Wainwright Bagging Around Grasmere and Great Langdale

We were staying in The Daffodil Hotel in Grasmere in the Lake District so we looked for a walk that was reasonably close to Grasmere and wasn't too much of a trug so that we could be back at a reasonable time to take advantage and wallow in the spa.

We decided to do some of the Wainwrights out of Great Langdale as there looked to be a decent walk that took in 5 Wainwrights within a pretty short yomp. We kicked off from The New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel and headed straight up the road and through the gate.

 

From here we headed left, instead of straight on over the bridge, and through the break in the wall. We walked up the hiking trail in the valley with the stream on our right. 

Before long we crossed over the bridge now with the stream on our left hand side. Stopping briefly to take in the waterfall we carried on up the valley until we arrived at Stickle Tarn. 

 

 

 

 

View into Great Langdale

From here it was a short-ish hop, skip and a jump to the summit of the first Wainwright, Pavey Ark. From the top of Pavey Ark there are some really awesome views down Great Langdale to Lake Windermere. 

  

View from Pavey Ark down Great Langdale to Lake Windermere

  

The next Wainwright was Thunacar Knott Which was surprisingly only a matter of around 250 metres from the summit of Pavey Ark. Sadly the views from Thunacar Knott were pretty much none existent as the clouds fired over the plateau that sits between the five tops of Pavey Ark, Thunacar Knott, Pike of Stickle, Harrison Stickle and Loft Crag. Again it was only a few hundred metres jaunt over to the base of Harrison Stickle from Thunacar Knott. The climb was pretty straightforward to the top of Harrison Stickle. We didn't stop up here long as the wind was howling at this point. But we did get pretty incredible views across the plateau and over to the Pike of Stickle which emerges out of nowhere. 

 

 

View from Harrison Stickle to Pike of Stickle and Loft Crag

From the top of Harrison Stickle it doesn't look so far away but this is slightly deceptive. As you descend a chasm appears that you've naturally got to descend before climbing up the far side. You've got to attack the Pike of Stickle from the far side and whichever way you have a shot at it it's a scramble, there is no real easy way. It isn’t that much of a last push though and the views are awesome from up here!

 

View from Pike of Stickle to Harrison Stickle and Loft Crag

So that was 4 boxed off, just Loft Crag and we'd done the Wainwrights we'd set out to do. This is pretty much on the hiking trail home and is only a marginal ascent. Again the views down Great Langdale and through to Lake Windermere are pretty awesome. You can also see the Great Langdale campsite from here where they've got some kind of posh camping options for those that are averse to tenting it.

 

Great Langdale

 

Knowing that we had to descend via the valley to the village of Great Langdale we kind of set off walking along the wrong route intending to descend adjacent to the stream in Dungeon Gill. This was never going to be possible as it’s sheer from this side of the valley however from the map it looks doable on the other side of the valley albeit on a minor path.

On the descent as we were getting close to the bottom we came around a corner to get the full impact of Dungeon Gill Force which is hugely impressive. Stopping to take some photos of the waterfall and talk to the sheep we carried on to the stream at the bottom where we joined the hiking trail we'd started on earlier in the day. Back through the gap in the wall and a short walk down into Great Langdale to finish the walk off. Then back to the Daffodil Hotel in Grasmere for a pint and a dip in the pool very pleasant, a great walk.

Dungeon Force Waterfall