Starting out?

Hi,

    My dad took me and my brother up Scarfell pike when we were 12 and 14 and now we would like to take the same route and spread his ashes near Angle Tarn. Both very unexperienced walkers and MUST travel by public transport from Leeds/York area. Have gathered that the train to Penrith is the easiest way to get there. Then the bus to one of the starting points.

 All I can remember of the route is that it was a long flat walk to the base, then some uphill and a scramble up... was it Trollers Gill?... followed by camping at Angle tarn. Then we continued up the next day to the summit and came down the same way (not that that matters to us).

 Can anyone advise what route this is... what village is our starting point... what buses go there... We've got no compass skills etc. but will we basically be alright on this route? I remember it being fairly straightforward until the moors. I've yet to buy a map so suggestions of good maps of Scarfell would also be appreciated

 Thank you! 

off the top of my head...

I'd walk to Angle Tarn from Great Langdale which should take no more than an hour or 2.

Getting to Great Langdale is the issue however. If you can get a train from Leeds to Windermere (via Carnforth and Kendal), then you could get the 555 bus to Ambleside and then another to The Old Dungeon Ghyll Inn at the head of Great Langdale.

If Lancaster is easier to get to then you could get the 555 directly from there to Ambleside.

Best of luck Alexa.

Alexa,

that's a very touching first post and I hope you get some helpful advice from people who know the area better than I do.

Perhaps it would be worth thinking to see if you or your dad have friends with hill experience? I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted you to put yourselves at risk for this worthy walk. If you can find someone to share the experience with who knows about navigation & the right way to approach the hills then you'll be able to concentrate on the moment.

Hi Alexa

 It sounds like you started at the Old Dungeon Gill Hotel, walked along the Cumbrian Way before climbing up Rosset Gill.  Angle Tarn is at the top of this.

Alexa,

I would agree that you started your walk in Great Langdale and walked up Rossett Gill to camp at Angle Tarn.

By train you can go to Windermere Station and then get a bus to Ambleside and another up Great Langdale. There is plenty of accomadation in Ambleside and/or in Great Langdale itself.

Best of luck,

Dave

http://www.wainwright-wanderings.co.uk/

Trollers Gill?

Dear all,

Thanks so much for all your posts and sorry for the (very very) late reply. We will be heading up this Easter and taking your advice to stay in Great Langdale. All the travel info is also much appreciated. It is indeed Rossett Gill, and sounds so familiar now! Trollers Gill must be elsewhere... or a figment of my imagination!

Thanks John for your concern, we are now with a larger group of people so will surely be a very enjoyable walk (fingers crosses the weather will be fine) and a great knees-up in the pub the day after. Very excited

Thanks again.

Alexa

Trollers gill is a smallish dry limestone valley/gorge in upper Wharfdale. Rather less dramatic than Scafell but worth a visit. (and somewhat easier to get to ).

I hope you get some good weather for the Lakes.

Trollers Gill is a beautiful spot for an easy walk. I think it runs alongside Parcival Hall just outside Skyrholme near Appletreewick. Can be reached from Skipton.

The Gill itself is a sheltered walk most of the way but then opens out onto the moor - dramatic.

I'm trying to remember from 40 years ago but I spent a lot of time there - excellent place for crayfish. Not as dramatic as the Lakes but as Martin said, well worth a visit.

Maps - I'd recommend Outdoor Leisure OL6 English Lakes South-western which is large-scale 1:25,000 with an orange cover.

If you don't want to buy one, then join the local library and borrow the 1:50,00 map of the area - you would need LR90 Penrith & Keswick which has a magenta cover but it won't have as much detail on it.

Good luck.

 Alexa - Ninja Pussy speaks the truth: Maps - I'd recommend Outdoor Leisure OL6 English Lakes South-western which is large-scale 1:25,000 with an orange cover.

  Don't go without this!

  Now go an look at Ebay.co.uk or Amazon.co.uk and grab a copy of Alf (Aloysius) Wainwright's book The Southern Fells (A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells).

 Don't go without this!

   Aloysius had his ashes spread around Innominate Tarn on Haystacks mountain, maybe your dad got the idea from this? I slept in my tent at Angle Tarn in 1990 but it was misty so I didn't see much, and snow on the ground next morning so I had to go carefully down Rossett Gyhll.

 You must put these words into Google "Ann Bowker Mad" and you'll find her net site which has excellent photos of the Lake District mountains.

  For every hour you think it might take to walk, add another hour - or two!! Take warm clothes (can be windy!) and take plenty of food.

  Alfred Wainwright's "Fellwanderer" and "Ex-Fellwanderer" books are also worth hunting for (eg amazon.co.uk) - he really was an interesting person and his advice on walking in the Lake District is spot-on, although his hanging around at night having a fag every half-hour until the dawn seems dubious, I'd rather be tucked up in a nice RAB 900-gramme sleeping bag inside a nice little tent with cocoa & whisky before going to sleep and hot porridge for breakfas!).

  The Lake District is my favourite place in the whole world, wild camping amongst the rugged hills and down below villages with shops and cosy pubs with real beer! The Traveller's Rest at Glenridding specially recommended!