go! The terrain was now much grassier and kinder on our battered and weary feet. After taking in Stybarrow Dodd we contoured around Watson’s Dodd and hauled ourselves up to Great Dodd. 25 down, 1 to go. We stopped for all of a matter of seconds on Great Dodd as we were so keen to bag our final summit. We retraced our steps a short way before branching off to the summit. We had made it, all of our summits done! We now just had to descend to complete the challenge. We chose to descend the grassy spur to the east of this summit. The spur started gently but just as we were above Castle Rock it steepened. This was good as we were losing height quickly, but it was definitely hard on our feet and knees.

We got to  roadside where John had met us to congratulate us. As we got into the Car park everyone dumped their packs and the smiles started to emerge. We had completed our second day in just 8 hours, brining our 24 Peaks Challenge in 24 hours completion time to a TLDW record breaking 18 hours and 30 minutes. John pulled a bottle of Champers from the boot of his car and we all celebrated our success with a nice glass of bubbly!

A good mornings rock climbing on Sticklebarn Crag above the Langdale Valley today.

We took in three good routes in wonderful warm sunshine before lunch.

A glorious day above Coniston today climbing The Old Man of Coniston and following the ridge around to Wetherlam.

we set off from Coniston just after 9.30am and climbed by Coppermines Valley and the mines track to the summit of The Old Man of Coniston, via a short stop at Low Water.

The views today were better than the previous few days and we could see across Morecambe Bay and down to the Yorkshire Dales.

From the summit of The Old Man we followed the ridge, crossing Brim Fell and climbing to Great How Crags, stopping for lunch out of the quite strong winds behind the summit rocks.

After lunch we crossed to the summit of Swirl How and descended the Prison Band climbing again, for the last time today to the wonderful summit of Wetherlam.

From Wetherlam we dropped down quite quickly, descending down to Hole Rake and back by the Coppermine Valley back to Coniston, just in time for the Launch!

Another glorious day today climbing Helvellyn by Striding Edge.

We set off from Glenridding just before 10am and climbed by Lanty's Tarn, following the ridge west to meet the Mires Beck path and followed this onto the summit of Birkhouse Moor.

The weather was glorious and we had some great views over Ullswater, there was a lot of haze today and we couldn't see as far as the Pennines.

From Birkhouse Moor we followed the ridge west past 'Hole in the Wall' and climbed to High Spying How and onto Striding Edge.

The conditions were perfect today, there was next to no wind and we easily crossed Striding Edge before climbing to the summit of Helvellyn.

We stopped by the summit of Helvellyn for a lunch stop before descending over Swirral Edge and down by Red Tarn onto the Greenside Mine path back to Glenridding.

A great day on Scafell Pike today. We set off from Seathwaite at 9.30am and climbed in warm sunshine to Sty Head Pass, climbing along the Corridor Route to Lingmell Col and up to the summit of Scafell Pike.

After a lunch stop on the summit of Scafell Pike we continued, crossing Broad Crag and Ill Crag before descending over Esk Hause and down the Grains Gill path back to Seathwaite.

A stunning day today as we climbed up Helvellyn & Striding Edge.

From an already baking Glenridding we climbed through the shade of the trees up to Lanty's Tarn. From here we followed the wall up the large grassy spur that meets the main path out of Glenridding. The heat of the morning was unrelenting as we climbed up the long slope, but nonetheless we made great progress. Not before too long we were up on the summit of  Birkhouse Moor.

From here we enjoyed the flatter ground and made our way to High Spying How, and then start of Striding Edge. We decided to stop before the edge for our lunch.

After our break we got onto Striding Edge to enjoy some good scrambling. As always everyone scrambled very well! After tackling the chimney and the final buttress we walked up the steep  final exit ramp and onto the summit of  Helvellyn. The views were a bit hazy, but we were glad we could at least see something! We stopped again just past the summit for another break, which is where Mandy put her apple down beside her and unfortunately (and very amusingly!) it rolled down Red Tarn Cove and went bouncing down Helvellyn's steep face!

We descended down Swirral Edge, and as the heat of the day had sapped a lot of our energy (and water was low) we opted not to summit  Catstycam. We filled our water bottles up out of the beck that runs from Red Tarn, and then descended down to the pub via Greenside Mine.

A hot day climbing High Raise from Stonethwaite in the Borrowdale Valley, taking in Eagle Crag and Sergeant's Crag before descending over Ullscarf and Great Crag back to Stonethwaite.

Another fine day upon us and what a day to be up on Grange Fell.

From Grange in the Borrowdale Valley  we walked a short way up the road before turning up into the Troutdale Valley. The sun was already beaming down so it was a great time to be in the shelter of the woods. Just a few minutes in to the woods we saw a breif sighting of a deer. The sounds of the birds and the sun coming through the trees made this part quite beautiful. The path now climbed steeply through the woods, but soon enough we were up onto the amazing viewpoint that is Kings How. From here we had fine views across Derwent Water to Keswick, and of course to Skiddaw behind. We descended from Kings How and made our way up to the summit of Grange Fell. From the summit we made a descent down the good path into Rosthwaite.

After making our way through Rosthwaite we joined the wide track that runs between the river and Castle Crag. After this enjoyable flat stroll alongside the river we had made our way back into Grange.

A perfect day climbing Blencathra & Sharp Edge!

With the Keswick Mountain Festival drawing to an end, and the weather being clear and sunny, there was no suprise why we had 12 people out on this fantastic route. We (Matt and Paul) met the group in the centre of Threlkeld and after making our way through town we were at the bottom of the Halls Fell Ridge. The start of the ridge is a steep grassy slope, and with the early morning warmth it made a tough start to the day. Everyone climbed at their own pace, but not before too long we were at the start of the scrambling on the ridge. After a short break we made our way onto the rocky buttresses of the ridge. The ridge got narrower, and some of the sections required more hands on moves than others, but everyone did really well.

At about midday we were on the summit of Blencathra soaking up the amazing views. We descended the short distance to a very turquoise Scales Tarn where we enjoyed our lunches. A short ascent brought us up to the start of Sharp Edge, at which point everyone started to buzz with excitment/ anxiety. Paul led the way across the edge, providing advice across some of the slightly trickier sections. After scrambling up the exit ramp everyone had huge smiles on their faces, and it was evident everyone was super happy about what they had just achieved.

As the weather was still good we took the long descent route across the top of Blencathra and down Blease Fell. Good tracks led us into Threlkeld where we walked straight into the pub for a well earned drink!

A great day climbing Scafell Pike from Seathwaite today for Andy's 40th Birthday.

After meeting the large Birthday group at Seathwaite Farm we made our way to the Stockley Bridge. We climbed by Taylor Gill Force and up to Styhead Pass. At the pass we took the opportunity to admire the views and have a welcomed break. The cloud was currently sitting on top of Scafell Pike, but clearing on all the other surrounding fells. From the pass we joined the Corridor route which traversed up the fellside to a misty Lingmell Col.

Everyone climbed well up the steep final ascent, and soon enough we were on a a very busy summit. After a nice round of 'Happy Birthday' for Andy we had some lunch. Fortunately the mist did clear for a few seconds to unveil the fab view the summit has to offer.

After our lunch we descended the steep slope to Broad Crag col, and then climbed over Broad Crag, Ill Crag and down Calf Cove to the top of Grains Gill. Now well under the cloud we enjoyed fantastic views, especially north towards Derwent Water as we descended back to the farm.

A fantasitc clear day climbing Great Gable from Seathwaite today.

Starting from Seathwaite Farm we followed the good track to the Stockley Bridge, from which we climbed by Taylorgill Force. The weather forecast had stated there would be '10% chance of cloud free summits', however at this time the cloud was clearing and the sun was even beaming through from time to time. After about an hour and a half we were standing at Styhead Pass. We stopped for a brief snack stop here before starting our ascent up the eastern flank of Great Gable.

This track has a good path, but it has many false summits which is always fun when climbing mountains! Everyone climbed well and when we got to the summit we were rewarded with amazing views in all directions. We stopped just off of the summit out of the wind and enjoyed our lunches with amazing views over Wastwater, and over towards the Scafell Massif.

We descended from the summit across the boulders into Windy Gap, from which a short  climb  brought us up onto the summit of Green Gable. We stopped just for a few minutes to admire Gable Crag and the view down over Haystacks. We continued to the north and up to the summi of Base Brown. We retraced our steps a little way and descended into Gillercomb on a good track, which we followed back down past the lovely Sourmilk Gill and back to the farm.