Welcome to the Climbers traverse of Bowfell
The news media and social media both being on overdrive with constantly saddening news and debate regarding the Coronavirus, we have been feeling it very necessary to run away for a while. We are pretty lucky to be able to get into the mountains with minimal travel (and often no travel). Also somewhat unlucky as a Sole trader the government have so far offered no support. There are something like 5 million self employed workers in the UK. That's a lot of people missing out on essential support. Come on Boris!
Anyway, this isn't meant to be a rant, so back to Bowfell and good moments.
We set off from The Old Dungeon Ghyll in Langdale with our sights on Bowfell. We ticked off The Band then turned right onto The Climbers traverse path. This still had large chunks of compacted snow, so care was required. We reached The Great Slab, my plan had been to drink some fresh water from The Great Spout at this point. However, it was really cold and I wasn't even slightly thirsty, so gave that a miss. We blasted up the central section of the slab in order to avoid the snow, and all too soon we were at the top. The wind was howling and biting into us, this was no place to hang around. So we skipped the summit and bailed straight down to Three Tarns where a little more shelter could be enjoyed. A quick peak over to the Scafell range before a rapid descent down The Band into the valley.
The main paths were quite busy today, but for much of our route we enjoyed solitude and sublime views.
Stay safe and healthy everyone.
Mark & Kate
Anyway, this isn't meant to be a rant, so back to Bowfell and good moments.
We set off from The Old Dungeon Ghyll in Langdale with our sights on Bowfell. We ticked off The Band then turned right onto The Climbers traverse path. This still had large chunks of compacted snow, so care was required. We reached The Great Slab, my plan had been to drink some fresh water from The Great Spout at this point. However, it was really cold and I wasn't even slightly thirsty, so gave that a miss. We blasted up the central section of the slab in order to avoid the snow, and all too soon we were at the top. The wind was howling and biting into us, this was no place to hang around. So we skipped the summit and bailed straight down to Three Tarns where a little more shelter could be enjoyed. A quick peak over to the Scafell range before a rapid descent down The Band into the valley.
The main paths were quite busy today, but for much of our route we enjoyed solitude and sublime views.
Stay safe and healthy everyone.
Mark & Kate
The Great Slab, Bowfell
