A Bagger’s Paradise

With only one Wainwright and one Outlying Fell left to tick, this trip to the Lake District was to mop up some of my remaining Nuttalls, Fellrangers and FRCC 244 summits.  The broad ridge from Bessyboot to Allen Crags contains a multitude of tops to be ticked.

Bessyboot was the day’s first summit and more obvious on the ground than it is on the map.  It is regarded by Wainwright as the summit of Rosthwaite Fell but a higher summit beyond Tarn at Leaves, Rosthwaite Cam, is another obvious summit.  This rocky prominence can provide some easy scrambling if you choose an appropriate route and offers a good view of the ground ahead which is largely untracked and as Wainwright remarked, “a path would improve matters”, adding “this is dangerous country in mist”.

Rosthwaite Cam

The next summit – actually twin summits – is Dovenest Top and is regarded as the summit of Rosthwaite Fell by the FRCC.  Both summits are of very similar height and I stood on the top of both to ensure the tick.  The next summits to be traversed are considered tops of Glaramara with the way ahead looking a lot steeper than it actually is.

Dovenest Top, Combe Door, Combe Head

Combe Door’s summit is obvious but the next top of Combe Head has two possible highpoints, both of which I reached.  They overlook the Combe Gill valley which contains Raven Crag with its classic route of “Corvus”.  Although the views were hazy, some fells were easily identified; Fleetwith Pike, Pike o’Stickle and Great Gable were obvious.

Fleetwith Pike

Pike o'Stickle

the Gables

The top of Glaramara has 3 obvious summits which was a surprise to me as I was only expecting two !  Not far beyond the 20-foot rock step is the Wainwright summit.  A little further away is the Nuttall summit which is higher and slightly beyond that is another top which looks almost as high – I ticked all three !

As Glaramara is almost the highpoint of the ridge, the route ahead looked quite obvious.  Looking Steads, a nuttall, was reached quickly with its boulder summit.  A significant dip in the ridge led to the next Nuttall – Red Beck Top which had four points with not much discernible difference in height between them.  I went to all four and thought about the Wainwright baggers who walk on the path between two of the outcrops, missing the Nuttall summit, and then at some point in the future realising that they had missed an easy tick and arranging to go back to collect it.  Well today, I am that bagger !

Wainwright's "perfect mountain tarn"

Just before High House Tarn Top is the “perfect mountain tarn”, at least in the eyes of Wainwright.  I stopped to take photos and ticked my last previously unvisited summit of the day.

Bowfell

I carried on with good views of Bowfell, Esk Pike and Great End to complete the ridge on Allen Crags before descending to Esk Hause and turning towards Angle Tarn with the pitched path proving unforgiving on the knees.  A few raindrops started to fall so I packed my electronic gadgets away and made my waterproof easily available before walking the length of Langstrath back to the car.  Although the valley is one of the most picturesque in the district, it wasn’t natural beauty that spurred on my weary legs to finish; it was the consumption of my emergency packet of jelly babies !