Distance 8.3 km
Total Ascent 834 m
It was late 2011 and had a week off so decided to plan a trip to the Lakes. After a few phone calls, I had managed to persuade Struddy and Dave to come along too. The plan was to go early Monday morning, do a walk and then stay over in Keswick and catch the quiz in The Golden Lion ( with 2.5 brains between us, we were bound to win). With all plans in place, I recieved a call off Dave on Saturday night saying he had to cover for someone at work and couldn’t make it. I personally think his hair straighteners had broken and he didn’t have time to replace them!!!! Undeterred by Dave’s lame excuse, myself and Strud set off with the intention of conquering Great gable, smashing the quiz, drinking the town dry and doing another walk the day after…..
Strud posing in front of Sour milk gill
Having studied the map countless times, I still couldn’t work out how we went so wrong when I first tried to climb Great gable with Dave, so I opted for a different starting point this time. We arrived at Seathwaite in good time and got ourselves prepared. The weather wasn’t looking too great, but we were hopeful it would clear and we’d be able to see some of the scenery. Setting off in the right direction wasn’t a problem this time as we could see where we were supposed to be heading, which was straight up following the path by the side of a fast flowing Sour milk gill.
Looking back at Seathwaite farm
Waterfalls on Sour milk gill
Steady is his middle name
I have to say, it wasn’t the easiest of starts to a days climbing as it was almost a 1:3 gradient for the 1st half hour or so until it flattened out as we walked around the base of Base brown.
Still looking fresh with the valley behind me
Looking towards the head of the valley
Taking a breather after the initial climb
Walking round the base of Base brown was a lot easier for about 20 minutes until we started the climb up to Green gable.
Looking back at the path that follows Sour milk gill
Looking North-East towards base brown
Climbing up towards Green gable.
At this point we started to feel the wind pick up considerably and it was a struggle as we were walking into it. A case of head down, punch on.
Possibly Thirlmere in the background?
Does his bum look big in those pants?
Green gable summit. 801 m
Reaching the top of Green gable was a relief and we decided to rest and shelter from the powerful wind for a bit.
Top of Green gable 801 m. Great gable behind in the mist. The wind was horrendous at this point.
From Green gable we could only see fleeting glimpses of Great gable, which didn’t bode well for seeing much when we got to the top of it.
Windy gap. We could see how it got its name!
We decided to wait for the wind to die down a bit before we attempted to cross windy gap.
Looking down Ennerdale with Buttermere to the right.
Great gable in the mist
Once we crossed Windy gap i think we must have taken the wrong path as the climb to Great gable involved some proper rock climbing. Not easy in the windy conditions.
Ennerdale
Buggar. He forgot his skis
Great gable summit
As we were approaching the summit, the cloud came over again and i knew we weren’t going to see much, if anything!
Sheltering from the wind
Great gable summit 899 m
As we thought, we couldn’t see a thing at the top, so we sheltered from the cold wind and took our souvenir pictures and had a bite to eat and a drink.
On the descent looking towards Wastwater
Styhead tarn
The descent towards Styhead tarn was a tricky one as it was steep and rocky, meaning you had to be careful where you placed your feet. I bet there’s been a few twisted ankles on this part of the route.
My legs seem to have shrunk!
The path home
We could see our route back in the valley below, which is always a welcome sight.
Probably gets plenty of use
Once reached the stretcher box at Sty head it was a case of following the path that ran alongside Styhead gill towards Stockley bridge.
Styhead tarn
A gentle stroll back
What a handsome chap
Seathwaite in the backround
Stockley bridge
Stockley bridge
Once we reached Stockley bridge, we had a rest before the last stretch towards Seathwaite.
Keswick youth hostel the morning after. The river must have risen about 4 feet overnight..
What a fantastic walk, although it was my 2nd attempt on Green gable, I was still disappointed I still wasn’t able to see anything at the top. I knew I would be back soon….. We got to our accomodation for the night which was Keswick youth hostel, to the news that they were expecting 100 mph winds during the night, with rain as well. If the forecast was right, our planned walk on Tuesday was looking a bit dodgy. The night in Keswick was a good one, although we didn’t win the quiz, we gave a good account of ourselves. However, the weather forecast proved to be spot on and we did indeed get the wind and rain as promised and as we were both nursing rather painful headaches, we decided to abandon our planned walk and just go home, thankfully I wasn’t driving.
Recent Comments