Central Fells cloud inversion

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The Christmas Eve walk has become a bit of a tradition in hardship in recent times. Last year a horizontal hail stone storm on Coniston Old Man erradicated any views, but made me feel extremely manly! The mountain weather forecast for Christmas Eve 2006 hinted at the chance of a cloud inversion, and it was too good an opportunity to miss, the prospect of Christmas shopping infinitely more terrifying than a December day in the fells.

I started from the national trust car park at the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. The start offers the only 2 facilities you really need; a car park and a pub. Dungeon Ghyll is a fantastic place to start a walk the road into Great Langdale providing the feeling of leaving behind civilisation and entering the wilderness. The valley is flanked on either side by significant peaks, making you feel immersed in the great outdoors. On the south (ish) side Pike of Bliscoe (705m) along to Bowfell (902m) and to the north, the lower, but no less spectacular Langdale fells.

I had chosen Bowfell (902m) and Esk Pike (885m) as the principal summits of the day and had all availble digits crossed that I'd get some cracking views.

I began on the tarmac route to Stool End farm before beginning to ascend The Band. The cloud level was about 3 metres, it was cold and damp and my mind wandered to warmer and more comfortable activities and the relative insanity of my chosen past time. There was however, very little wind, and whilst arguably a positive aspect of the day it did leave sufficient scope for the weather to get worse. Despite all this, the day retained a strange element of brightness and I plodded on getting colder and wetter and progressively less amused.

About 45 minutes in it started to get warmer and brighter, initally I passed this off as ridiculous optimism, but eventually the cloud thinned, and i esperienced the strange sensation of emerging from the cloud. I was shocked and amazed at the sight of a crystal clear Crinkle Crags summit infront of an impossibly clear blue sky.

The camera came out straight away, just on the off chance the weather changed for the worse(overall photos for the day 63 - went a bid mad). The cloud inversion made Pike of Bliscoe look like an island in the cloud. The views to Blencathra and Skiddaw impossibly clear, Keswick and Derwent Water hidden by the cloud.

Waterproof and fleece layers were removed for the rest of the ascent to Bowfell, a rare treat and I wondered if i should have packed the factor 15. Quick stops for more photos including a cracking view from 3 tarns over to the sca fells.

The Bowfell summit came all too quickly, the gradient seemingly less steep under a warm sun and it was a relief not to share the summit with the usual shearings coach trips. An energy boosting mince pie stop and a quick test of the gorillapod (highly recommended) before setting off for Esk Pike. The advantage to the Bowfell summit is its height and location. On a clear crisp day the best that the Lake District has to offer is on view and this was a great example of it a truly spectacular 360 degree view.

Esk Pike is an often overlooked summit, and wrongly so in my view offering an impressive point from which to view the majority of the lake district's higher peaks, in particular the Sca Fells. The route from Bowfell is relatively benign in both descent and ascent and a worthy addition to any route time permitting. Furthermore, the rocky summit provides plenty of places of shelter and the opportunity for a 10 minute sleep in the sun was too much to turn down!

I awoke to find a setting sun and marginally enough time to descend via Esk Hause and Angle Tarn before the knee splitting Rossett Gill. Descending Rossett Gill I moved back into the mist/cloud which brought the same cold and damp experienced as before. As the light faded there was no more time for photos so it was head down for the slog back along Mickleden and back to the car.

The Lake District weather is rarely this kind, but when it is its fantastic!

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Photos

Cloud inversion
Pike O'Bliscoe and others on the ascent to Bowfell above 3 tarns

Langdale Fells
Taken from The Band

More inversion photos
Taken from above 3 tarns

Pike of Stickle
From descent of Rossett Gill

Yet more inversions
From esk pike - view when I awoke

Comments

[K-Dogg]

Awesome
Awesome photos I-Max.