Stickle Ghyll Gorge Scramble and Angle Tarn Beck - A double bill of fun
Today was all about water, lots of water.
I met with Callum and his pals over in Patterdale. They were keen to go Gorge Scrambling and Rock climbing. We began with the nearby Angle Tarn Beck. This is a lesser known gorge, so nice and quiet. It's an easy approach walk and the fun starts straight away, with fun cascades to scramble up, boulders to hop over, and waterfalls to climb. The most notable feature being 'the slot' and this ensures a proper head-wetting!
With the rain still pounding down on us, we decided to skip the rock climbing and instead get in another gorge, this time it was Stickle Ghyll over in Langdale.
This was most definitely the right choice. With high water levels and massive waterfalls in full flow, the feeling was epic. There's only a few days a year it's anything like this too, so feels extra special.
We noticed a few of the larger teams turning away, but as we were a small team of 5 this gave us greater flexibility, allowing us to continue in safety, albeit cautiously.
The first waterfall wasn't getting climbed by anyone today, but it looked very doable by this capable team, so I put a rope down and the lads gave it a try, all of them cruised up it, mostly with their eyes closed to keep the flow out!!
We made it as far as the big waterfalls high up in the gorge, but these weren't climbable today, even standing at the base was a major struggle. The feeling was awesome though.
A cracking day out, absolutely soaked all day and loved every minute. Thanks lads.
Mark
