Route 39 - Crinkle Crags via The Band - Lakeland Routes : Lakeland Routes

A classic walk at the head of Great Langdale, featuring the very rewarding tops of Crinkle Crags, and its neighbours, Shelter Crags, Gladstone Knott and Great Knott. On this occasion, starting from Old Dungeon Ghyll, I chose to walk the route anticlockwise, which involves ascending The Band before returning to Oxendale via the Brown Howe route.

Due to the complexity of the Crinkles, walking along this maze of tops in mist can be a challenge for many, so in this Route 39 post I’ve illustrated the tops — and the views they provide — the best I can. It is due to these amazing views that I highly recommend walking this ridge in clear weather.

Although this walk includes a mountain camp, the route itself is designed as a day walk.

Richard

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We begin our journey from the Old Dungeon Ghyll car park. If you are camping, you can pay to leave your car here overnight — or if you are a National Trust member, like myself, you can scan your membership card twice; once in the evening, and again in the morning.

*The Band from the lane leading to Stool End Farm*

On the skyline from left to right, we have Great Knott, Crinkle Crags, Shelter Crags and Bowfell. The Band blocks the view of the col of Three Tarns, which lies between Shelter Crags and Bowfell.

*Pike o’ Stickle and Gimmer Crag from the farm lane*

A little further from Stool End Farm, and we’ve arrived at the base of The Band, a long ascending ridge that leads to Three Tarns, a col between Shelter Crags and Bowfell. To the left, the track continues into Oxendale — this will be the route we’ll return by tomorrow morning.

*Crinkle Crags from the path up The Band*

*Looking across to Pike o’ Stickle and Loft Crag*

*Beautiful stone-pitched path up The Band*

*Looking back down Great Langdale and to Stool End Farm*

*The Crinkle Crags ridge seen from The Band*

Clouds have now drifted in to spoil the view, but they are forecast to lift in the evening.

*The col of Three Tarns from the path below Bowfell*

Now that the long ridge of The Band is conquered, our next objective is to reach the col of Three Tarns, where we’ll collect our water for camp.

*Approaching the col and our water source, Buscoe Sike*

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced my hands getting so cold while collecting water. It’s late November and the temperatures have dropped significantly in the past hour or so, and it will soon be getting dark.

Due to so much mist at Three Tarns, and because it was starting to get late, we didn’t hang around and headed straight for Shelter Crags.

*Looking back to Bowfell from Shelter Crags*

*The Scafells and Mickledore from Shelter Crags*

We are now rewarded with some very nice atmospheric scenery, especially over towards the Scafells.

*Looking back to Shelter Crags and the first Crinkle*

We arrived at Shelter Crags for 3:30pm, and while the weather had brightened up a little, we spent a good 30 minutes looking for a suitable flat spot to pitch. In the end, we chose the area to the left in the photo, protected by the aptly named Shelter Crags — sunset is due at 4:30pm.

*Tika admiring the last of the views before sunset*

Mist is now rolling back in, so it’s time to get the tent up and make dinner.

*The Golite Shangri-La 3 pitched on Shelter Crags*

Sadly there’s no sunset to witness, so it’s time to get settled for the evening. It will be many hours before we get moving again — probably around 15 hours!

*Sunrise from the summit of Shelter Crags*

It is 8am, and what a lovely welcome before breakfast.

*Chicken, chorizo and pasta for breakfast!*

The next three photos show the brief moment of alpine glow from some of the outcrops on Shelter Crags:

The sun hasn’t risen high enough yet to defrost the tent, so we’ll hang about a bit until the area warms up. It is still only 8:45am, but I want to get away before any walkers arrive on the ridge.

*Bowfell from the summit of Shelter Crags*

*Langdale Pikes over The Band, and Great Langdale on the left*

*View of our pitch from the summit of Shelter Crags*

The tent is taking far too long to defrost. It’s now 9:20am, so I’d best pack up and get moving.

*On the ascent of the first Crinkle (Gunson Knott)*

The following tops are named as Alfred Wainwright illustrated them in his Ridge Plan on page 13 of Crinkle Crags, intended for use when traversing the ridge from north to south.

*Great Langdale from the summit of the first Crinkle*

*The Scafells and Bowfell from the summit of the first Crinkle*

*Bowfell and Shelter Crags from the summit of the first Crinkle*

From this viewpoint, behind the second Crinkle, you can see the third Crinkle on the left, and the fourth on the right.

*Great Langdale from the second Crinkle*

*Looking back from the summit of the second Crinkle*

From this view we have Bowfell, Shelter Crags and the first Crinkle (Gunson Knott).

*The third and fourth Crinkle from the second*

The following two Crinkles are only a short distance away. Mickle Door and its narrow col separate the two summits.

*Great Langdale and Pike o’ Blisco from the third Crinkle*

*The fifth and fourth Crinkle from the third*

*Looking down Mickle Door to Great Cove*

*Looking back to the second and third Crinkle, with Mickle Door on the right*

*Approaching the two summit cairns on the fourth Crinkle (Long Top)*

*The Scafells from the north summit cairn*

*The eastern and central spines from the north summit cairn*

*The traverse leading to the fifth Crinkle (Flesk)*

This traverse around the base of the fourth Crinkle avoids the ‘Bad Step’.

*Great Langdale from the summit of the fifth Crinkle (Flesk)*

*Looking back to the fourth and third Crinkle*

*Gladstone Knott, Great Knott and Pike o’ Blisco*

*Pike o’ Blisco, Great Knott and Cold Pike*

Tika spots the first human we’ve seen since 2pm yesterday.

From Gladstone Knott you are provided with a good aspect of the Crinkles — here the fourth Crinkle, Mickle Door, and the third Crinkle are easily defined, while the fifth Crinkle on the left looks like the ugly duckling of the group.

*On the approach to Great Knott Tarn and Great Knott*

*The five Crinkles, Shelter Crags and Bowfell from Great Knott*

*Langdale Pikes seen from the head of Browney Gill*

*Pike o’ Blisco from the head of Browney Gill*

*Great Knott from the start of the descent to Oxendale*

*Crinkle Crags and Bowfell over Browney Gill*

*Langdale Pikes over Oxendale, from Brown Howe*

*Great Langdale from the crossing of Oxendale Beck*

*Langdale Pikes from the pastures of Stool End Farm*

“This chap has got down early — must have been camping overnight. Legend!”

Many thanks for following me on this journey. The route over the Crinkles is complex, and it is easy to lose your way in mist, so I hope you get some benefit from the descriptions provided.

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Thanks, sources and further reading:

‘Book Four – The Southern Fells’ by Alfred Wainwright

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Route 39 – Crinkle Crags via The Band