Lake District Walks
High Raise & the Langdale Pikes
Date: 12th June 2008
Distance: 6.7 miles
Ascent: 2978 feet
Time: 5 hours 10 minutes
With: On my own
Start Grid Ref: NY295064
Walk Summary:
An extended exploration of the Langdale Pikes preceded by a visit to High Raise, the highest point in the Central Fells.
Route Summary: Dungeon Ghyll New Hotel - Stickle Ghyll - Stickle Tarn - Codale Head - Sergeant Man - High Raise - Thunacar Knott - Harrison Stickle - Pike O'Stickle - Loft Crag - Dungeon Ghyll New Hotel.
Pictures:
1. Lingmoor Fell from Stickle Ghyll
2. Sergeant Man from Stickle Tarn
3. Pavey Ark and Stickle Tarn
4. Pavey Ark, Harrison Stickle and Stickle Tarn
5. The top of Codale Head looking towards the Eastern Fells
6. Sergeant Man
7. The top of High Raise
8. On the top of High Raise
9. Ullscarf from High Raise
10. Bowfell
11. Looking back at High Raise
12. The beautiful flowery tarn on Thunacar Knott
13. Harrison Stickle
14. The cliffs of Pavey Ark
15. Pavey Ark and Stickle Tarn
16. Thunacar Knott
17. The top of Pike O'Stickle looking towards Harrison Stickle
18. Loft Crag
19. Pike O'Stickle
20. Lingmoor Fell
Walk Detail: With the forecast looking promising I headed off to Langdale to finally get to the top of Pike O’Stickle (after being thwarted by ice the first time) and get some views from High Raise. In other words revisit the sites of two of my biggest disappointments in the Lakes.
I was busting for the loo by the time I arrived in Great Langdale so I literally raced up the Stickle Ghyll path to find a suitably quiet spot to relieve myself. The skies were initially cloudy but having spent about 25 mins waiting in vain for the sun to hit the front of Pavey Ark the sun broke through and I enjoyed superb conditions for the rest of the walk.
Codale Head was a surprisingly good little top and while Sergeant Man’s was smaller it was a bit disappointing. Possibly the best of the day was High Raise’s. The view to the south, west and north was absolutely magical. I was also lucky enough to have the top to myself which was incredible considering the weather was so good. I was also able to clearly see where I had criss crossed the top in appalling weather two years before.
After eating lunch on High Raise it was a pleasant stroll to the top of Thunacar Knott which was rockier than expected and which had a pleasant summit tarn. The walk gained interest though when I decided to descend more than I needed to in order to join the path that follows the rim of crags from Pavey Ark to Harrison Stickle. This afforded me a brilliant view of the cliff face above Stickle Tarn.
Harrison Stickle proved to be the one busy summit of the day so I didn’t hang around long before making my long awaited return to Pike O’Stickle. Any concerns that the scramble would prove to be tricky even in good conditions were soon dispelled and I was delighted to discover it was in fact an exceptionally easy scramble which took me about 30 seconds to accomplish.
I managed to enjoy the top on my own for a few precious minutes before a crowd of walkers arrived so I headed off to Loft Crag to visit a top which I'd barely spent any time on last time round. This time around I made sure I got plenty of photos from the summit before beginning the descent into Langdale. This time I took the path straight off Loft Crag and it proved to be a fairly good route featuring some good views of Langdale and of Lingmoor Fell in particular. One of the best walks of the year.
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