Words & Photos Ian Battersby

March 03 2009

The jagged edge of Crinkle Crags is sustained by brawny buttresses that defy the elements, leaving an elevated amble with a fantastic prospect over the graceful, glacial Langdale, a stage for viewing England’s highest mountain scenery, and an outlook over wild moorland dotted with brilliant blue tarns.

Drooling at the prospect, I chose a high start from Three Shire Stone, intending to reach the craggy rollercoaster for first light, but couldn’t resist calling on Cold Pike first. The path is virtually invisible, a novelty for the Lakes and surprising considering the spectacular view. Glimpses of Pike o’ Blisco and Glaramara are followed by the Langdales and a distant yet familiar shadow of Skiddaw. The Old Man range opens up gradually for an appetiser of the afternoon’s route.

The path weaves around the rocky rapture, but it’s much more fun to explore the crinkles themselves. Try to keep jaws off the ground though – rock leaves scars.

It was a perfect day, with little cloud to tarnish the sky, and I relaxed by the Three Tarns before dropping to Lingcove Beck, where dippers flew low over the tiny tributary. They were my only company in this wilderness that’s beyond the range of any visible civilisation.

My plan was to stamp straight up Grey Friar, cut across to Great Carrs, and drop back to Wrynose Pass, but the glorious weather demanded more. What the hell, I had never visited Seathwaite Tarn, and then why not drop in on the Old Man. The Tarn is in fact a reservoir, dammed at its western end to supply Barrow. Don’t let this put you off, because apart from the dam, it looks just like a large tarn, hemmed in by the rugged crags of Little Cove and Grey Friar. You escape through a narrow passage, passing disused mines, before tackling Dow Crag. The cliff delivers another jaw-dropping arena over Goat’s Water en route to the Old Man.

I rested there, listening to the gentle banter of happy hikers before strolling along the northern edges. It’s more escarpment than ridge, with the eastern aspect plunging headlong to Coniston, drawing the eye, but the seascape and the Scafell range deserve some attention seen over the gentler western flanks of these fells of two halves. Don’t cut out Swirl How; it offers the best vantage point from the hub of the range positioned at a 90 degree bend in the ridge. To be honest it was only the slight advantage in height of the Old Man that earned it a visit on this occasion. If you’ve got time take it easy now, because the simple saunter past Great Carrs brings the pass, and the curtain comes down on the day much too soon.

Distance: 16 miles/25km Ascent: 5410ft/1650m Time: 8-10 hours Start/finish: Three Shire Stone (GR: NY 277027) Maps: Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer sheet OL6 (The English Lakes - South Western area); OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 89 (West Cumbria) Information: Windermere TIC, 015394 46499

Technical Spec
Faint path W across Eller Dubs. Climb NW to Cold Pike. NW to Long Top then N along Crinkle Crags to Three Tarns. Faint path SW to Lingcove Beck then S along Mosedale to Cockley Beck. Road SSW past Hinning Ho. Path S then E to mines after Seathwaite Tarn. Climb S then SE to Old Man. Ridge N to Swirl How then W then NE passing Great Carrs to Three Shire Stone