The Lakeland 3000's

I was in the pub the other night having a few fine beverages when I had a banter with Si, a Dark chum of mine, with whom I completed the Yorkshire 3 Peaks hiking trail year. This was no walk in the park but we managed to complete the 25 miles in just over 10 hours (some of the blokes did do it in under - one ran the last 8 miles from the top of Ingleborough which was a feat in itself - he was keen for a pint though in fairness). Just after we completed the Yorkshire 3 Peaks hiking trail it was muted that we undertake something a bit more challenging this year (as if that wasn't enough) so he has come up with a new challenge which I haven't quite come across before and thinking about it for very good reason. We did originally discuss doing the National 3 Peaks however on further inspection it appears that this would be too easy (cough cough splutter wretch). Since our chat on Friday I've searched high and low for a walking resource that details or explains this "8 3000 Peaks" route (or similar) to no avail however I am pretty sure there must be some headcase out there that has bitten off this mouthfull and successfully chewed it. Undoubtedly there will countless more folk out there that will have had a good gnaw and ended up spitting out the mangled mess!

The challenge is to take in the 8 highest peaks in England (all over 3000 feet) within 24 hours. All of these are in the Lake District and are as follows;

Skiddaw northern fells 3054
Lower Man (Hellvelyn) eastern fells 3035
Hellvelyn eastern fells 3117
Broad Crag southern fells 3064
Ill Crag southern fells 3068
Scafell Pike southern fells 3209
Symond’s Knott southern fells 3146
Scafell southern fells 3164

This is gonna be a huge undertaking, being around 42 miles in length and around 10,500 vertical feet it is going to be torture but it is being done for a great cause - Dreams Come True.

The plan is to break the colossal hiking trail into 3 roughly even parts and head to the Lake District to walk each leg in preparation. The aim of these acclimatisation walks is two fold, firstly and the most obvious is for physical training - 42 miles is a fair slog and without training, especially in the hills, it will for sure be impossible. Secondly we need to know the route we are to take. If we head in the wrong direction for even as little as 15 mins on the day we will have obviously have to backtrack that 15 mins, saving time is essential and we can't afford that delay, nor can we afford the wasted energy in covering that ground.

I wondered what this years challenge was going to be. Not any more.........

Below is a map of the route we're going to take;

View 8 peaks route in a larger map

Lake District: Great Gable, Green Gable, Base Brown

Date: December 2009
Those there: Me, Growler, Wellsy, Nimrod
Hills Climbed: Green Gable, Great Gable, Base Brown
Map: Explorer OL4
Distance: 5 miles

We yomped up to the Lake District for Growlers birthday to get away for the weekend and bag some of the Wainwrights. After having seen Great Gable a year or so earlier from the top of Scafell Pike it launched itself towards the top of our list of hiking trails to conquor.

We stayed in Seathwaite camping barn (235121) which is not the nicest of camping barns that I've stayed in and is probably the reason why it is not listed with the official camping barns website but in fairness it has a cooker and kettle etc. which is pretty handy and saves you taking your own. The toilet is a bit elusive though and is a public loo around the back of the barn which would have been good to know in advance as it's not too easy to locate in the pitch black. It is very handy however for larger groups as it accommodates in the region of around 20 people no problem.

We woke up at about 7am on Saturday morning so that we could get a real early start. At this time of year I feel it's important to get use of as much daylight as you can as we probably only have around 8 hours from dawn 'til dusk. We had our customary fry up and were out of the barn for about 8:15. It wasn't fully light at this point but was doing it's utmost to brighten up. We headed west and took the path which runs through one of the barns on the farm (signed campsite) and headed up the hiking trail to left hand side of the stream. It was still below freezing at this point but the view up the valley was stunning, the whole of the valley bottom was fairytale white with the frost and looked unreal.

Not wanting to stop for too long because of the cold we pressed up the hill until we came to the wall and gate at the top of the first stretch (228122). We had a bit of a breather here whilst some of the guys seized the opportunity to take some snaps. By now the sun had started to come out and unbelievably there was not a cloud in the sky. This was amazing considering the fact that it was only a month since the Lake District had suffered torrential rain and widespread flooding which was still evident in certain areas.

At this point we walked in the shadow of Base Brown and hugged that side of the valley heading for the saddle between Base Brown and Green Gable (222222). The sub zero temperatures were great in some respects that all the standing water was ice and made for much easier going then losing your feet in a bog every time you put them down.

As the incline increased the hiking trail started to zig-zag to the ridge. At the top we took a right and headed for the summit of Green Gable. Here we experienced an amazing panorama of Haystacks which is a behemoth of a mass with Buttermere just in the background. This was a view to behold! The sun was really pounding up here but as we were quite exposed the wind was also pretty fierce and kept the temperature below zero. Needless to say we didn't stop here long before we descended the back of Green Gable, through the aptly named windy gap and up Great Gable. This was a bit rocky but isn't too tough and you soon make good progress. There is a memorial at the top of Great Gable for those members of the Fell Rock Climbing Club who sadly fought and lost their lives in the first world war, as we were here in December there was a sea of poppies here obviously from a memorial service that would have been held a month prior.

If you head past the memorial you get to take in the view of Wasdale Head and Wastwater which is truly incredible with the land flattening out beyond the valley as it runs away to the sea. This is the point where the highest mountain in the UK (Scafell Pike) meets the deepest lake in the UK (Wastwater). We took a pew here out of the wind and soaked up the view. Because we had set off so early in the morning there was only one other lady on the summit which means we pretty much had the view to ourselves and it's quite pleasant once you get out of the wind.

We had a spot of lunch here, and fed and watered we began back along the hiking trail. As we descended Great Gable we passed a number of people who were obviously heading for the top, it was at this point that we smiled that we had managed to get to the top and have the views to ourselves, what a benefit it was to get up and out so early to try (and succeed) in avoiding the crowds.

We then headed over Green Gable and headed for the summit of Base Brown in order that we could get the view of Borrowdale in its full glory. Once at the top we did get an amazing view and again took a few minutes to savour the hip flask and soak up the sights. The valley bottom was still white as the temperature clearly hadn't got much over freezing throughout the day. It had however been bright blue skies which you can only ever wish for. From here and looking at the map it didn't really look as though there was a hiking trail down and that we may have to backtrack to the path however we saw some folk heading over the spot where the Hanging Stone is marked on the map. We headed off in that direction and saw that it was a steep descent but wasn't a problem.We did pass around and underneath the Hanging Stone then came back to the wall that we had come through earlier on in the day.

We took the hiking trail along side the higher side of the wall to the gate that we had come through earlier. It was then a simple case of following the stream that we had walked beside that morning back to the barn in Stonethwaite.

We got changed and headed to the Riverside Bar in the Scafell Hotel for a few well earned beers (which tend to go straight to the cranium after a day in the fresh air) and a steak, all in all most welcome indeed.

The walk home from the pub naturally took us a bit longer, well actually a lot longer and I would say it's not actually fair to call it a walk home - stagger is more the word.

Something didn't agree with Wellsy either, I reckon it could have been his 7th pint as I'm pretty sure the 11th was fine! Boy did he know about it though.

A great weekend in the hills was had by all. We found out at the end of the weekend that we'd had the first dry weekend since September, someone was for sure looking down on us that weekend.

Geoffrey also found out, much to his disgust, that he'd ripped his bag on the yomp on the Saturday. However upon closer inspection we realised that it wasn't a rip but a cunning rodent had knawed through it to get to the choccy biscuits. Lesson reiterated, never leave food on the floor. Oops

View Walk up Great Gable in a larger map

Highlands: Devil's Point, Cairn Toul and Angel's Peak - Day 3

We all woke up to a fairly chilly morning and with thick heads got breakfast on the go. We tidied up and packed up to get going, we were on our way home now and without needing to rush we did want to get back for a pint.

We left the Bothy and decided walk a hhiking trail on the way out in an attempt to avoid walking through the boggy mess that we came through 2 days earlier.

Once over the bridge the path forks (986955) pretty much immediately and we took the left fork where the hiking trail heads around the base of Carn a' Mhaim and towards Glen Luibeg. We'd looked on the map and this was a different route back which had two benefits. Firstly we didn't have to retrace our steps and secondly we could avoid the bog we'd trudged through on the way in which was a bonus.

Before long we arrived at Luibeg Burn which is a picturesque stream. On the map there is a ford marked. This really didn't exist however and as some of the group were in the mood for leaving the hiking trail and entertaining some wild walking so we followed the stream looking for a place to cross whilst the other guys walked upstream to cross on the Luibeg Bridge. I've got to be honest we chose the wrong option. We fought through heather for a few hundred yards when we came across a deer fence. The options were limited, either we cross the burn here or we backtrack all the way back to the bridge. I think it was the fact that we couldn't have the other guys see we'd conceded that made us cross. The odds weren't great and only seconds later Wellsy was in up to his knees. Harsh but ultimately fair.

The old feet were feeling a touch tenderised now and I was requiring refreshment in the way of the fizzy yellow fluid. We pushed on and had a spot of lunch just over the river from Derry Lodge, which is now all boarded up although at one time would have been a fairly impressive abode. That was the last stop before our final push back to the Linn and Dee and the cars back to the Hotel. A very rewarding few days walking in the mountains. Thanks to all that took part, it was an absolute pleasure. See you next year!

Highlands: Devil's Point, Cairn Toul and Angel's Peak - Day 2

We awoke and had a spot of breakfast, fuel for the days walking ahead. We left Corrour Bothy and took only day kit, which was a pleasure. It makes the walking far easier going, meaning you can cover more ground and with less weight on our back it is obviously far more enjoyable. I don't see leaving kit out here as much of a problem, I mean you have to be a pretty dedicated thief to walk 8 miles into the back and beyond to half inch a sleeping bag.

We walked the well marked hiking trail that leads from behind Corrour Bothy and ascends to the the northern side of Devils Point. There was still a fair bit of snow where shadows were cast from the sun but once we hit the plateau at the top (970955) you could see that whilst there were fairly large patches of snow it was only in places and would easily be avoided.

We rounded the stream at the top of the gulley where the ground was sodden and no doubt due to recent rain and snow melt was like a lake. It is pretty much a level hop skip and a jump to the top of Devils Point where you get the most amazing view of the Southern end Glen Dee. From here it truly feels as though you are stood on top of the world in some kind of prehistoric time with the river wending its way down the valley into the far distance.

You can't do anything but stop here for 10 minutes or so to soak it up, this is half the reason why anyone climbs these mountains - for the view.

Fed and watered we headed back the way we came for a slow but sure ascent of Cairn Toul. Crossing the path we came up from Corrour Bothy we headed north up the boulder field of Stob Coire an t-Saighdeir.

It was pretty slow going manouvering through the boulder field, there was no hiking trail here, so we stopped for a brew not a great time later. We looked up to the summit of Cairn Toul with the overhang of snow that had obviously developed with the adverse conditions they'd been having up here. So we drank tea and got underway, by this time we'd well and truly written off Braeriach, it was looking like time was gonna run short and that would have been a Munro too far. We backtracked slightly to stay away from the dicey edge and pushed up Cairn Toul. At this point we noticed a person making a similar ascent below us on skis all of a sudden our walk in seemed pretty easy. This wasn't a particularly tough climb by any means and before long we arrived at the summit to the breathtaking view up the northern part of the Lairig Ghru. You got an awesome panorama of Angel's Peak, Braeriach and the pass from here, we could even see as far as the Moray Firth which I think is about 30 miles from the point where we were stood - another view which had to be commited to cine-mem. We got chatting to a lady on the summit of Cairn Toul who said that we were lucky to be up here in these conditions, fair play it was sub-zero but the visibility was awesome.

Knowing that time was running a bit short and legs were starting to get tired, the group was split as to go for Angel's Peak or to head back in the end we all made the last push, it really wasn't that far and within about 45 mins we had gone from the summit of Cairn Toul to the summit of Sgor An Lochain Uaine (Angel's Peak). That was to be our third Munro and last Munro of the day. With time against us Braeriach was to elude us that day but I stood, contemplated and concluded that it wasn't going anywhere fast so in fact it would be there in a few months time for us to return.

We descended over the snow fields and contoured around Cairn Toul to arrive back at the gully below Devil's Point. After a quick breather it started to rain for the first time all day. This brought out a rainbow that could be seen from one end to the other and sat over Corrour Bothy. This walking in Scotland had proved to be a huge success as we returned down the hiking trail to camp, packed our things up from the previous night and moved into the Bothy to warm ourselves through. Corrour Bothy really is five star accommodation and is a great base or stopover for a long walk in Scotland's Cairngorm National Park, it is totally watertight with boarded floors and a window. It has a wood burner and chimney (which was the most welcome part of the bothy) it's also got a compost toilet built onto it which is useful, there were problems with the number of people passing through which led them to build the loo to alleviate the problem. I think the only problem (which really isn't a problem) is the mice - just got to ensure nothing is left on the floor. With hot food in our stomachs and cheap scotch in our heads we slept well ready for our trek out of the Cairngorm National Park the following day.

Highlands: Devil's Point, Cairn Toul and Angel's Peak - Day 1

We left the Duke of Gordon in the Highlands of Scotland after a hearty breakfast to drive right around the Cairngorm National Park to Braemar to get on with the Easter Munro Bagging session. It rained all the way over there - not the best prospects for three days in the hills and at times it felt that Noah's Ark would have been a more suitable vehicle than the Wells-Mobile. The rain did stop however before we arrived at the Linn of Dee (062897) and looked promising for our jaunt deep into the Cairngorm National Park and up the Devils Point, Cairn Toul and Angels Peak.

We saddled up with far more kit then we needed, in fact it was all that we needed but as usual more weight than was comfortable. The thing is at this time of year and in this location the weather can be very changeable so taking enough kit can be the difference between a pleasurable meander in those there hills or enduring the elements constantly looking forward to getting back to the car.

We followed the river along the hiking trail on the northern bank. After around 1.5 miles (033893) we took a discreet and smokey breather in the woods, the legs hadn't quite woken up yet so they needed a break, as did the mind.

We carried on along the riverside when the clouds went a paler shade of black and sure as anything it started spitting, this was no surprise to anyone especially after the apocalyptic deluge we drove through on the way over. The weather did turn from average to bad but was of no consequence once you're waterproofed.

When we reached the bridge (019884) and the southern end of the Glen Dee and the Lairig Ghru one of the guys recalled seeing a make-shift sign somewhere near the car park stating that the eastern path of the Lairig Ghru was unpassable due to errosion. Now this really buggered our plan as if we ascended into the Lairig Ghru via the western path of the River Dee it meant we had to contend with and somehow cross a reasonable river prior to reaching the foot of the Devils Point. Fortunately at that moment a game keeper blazed up in a Landrover. We asked which path was intact and to our relief he advised the eastern path was the only way through the Lairig Ghru. Bonus, we would have entered ourselves into a world of pain by taking the western path.

The Lairig Ghru makes is a stunning hiking trail and has to be one of the most impressive walks in Scotland with it's steep valley walls it's ridges consist of some of the highest mountains in the UK. Benn Macdui is the second highest, Braeriach is the third, Carn Toul the fourth and Angels Peak the fifth, a stunning area to find yourself (although, I will add at this juncture that it is highly unlikely that you will just accidentally just stumble into this neck of the woods).

Before long the unmistakable sheerness of Devils Point rears it's head in the distance. It is a great guage as to the location of Corrour Bothy as the bothy sits right in the shadow of Devils Point. We came across one chap and quized him over the distance to Corrour Bothy and what it was like. He was full of praise for the bothy but did add that it was a shade boggy ahead. That was to be seen first hand and up close (very close) by the majority of our party - by rolling around in it. Boggy was not the word, the torrential rain had been, well err torrential, and was now making it's way down the valley sides and into the marshland in the valley bottom continuing into our boots. This made the walk real slow going and exhausting at the same time with the ground chewing your foot up to the ankle.

Sadly with the downpour we got low cloud and the visibility really wasn't the best and most of the tops were up in the clouds even Devils Point was at times. There had been concerns about the freezing altitude and whether it would be safe to walk along the ridge due to the amounts of snow up there, we couldn't make any decisions today as the cloud prevented us from taking in the full WOW factor of the Lairig Ghru and of course to weighing up the conditions up there, a bit dissapointing but the weather forecast was that this was to be the worst day - so fingers crossed the best was yet to come.

As we came over the last ridge we could just make out through the mist and haze of Highland precipitation the speck that was Courrour bothy and our home for the night which had other brightly coloured specks for tents dotted around it. The speck took some time to get any larger but in boggy time it did and as we crossed the footbridge it was only yards away.

We arrived at around 6:30 and there were a couple of guys already sleeping in the bothy so we left them too it and put up our basher. Sleeping under a tarp or basher gives you the feeling of sleeping in the heart of nature and under the stars as it were although you're kept dry when it rains - which did look inevitable at this point. Me, Dave and Lee concocted a construction that we thought and hoped would see us through the night. Wellsy and Ana did the same with the rest of the guys all putting tents up. Geoffrey did well not carrying tent equipment lest the weightless poles - his bag isn't big enough to carry any of those essentials so someone else had to carry it - he appeared gutted by this. In doing this we got a visit from a very tame and seemingly rather peckish local who wasn't afraid at all. So much so that our four legged friend almost went into the basher so snaffle our dinner.

We got into the bothy and got the fire going with the wood that we'd carried in, there really is no wood for miles around so if you don't carry it in you don't have a fire here. Our boots were all sodden after effectively walking through an ankle deep stream of sludge rather than along a hiking trail for the last mile of the day. Boy were we glad for the fire, after I poured the water out that had collected near the toes of my boots I started to dry them out. It was reasonably successful and with Scotched hazy eyes I climbed into my bivvy for an uneven nights doze.

Sleep was short lived as a gust of wind ripped open the poppers on the bashers and the rain started pelting in. Like a man possessed, with fire in his eyes and whisky in his head, Dave seemed to get out of his bivvy by osmosisising himself through his sleeping bag and bivvy and within seconds was resealing the basher. Soaked he returned seconds later to climb back into his bag. I don't remember going back to sleep after that, but I did as I didn't remember any more wind or rain.