Wednesday 25 May 2011

Allen Crags & Glaramara


The following morning after settling in, the group ( of mixed walking ability ) were all asked which walk we would like to do from a choice of 3 grades. As it was a good day, I chose the harder one of the three which was the mountain that we could see from the front door... Glaramara.
The above view of Glaramara shows the curving descent that we took on a rounded ridge at the end of the day.


I had done this route twice before, once in each direction and it is unfortunate to say that my favourite direction was the clockwise route! The route starts at the top of the map and follows the anti-clockwise direction taking a path to avoid the busy road to Seathwaite. The D-tour at the south end was a lunch break at Sprinkling Tarn. The final climb to Allen Crags, across the tops to Glaramara and down the curving descending rounded ridge back to the accommodation.


We set off along the Borrowdale road to the start of the path with the walk leader striding ahead on the right hand side of the road.


This part of the route is known as the Allerdale ramble which is a long distance north / south Lake District walking route.


Soon we approached Seathwaite ( officially the wettest place in England ), the starting point for many high level walks in this area.

Seathwaite Farm

Door to the mountains !

After a last toilet stop here, it was time to step out into the open country ...


( Allen Crags on the left with our route up Grains Gill valley to the right of it. Seathwaite fell on the right)

Taylorgill Force to the right of Seathwaite Fell

Breaktime at Stockley bridge where the path splits around Seathwaite Fell

The stream just beyond the bridge looking up towards Allen Crags


Grains Gill is a bit of a pull and it lasts for the best part of 90 minutes.


After lunch at Sprinkling Tarn, this is the view at the bottom of the map making the final ascent to Allen Crags.....


.... with the view from the top looking towards Derwentwater, Keswick and The Skiddaw mountain range.


From the summit of Allen Crags, we could see the tarn where we stopped for lunch with a similar view to this of Great Gable ( A mountain I described in an earlier blog last summer ).


As Allen Crags was the high point of the day & indeed the weekend  (2575 ft / 785m ) it was time for some of the group to take some photos of the memorable occasion.

mountain tarn and Langdale Pikes in background
The next section of the walk between the two summits is reasonably demanding as Glaramara has several lower summits with the main one being the last one before dropping down the mountain. A few of the group found this section quite unexpectedly tough. On the north side of Glaramara is a 20 foot easy rock scramble but the walk leader opted to avoid this on descent ... hence the dog leg on the above map near the summit.

Taking a break below the summit watching those on the normal ascent route


The main reason for opting to do the walk in this direction is the view on the descent towards Derwentwater again but a lot of the group were so tired from climbing all of Glaramara's false summits that they were just glad to see our accommodation in the centre base of the above photo. So I'll finish with one of someone who did appreciate it ....

"Wow, look at that great view" !!



( I promise a bit more variety in the next walk which involves a boat trip )

15 comments:

  1. What a superb walk, and the weather seemed to be fantastic! Can't wait to see more:)
    The last photo is terrific!

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  2. Again, what a tour..
    And the landscape so fantastic...
    It seemed that everybody had fun!!!!

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  3. Judging after the wonderful photos, you have a nice trip! I like that old stone bridge!

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  4. what a wonderful tour! I also like the color someone has chosen to paint the doors!

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  5. Great post, and very cute ending!! :-) Looks like a challenge, but what what an amazing landscape! So what did people carry in their backpacks?? Did they need more than lunch and a water bottle? Just curious. Were there no sheep on those fells?

    And BTW, no offense meant to 'Brits' on my blog today, just a curious observation. :-)

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  6. great images, i bet it was a nice trip

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  7. Beautiful place, makes me fell like I need to go for a walk.
    Love the last photo, so has he or she got a name?
    We need to stick together us dogs,as we do add to a photo :)
    Have a good week
    See Yea George xxx

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  8. What beautiful country to hike through. Your adventures just get better and better. I'll bet you were all very tired by the end of the day. Thanks for all your comments on my post--always enjoy reading what you have to say. Have a great weekend. Mickie :)

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  9. Each one of this post's pictures is a gem displaying some lovely facet such as: a bridge, a stream, a path, mountain summits, mountain tarn etc..

    The people in these photos make each such photo even more interesting, attractive, and a pleasure to look at.
    Thanks for sharing.

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  10. Wonderful photos! What a beautiful place!

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  11. Great pictures, and the landscape is amazing:)
    Have a nice week:)

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  12. Wow! Brilliant! Your posts are always so vivid!

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  13. Wonderful pictures and what a great if not challenging walk. At least the skies were clear. Great post.

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  14. Grand for photographs but it looked a warm walk. I hope to be fit enough again to emulate your efforts.

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  15. Hey J!
    This kind of wide open space with clear fresh air , close to the sky, with sheeps, stones, bridges and tiny grass are my favorite places...

    I think that you can see me in your last image! haha
    I am still there!
    See you soon!

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