Eagle Crag: A Tough Old Bird

“How the chuffnell do I get up there?” (Marc: September 2015)

 

 

Those were my first words when I looked at Eagle Crag, not for the first time, but certainly for the first time with intent to ascend it. Having decided to start and look at new challenges, not quite so traditional, I had read about Eagle Crag in ‘Scrambles in the Lake District - North: Volume 2: Northern Lakes’. I then saw a Tweet by Alan Hinkes about his ascent of Eagle Crag, Nethermost Ridge onto Nethermost Pike. I decided that this might make a good step up onto tougher walks.

 

 

 

Oxford Crag, A Place of Learning (Grade 2 Scramble Number 3)

Located on the northern slopes of Arnison Crag, Oxford Crag is referred to as a grade 2 scramble in the Cicerone book ‘Scrambles in the Lake District - North: Volume 2: Northern Lakes’. I had a morning free during my most recent visit to the Lake District, so I called into Patterdale to check it out.

 

 

Wilderness Gully East: Grade 2 Scramble Number 2 in the bag.

It may only be around 250 feet from bottom to top, but Wilderness Gully East has the most fun packed into such a small space I have yet come across scrambling. If you look around on the Internet you will find it referred to as a classic, I have to totally agree. It is easily on par with Wildboar Clough, if considerably smaller.

 

 

Black Diamond Speed 22: A Little Gem

Trying to get a spot on pack for scrambling is quite tough. Smaller packs tend to be a little short, not comfortable or not designed for the purpose. I recently reviewed the Lowe Alpine Illusion 16 that punches above its weight, but not always large enough. So I wanted a reasonably priced, narrow, comfortable pack of around 20 litres or slightly above. After a lot of research and looking around I settled on the Black Diamond Speed 22.

 

 

 

Wildboar Clough: My First Grade 2 Scramble

Situated right along Torside Reservoir in the Peak District, Wildboar Clough is a popular Grade 2 scramble. I’ve heard it can be quite dangerous in the wet, so waited for an extended dry period before giving it a try. The descriptions I’m giving are of how tackled the crux sections, routes and techniques I chose to use. If you have limited experience I would advise going on a course. I’ve had some rock climbing experience and this comes in handy on tougher sections. Smart people walk away from something they don’t think they can do, especially when serious injury would be the result.

 

 

Helvellyn of a lot of fun!

Helvellyn, a very Scandinavian sounding name to me, standing at 949 meters (3113 feet) is England’s third highest peak after Scafell Pike and Scafell. The Helvellyn massif was originally formed volcanically around 450 million years ago. The shape of Helvellyn as it is known today was formed from several glacial valleys. One of these glaciers formed what we know as Striding Edge and Swirral Edge. This naturally occurring terrain makes for some interesting challenges, and a lot of fun.

 

 

Fleetwith Edge…..fun, fun, fun.

Fleetwith Pike is a very busy location in the Lake District. It is the home of the Honister Slate Mine and their via ferrata courses. But all this happens on the eastern side of the mountain. On it’s western side is Fleetwith Edge. I spotted this from Haystacks last year and vowed to return to go up it. In May I did just that, but it wasn’t quite what it seemed.

From the side the ridge that forms Fleetwith Edge looks quite narrow and exposed, but this is quite deceptive. I thought that it would offer a serious scramble, but up close and personal things changed.

 

A montage of two photographs of Fleetwith Edge

Lowe Alpine Illusion 16: A review

It’s no longer on Lowe Alpine’s website, but the Illusion 16 can be picked up for as little as £15. It started out life as a rope bag, but has been adopted by some as a lightweight day-sack. So what makes the Illusion a good pack?

 

 

Crowden Clough, the best so far!

I own the Cicerone book 'Scramble in the Dark Peak' and have been looking at the picture on the front of the book on a regular basis. I eventually looked in the front covers of the book and found it was part of Crowden Clough. Not found in the Crowden area of Woodhead, but in fact sitting between Grindsbrook Clough and The Cloughs in Edale. The picture is of a particularly challenging section of Crowden Clough found near its top. And I knew I had to give it a crack. It seemed like an appropriate progressive step from Wilderness Gully West that I did last week. So last Saturday, after finishing a night shift at work, I went straight to Edale with my gear in the car.

Wilderness Gully West, a scramble with fun thrown in.

In my pursuit of steadily increasing my outdoor challenges I have been looking at going up Wilderness Gully West for a few months. I've been checking it out at every opportunity to weigh up what level of challenge it may be. After Torside Clough I decided that this had to be next in line. So last Saturday I dropped on a window in the weather and headed out.

 

Ram's Clough - A Quick Visit

I'm lucky to live on the fringes of the Peak District, and even better, a few areas with pretty good scrambles. So Saturday morning, following an eight hour shift at work, I headed out to Dove Stone Reservoir. My target was Ram's Clough, a little documented Clough that leads up onto Wimberry Moss.

 

 

Torside Clough, how tough?

Torside Clough is a glacial formed feature to the south of Torside Reservoir with a car park only a few hundred yards away. I haven't found very much information about the clough as it appears to be less popular or just not written about to the same extent as others such as Crowden Clough. And it was also my next choice for a scramble challenge.

Dovestone Reservoir: Scrambles Part Two

The Dovestone Reservoir area seems to have a lot of potential for scrambles. Many of the scrambles in the area are covered in the Cicerone book Scrambles in the Dark Peak: Easy Summer Scrambles and Winter Climbs. I’m looking at these as practise for bigger things, but these scrambles are all a challenge of one type or another. My first venture was to check out Chew Brook and get some photographs of the Wilderness Gullys while I was there for future reference.

 

 

Dovestone Reservoir Visit Three: A scramble and a lot of planes

If you ‘Google’ the word ‘scramble’ the first site that appears is a website about aircraft. Considering Dovestone Reservoir seems to site directly under the flight path of Manchester Airport, a scramble at Dovestone seems appropriate. After my reccy a couple of weeks ago I headed there in the early hours of the morning, straight from work. I chose Charnel Clough as my first scramble challenge there.

Gordale Scar to Malham Cove....without a scratch

The landscape above Malham has to be, for me, some of the strangest and yet most stunning scenery in the country. And not just Malham Cove. The limestone features really make this area worth walking through. Plus the occasional challenge along the way that just may get your heart beating a little faster. And caused me to break one of my own primary rules......but was worth it.

 

 

 

Grindsbrook

For quite a few years of my youth, along with walking, I did quite a bit of rock climbing with the family at weekends. Wharncliffe Crags and Stanage in the Peak District mixed with the likes of Little Tryfan in the Ogwen Valley Wales. Unfortunately my current situation dictates that rock climbing, anything technical, is certainly out of the question. But there is one very good alternative.............scrambling.

I've looked at Grinsbrook Clough a few times on the map and read stories about the fact it can be tough, bad weather can make it dangerous etc. So this weekend I went along with a walking friend of mine and headed off up Grindsbrook to see what kind of challenge would be offered by this infamous feature.