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Grange - Castle Crag - Stonethwaite - Camp Site - Langstrath - Camp Site - Langstrath Bridge - Langstrath Country Inn - Rosthwaite - The Bowder Stone - Grange
On a weeks holiday from work, my step-daughter Amy and family came up to join us in Dalton In Furness.
Her boyfriend Kelvin and daughter Charlie (now 9, where has the time gone ??), Damson & I already had plans for a wild camp and wander somewhere and so I planned an easy-ish clamber over Castle Crag and a wander through Borrowdale.
Amy unfortunately couldn't join us with another baby on the way and our 1 year old Sophie and Ellie to look after.
With 3 rucksacks, 2 tents, sleeping gear, food, etc. we really needed decent weather and apart from the drive through to Grange and the first 15 minutes we did very well.
We parked up in a 6-8 car lay-by just outside Grange at about lunch time on the Monday and set off down the side of the river formed from the outflow of Derwent Water down to Grange village. From the small cafe / shop there we took the small path left to Castle Crag going up via the tourist route up the right hand side of the fell on a clear stony path before taking the split left up and over the wall stiles.
Kelvin & Charlie fully loaded
Charlie at memorial plaque as we headed up stepper section of Castle Crag
Kelvin & I heading up Castle Crag
First wall stile heading up Castle Crag
Charlie on wall stile
From the top of this section, a large slate fell side has been created with a zig zag path leading up to the final summit rocks. At a level just below the summit, a large number of upstanding slate monoliths have been created and so Charlie and I had a go at creating our own before the final climb.
Charlie & Kelvin on slate path
Charlie creates mini monolith
Slte monoliths below summit
Borrowdale and Stonethwaite from Castle Crag (our path follws trees on right)
The fell was popular today with plenty of people up there but not the queues that have been witnessed on previous occasions. We grabbed a few photos including one taken by Charlie of me supposedly holding up a mountain (I think she was just making me look an idiot in front of the crowds on the top !!
)
Charlie on Castle Crag summit
Kelvin on summit before Derwent Water
Kelvin on summit looking towards Seatoller
And Charlie ...
Taking a well deserved break on summit
Derwent Water, Grange (near) and Keswick (opposite bank) from Castle Crag
Supposedly holding up a mountain ??
Damson on summit rock
Charlie on summit rock
Our descent took us down the opposite flank of the fell to rejoin the River Derwent which we followed through Borrowdale down to the roads leading into Stonethwaite grabbing a few caches along the way.
Way down
Stone steps leading back to river
Kelvin above Derwent River
Our plan was to grab some grub and a pint or two from the Langstrath Country Inn in Stonethwaite but when we arrived we found it didn't open on a Monday. This was to be our resting and re-fuelling stop before heading into Langstrath for a true wild camp at the top of the valley. Instead we changed our plans and stopped at the camp site at the end of Stonethwaite under the gaze of Eagle Crag. We set up the tents, had a paddle in the freezing cold Stonethwaite Beck
and ate the few sandwiches we'd packed purely as a back up plan.
Pitching the tents
Preparing for the river paddle ??
We'd covered 6km up to this point but decided to grab a few more geocaches in Langstrath so went for a lovely evening stroll round the corner and up the western sidfe of Langstrath Beck grabbing as many caches as we could find. Going was much easier without the weight of the packs and we had gone another 3km before making the decision to head back before the light had gone.
Heading into Langstrath
Eagle Crag from Langstrath
Light starting to dim in Langstrath
The walk back to camp was obviously a little too much for young Charlie who's legs had tired by this point so it was somewhat slower for our return.
Charlie getting tired as we head back to camp
A game of cards and a stashed bag of sweets later and it was time for bed with Damson ending up in the bottom of my sleeping bag by the time morning arrived ??
With tents re-packed we again donned the packs and headed back into Langstrath to cross the first bridge and then walked back on ourselves down the opposite bank of Stonethwaite Beck grabbing more caches along the way. Across the 2 days we managed 20 finds including some considerably off the paths and requiring some scrambling up the fell sides.
Damson at Galleny Force
Charlie coming down off a geocaching scramble
Kelvin & Charlie in deepest Stonethwaite before Eagle Crag
Guess who got the biggest rucksack ??
Stop messing about with my camera !!
Not to be outdone by yesterdays failure, we got back to the Country Inn at 5 minutes to 12:00 and weren't the only ones waiting for a nice pint and a bite to eat. Kelvin & I grabbed a pork joint whilst Charlie grabbed gammon and chips (possibly the best gammon and chips I've tasted in a while as we finished what Charlie couldn't eat). Topped off with a couple of pints and Damson being fussed over by a young family who had joined us in the pub.
Damson at Langstrath Country Inn
Doors open !!
We headed back down into Borrowdale again crossing the Stonethwaite bridge and following the beck up to Rosthwaite before taking the main road (B5289) up to a small path leading to the Bowder Stone.
On our way again
Heading to Rosthwaite
Fed and refreshed
The Bowder Stone is approximately three storeys high with a lovely wooden ladder leading to its summit. After thinking Charlie might struggle with this, she was first up and it took us quite a while to coax her off.
Only one guy was attempting to scale its smooth surface today prepped with his crash mats in case of a fall.
Wooden ladder climb up the Bowder Stone
Atop the Bowder Stone
Kelvin & Damson on the Bowder Stone
Charlie on the Bowder Stone
And again ...
And again ...
The path back to Grange passed a number of abseiling and rock climbing groups before the final road stretch back to take a well deserved paddle in the river below Grange's old stone bridge.
I walked the final few metres back to grab the car as Charlie had a play in the stream.
In total we had covered 20km (6km to the camp site, 6km up and down Langstrath and 8km on the return journey) almost completely in glorious sunshine.
It was Kelvin's 1st fell and Charlie's 4th and I believe we now have another convert to the Lake District fan club. Well done to them both
We stopped at the Badger Bar at Rydal Water on the way home to celebrate with a pint and some nuts.
My precious ...
Charlie grabs a coke
Kelvin grabs a pint
A celebratory pint