This is a post to explain that not all my walks go to plan; well, this walk and the experience was fantastic, but my plan was to photograph the whole route and the camp on Crinkle Crags for the blog. However, the weather Gods decided to lie and I woke in the morning to thick clag. This is the second attempt to photograph my favourite pitch on this ridge; on the first attempt it was the evening that was spoiled by cloud and the morning was superb for the camera, but sadly the two albums will not marry because they were taken at different times of the year. So, I will try a third time and hopefully it’ll work out fine. It doesn’t matter though, it’s the experience and the freedom to be up there amongst the crags that is the most important thing.
From Old Dungeon Ghyll I ascended Pike o’ Blisco via the fell runners’ route (easier) and then headed over to the first Crinkle (Flesk). I pitched just over the summit on its northern shoulder.
I popped out of the tent around 8pm to get a few night shots, and when I returned I noticed that I had company for the night. A wood mouse had sneaked into the inner and decided to make a night of it. It took some time to encourage him to leave. No wonder really considering the temperature outside. I settled down, but he kept coming back into the vestibule and wanted to come back into the inner. This went on for a couple of hours until he finally got the message, and I didn’t see him again.
There are two images showing the pitch from the summit cairn. The following image shows the highest Crinkle (Long Top) appearing through the cloud. The ‘bad step’ was not quite visible though. On the summit plateau of Long Top a lone walker can just be seen standing at the north cairn. I then continued along the tops towards Shelter Crags, where I camped two weeks prior, before descending back to Old Dungeon Ghyll via The Band. I then met up with Jaclyn and Tika for coffee, chips and gravy at the pub.
