Walk                           :  Blea Rigg (1,776 feet), Sergeant Man (2,414 feet), High Raise (2,500 feet),

   Thunacar Knott (2,351 feet), Pavey Arc (2,288 feet) from New Dungeon Ghyll

Date                           :  7th July  2018

Weather                    :  Absolutely scorching, cloudless skies @ 30°C

 

Distance                   :  7 miles round trip

Time Taken              :  1hour 40 mins to first summit (Blea Rigg)

 

Which part of Lakeland is this walk situated

 

Terrain Overview

 

 

Overview

 

The scorching hot weather of recent weeks continues, temperatures all over the country in the low 30 degrees, with wall to wall sunshine. Another

opportunity not to be missed  presented itself for a quick one day spare of the moment visit to Lakeland to take on some of the Central classified

fells in and around Langdale and the chance to take my personal fell count to 150 out of 214 Wainwrights. Tough walking in parts due to the heat

and a little confusion to the at times pathless route to Blea Rigg summit (in truth it was by process of visual elimination as to the actual top), then

a tough slog up to Sergeant Man (again in parts pathless) – but after that straightforward navigation for the rest of the way

 

 

From Ambleside take the B5343 towards Great Langdale and head for the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. There is a National Trust car park on one

side of the road charging (at the time of writing) £8 for nine hours OR there is the field opposite that belongs to NGD Hotel whereby you pay £5

to park all day (payment and parking ticket from the Walkers Bar) in the Hotel

 

 

A popular choice for many today – here from the field looking over to Crinkle Crags

 

 

From the field entry gate turn right and head towards the Walkers Bar a couple of hundred yards down the road

 

 

Past the bar area and a wooden gate gives access to a small field

 

 

Through the gate and head left to the top corner to pass through a gap in the wall that brings you on to the start of the Stickle Ghyll path

 

 

The start of the Stickle Ghyll path

 

 

Almost immediately the path starts to climb steeply alongside Stickle Ghyll past Pike Howe on the left

 

 

An indication of the drought period the country has seen over the last few weeks, the Ghyll is empty. The upshot of that was that the Hotel could

not cook hot food as their kitchens used hydo-electricity generated from the usual torrent of the flowing water

 

 

Looking back down the dry Ghyll as Sue pauses for a water stop

 

 

 

Yes Jones I’m getting your water now !!!

 

 

Crag rats on Swine Knott (no thanks !!)

 

 

The path though steep is good and easy to follow

 

 

At one point however a huge rock buttress blocks the way a little and a little rock handling is required to get over it. This point also signifies the

point at which you cross the Ghyll to the left hand side travelling upwards

 

 

Crossing Stickle Ghyll. Under normal conditions this can prove a bit hazardous when the water is gushing down, however no such difficulty today

 

 

Looking back down the Ghyll towards Side Pike and Wetherlam in the distance

 

 

After an arduous toil in the heat – the welcome site of Stickle Tarn in front of Pavey Arc. Jack`s Rake can be seen quite clearly cutting a swathe

across the south face. There were a number of climbers ascending via this route

 

 

Looking across Stickle Tarn towards Harrison Stickle

 

 

Close up on Pavey Arc with the route of Jacks Rake indicated. It is officially classified as a rock climb so Fell Walkers must have confidence

in their ability to attempt it

 

 

From the wall at the top of the Ghyll and in front of the Tarn turn right to take the path along the shoreline

 

 

Further down the path at the point at which you follow a track that leads off to the right more or less parallel with the end of the tarn

 

 

The path to Blea Rigg forks off to the right

 

 

Following the path to Blea Rigg

 

 

Looking back to Harrison Stickle and Pavey Arc from the path. From this point the foot path to Blea Rigg is a tad sketchy in parts but discernable

non the less. Head for the highest of the Rock Tors is my advice

 

 

The summit of Blea Rigg, with Easdale Tarn below

 

Click here for a 360 degree view from the summit of Blea Rigg … https://youtu.be/JJwiN1m7Dkw

 

 

The barely discernable path towards Sergeant Man (the big bump towards the top right of the picture) – after a confusing start it does improve a little

 

 

Easdale Tarn (right) and Codale Tarn (left) from the path to Sergeant Man

 

 

The path (now cairned) journeys through “Pile of Stones” on its way to Sergeant Man right in the top centre of the shot

 

 

Hard miles in this heat, looking back towards Stickle Tarn

 

 

Approaching the summit – it’s a lot easier than it looks actually …

 

 

 

Ste on the summit of Sergeant Man

 

 

Team shot on the summit of Sergeant Man - click here for a 360 degree view … https://youtu.be/WpyVsdv1uBw

 

 

Looking through the heat haze over to Great Gable

 

 

The clear path North to High Raise just over half a mile away

 

 

The path is extremely easy to follow …

 

 

Approaching the summit of High Raise

 

 

Looking North towards Skiddaw from High Raise – click here for a 360 degree view from the summit https://youtu.be/J-MnSHKjk7s

 

 

A personal milestone for me … 150 Wainwright summits bagged … another 64 to go !!!!

 

 

From the summit of High Raise we turn left and head back due west towards the Langdale Pikes seen here … Harrison Stickle (left) Pike o Stickle (right)

 

 

We journey along the path for around a mile as it climbs very gradually towards the summit of Thunacar Knott

 

 

Pike o Stickle from the summit of Thunacar Knott – click here for a 360 degree view from the summit … https://youtu.be/aP-DkVLOOds

 

 

Harrison Stickle from the summit of Thunacar Knott

 

 

From the summit of Thunacar Knott we turn left travelling south east to travel less that half a mile to visit the summit of Pavey Arc – here looking out

down the Langdale valley – click here for a 360 degree view from the summit of Pave Arc … https://youtu.be/u9ZA83l5ZHs

 

 

We descend back to Stickle Tarn via the North Rake of Pavey Arc. Its very steep and bouldery so care is required. Some rock handling required in parts

 

 

Sue happy to have got down the North Rake in one piece !!!

 

 

 

Once off the Rake its mostly grass and stony path back down to Stickle Tarn

 

 

The re-entrant path back to Stickle Tarn – still a blazing hot sun beating down

 

 

Back on the path to the head of Stickle Ghyll

 

 

A last look back before we start the descent of Stickle Ghyll

 

 

Down we go

 

 

Almost back at Dungeon Ghyll now and a final look back to Harrison Stickle. Yet another fantastic day out on the Lakeland Fells

 

 

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