Lake District Walks – over Stake Pass

From the Diary –

The impressive Langstrath Valley near Stonethwaite .

Nov 5 – Tuesday: Keswick, Lake District, UK
About 5.00pm we arrive at Barron House, a youth hostel, a pleasure after many hours of walking. This hostel is an imposing building and is in the Superior Class, i.e. it has all facilities. The drying room comes in handy after a day out in the elements. The library has some interesting old hard back covered books such as “That Summer”. There are magazines about cycling, walking and climbing too.

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Nov 6 – Wednesday: Keswick – Elterwater
Today is our tough walk. After a super English breakfast we take the bus down to Stonethwaite where we begin our walk. We meet Paul and Robert, two other walkers who are out for a ½ day walk.

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We follow the course of Langstrath Beck up the valley. Drizzly rain. Good progress is made along the stony, wet and well discerned track. We reach the place where we’re supposed to cross the river, but see no easy crossing. We spend the next 30 minutes trying to cross further upstream, but still get our feet wet.

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Intermittent rains and winds continue to buffet us as we climb towards Stake Pass. Paul and Robert continue while Carol and I stop for lunch and a well-deserved rest.

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More climbing ahead and the winds are becoming more punchy. The scenery is impressive. As we approach the pass we have to tightly hold each other’s arms to avoid being blown over by the wind. You definetly need a partner for this walk. Just add that to your list of Walking Gear.

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.We get blown off course, but after some deliberation find the track again and descend into the Mickledon Valley.

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Feeling good that we had survived Stake Pass, we still had five miles to walk on wet, soggy country roads. We walked through Chapel Stile whose buildings were mostly made of slate, and nearing dusk we made our way to Elterwater and booked into the youth hostel.

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Dry those clothes and boots. After dinner we had a drink at the Britannia Hotel and chatted to Nick and Deborah, another hosteller couple. Very tired after a hefty 15 mile walk over one of Lakeland’s best known passes.