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Introduction
My thoughts and notes, plus recollections of my many days, which I have spent on the high ground with my son, Mark, in the Lake District. It all started round about March 1974, when I went to the public library. At that time I had seen the various guidebooks on the Lakeland Fells and was fascinated by the drawings and routes up to the mountain summits. So after selecting a book to read and study, I decide to hire a tent, sleeping bag, rucksack, and to go and see for myself this wonderful place called the Lake District.
As I write these notes now, it is truly a wonderful place to go, to see those magnificent mountains and quiet valleys which lead you away from the madding crowds that we live in today. I know from going over the various routes to their summits that there is very bad path erosion, more so on the popular summits like Helvellyn, Scafell and Great Gable. But if more fell-walkers had used the other little-used paths up to the various summits, they would not be as badly worn today. Funnily enough, the little-used paths are the best way up to the high ground! That way, you don’t play follow-the-leader and you enjoy doing it your way. Now, I will try and tell you the ways in which I have climbed the many summits, such as what the conditions were like at the time and how long it took to get from one summit to another. I will also relate many other things which happened to us as we climbed the top one hundred mountains in the Lake District, which took us up to Scafell Pike – at 3,210 ft (977 metres), the highest mountain in England, to the lowest ones which are all just as important. At the end of the day, its not about climbing the highest mountains; its about going out and enjoying yourself up and over the high ground, but also going down leafy lanes and quiet scenic valleys...
As I mentioned, I started my great adventure in 1974. My son, Mark, started his on Saturday, May 15th 1978 and I retraced my early walks for Mark’s sake, to keep him on a par with me. You may find that some photographs do not match up to the conditions on the day, but I am only showing the area with respect to what you may see. If you do visit these summits, you will know what to look out for. Also, if you see this sign {? } at the side of the photographs with a number inside, this is this the altitude order. Also this applies to any of the write-ups within the diary from 1 – 100 plus other smaller summits which we visited, in our quest to climb the top one hundred mountains in the Lake District. If you see this sign [] at the head of a particular walk in the write up, this indicates I walked alone. Were you see this sign:- RATING= ? ( marks from a high ten for the WALK) |
