Today we have a 15 or so mile walk. Not looking forward to the steep rocky climb up Loft Beck. Slept well, glad my sore muscles did not twitch and keep me awake.
We ended up on the trail for 9 1/2 hours. I hikes almost 19 miles, and Tony did more with some backtracking. Our climb was about 1,700 feet. Rugged day.
Tony tony directed us to the shorter route on the south side of the lake. My request has been and still continues to be to take the “easier route”.
Beautiful Ennerdale Lake
Tony on south side of Ennerdale Lake before it got ugly.
READ TONY’S COMMENTS
The southern path quickly climbed, narrowed, and loose gravel that slid underfoot. Tony went on ahead and was scrambling over rocks that looked out over a nice drop unto rocks below. We turned back and took the longer for easier northern trail. I man at the gate said most people take the north trail it may be longer , but it is faster.
Lovely part of trail north of Ennerdale Lake
Lake path climbing over rocks and this is the easier path.
The climb up Loft Beck was steep, rocky, and scary as hell. Once I started there was no going back. I just looked ahead a few paces, navigating the safest route, no way could I stop to take a picture. Sweat dripped in my eyes from fear and heat. I am sure,the views were amazing, but my eyes were firmly directed at about eight paces in front of me.
Hiker climbing up very slowly on Loft Beck
Mary and Tony after climb up Loft Beck
Hiking down from Grey Knotts on a rock strewn descent
No wifi at out B & B in Stonethwaite. Need to go to sleep will post updates later.
OMG! Mary, Mary, Marvel-ous Mary!!! After 2 days of such challenging hikes, London must seem far behind u. I so enjoyed seeing a bit of London from your perspective…very interesting!..But now, I’m dumbfounded seeing & reading about your 1st 2 days on the “trail”?!! From the comfort of my bed & chair, I applaud U 2. “Difficult” seems quite an understatement. I’m having trouble imagining how u r doing what u r doing…one step at a time, I guess. INCREDIBLE!! 😮
Thank U for taking the time & effort to share with us the daily adventures of your amazing journey. I so appreciate it, esp knowing how tired u must be at the end of the day.
Wonderful photos; love your commentary. Great job “blogging”!
Much love, encouragement, & admiration, Melissa
Rock strewn descent, yes. Well, let’s preface that rather innocuous comment.
Started out the day on a nice, sort of flat trail and came to the Water, Ennerdale Water. I had studied the maps and it looked like going around the south side was the easiest, “slightly faster” way to go. Strangely, all of the people we had seen on the trails the day before chose to peel off at what looked like a pathe to the northern side, about which our friendly map-writing-guide was silent.
it was a rocky but level stretch, but across the Water we could see our not-so-fellow travelers, moving with grace and seeming easy as we slowly starte to ascend. And then abrubtly. And then percipitously. We couldn’t go on to the prosaically named Robin Hood’s Chair (who comes up with these names?) and if we had, wouldn’t have been able to go on but on the seats of our pants, legs dangling over the edge into the aforementioned Water and had to go back. Two miles. And then two more back on the north route. It was my call and I was obviously the weak link.
We forged ahead, slowly rising, but I could see no way out ahead of us in the canyon ahead. Except over the canyon wall.
We reached Black Sail, a youth hostel, where many of our refreshed (having gotten there two hours before us) fellow hikers were getting ready to take on Loft Beck. A most benign name for yet another steep, steep ! ascent via well placed stones, straight up the face of the …er, Loft (read mountain) perhpas a thousand feet at a thirty five or forty degree angle, the weight of my pack pulling me back over the abyss with every step. Cannons to left of us, cannons to right of us, cannons in front of us volleyed and thundered, up from the valley of sure death, struggled the two….
We all made it, with glad and happy smiles, and the group we were following took off. We followed, some many minutes later and for the first, but not the last, time in our trek, I started to fear the flat places.
It works like this; agonizing trip straight up some damnable Loft or Crag or blah blah, and then a brief reprieve across the flats, usually of horrible stone that rolls under the feet or painfully presses on tender coles and toes and then an approach to ….a drop off? You know you have to go down. You can see the wall of the Loft / Crag / ridge some mile or two away and know, just KNOW you have to go down. And the closer you get to the lip where there is no more flat…the closer you get, and there is still no gentle ‘down.’ Until there it is, thirty five to forty degree angles DOWN, on some interestingly placed rocks…or not. For miles! (or so it seems.)
And once down, where is your bucolic little village wher the rustics wait with admiring eyes to buy you a pint and urge you to tell your tale of derring do? It’s another three miles away!
Rocky path, my ass.
The Weak Link