Outdoor Adventure Ambleside
After a busy morning and early afternoon of admin, and with the sun shining brightly outside, I decided it was time to dash out for a quick scramble in nearby Langdale.
For a while now i've been keen to check out the gorge scramble of Stake Gill, and so today was the day. Low water levels and big blue skies should make for optimum conditions.
I raced along the easy track through Mickleden, and soon arrived at the base of Stake Gill. The initial sections were mostly boulder hopping, but definitely added interest to the ascent. Before too long this became proper scrambling and it was really pleasant. Occasionally it was necessary to retreat onto the bank in order to keep dry, but soon it would be back in for more scrambling fun. The mid and upper sections in particular were very good and are to be recommended. The rock being extremely grippy and solid, providing a wonderful scrambling experience.
From where the gorge levels out I took to the Western slopes of Mansey Pike and continued the rock scrambling fun for quite a long way. Whilst this hillside is quite broken and grassy in places, it's also very easy to pick a rocky route all the way to the top. Some of what I did was around grade 1, but some was bordering into rock climbing terrain. All the rock shared a common feature and that was the high quality, super grippy, untouched feeling it all had. Certainly i'd never ventured onto these rocks before, even though I have walked and run through them during fell races.
Once at the top of the rocky scramble, a pleasant walk takes in the summit of Rossett Pike. It was now getting late so I headed back into the valley and the Old Dungeon Ghyll.
Can't quite think of a better way to spend a sunny afternoon 🙂
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Mark
