Lingmoor

There were tremendous views back along the Langdale Valley as we climbed Lingmoor. The crescent of Side Pike made an impressive foreground with the Crinkle Crags and the Stickles in the background. There looked to be plenty of water coming down Sour Milk Ghyll. Further around we could see Blea Tarn at the foot of Wrynose and Pike O'Blisco beyond that. I had intended including Lingmoor Tarn on the itinerary but ended up following the more obvious path, along the stone wall/fence up to Lingmoor's summit. There was another person on the top, but she maintained covid distance. We only saw eight people all day, and most of those from afar.

Blea Tarn

Near Blea Tarn we were interrupted by another Robin. Calse sprinkled another handful of bird seed on to a tree trunk. I wondered if it was the same one from this morning and it had followed us for an early lunch. A large tree had fallen into Blea Tarn; another casualty of Storm Arwen. In the nearby wood, more trees had toppled like dominoes. We followed the path down to the Wrynose road and then started plodding up the tarmac to Wrynose Bridge. A sinister mist was descending from the top of the pass.

Pike O'Blisco

Wrynose road might be steep, but the path from Wrynose Bridge to Pike O'Blisco is steeper. We had watched a farmer come down this slope, a few minutes earlier, on an ATV. Hard to believe he was able to hang on to the machine. His dogs had done the sensible thing and had been running alongside him. There isn't much of a path to the top of Pike O'Blisco, although an odd cairn has been assembled to indicate a possible route. I'd taken a bearing anyway, just in case the mist at the top of Wrynose should make its way over to us.

Pike O' Blisco has a rocky top with a few steep defences. None of these present any real obstacle to your progress. I once went up with a friend who insisted on scrambling up one of these ramparts. I said that it'd be much easier making a couple of minutes diversion around it, but he said that, 'He wasn't going down, just to go up again'. I watched him for five minutes while he was motionless on a difficult move, and then he came down and we proceeded on my alternative route. 

There are two cairns on Pike O'Bliscos' top, about a hundred metres apart. There is a stone shelter near the summit cairn. We could see the Old Dungeon Ghyll way down in the Langdale Valley. In a jet suit it probably would only take a minute or two, but our pedestrian route would be a lot longer.

Stool End

Mist covered Cold Pike and the Crinkles but somehow we had contrived to avoid it. After descending from Pike O'Bliscos' rocky head to Red Tarn we headed downwards with Browney Gill on our left. The slabbed steps were greasy with rain and so it was a slow, but steady shuffle down to Oxendale Beck. 

I'd forewarned Calse and Mo that the military sometimes use the Langdale valley for their fighter training. As we left Stool End Farm, we saw two jets approaching us, way up the valley near Loughrigg. It was a mad struggle to get my camera out and put it on the correct settings for the photo. I looked up only to find the jets had turned left over Lingmoor before reaching us. Calse and Mo sniggered, which I considered was bad form.

The winter gloom had been with us all day and it was now getting even darker as the end of the day approached. Two fellow hikers were enjoying a pint outside the Old Dungeon Ghyll pub. A cold affair, but covid safe. The bird seed had gone from this morning. Calse dumped another lot in the same place. It looked like the robin would be treated to another surprise breakfast in the morning.