Crinkle Crags from Great Langdale

After breakfast we had to clear the frost from the car windscreens as there had been a sharp frost last night. Things were looking good with clear skies and plenty of snow and no wind as we drove to Great Langdale and parked at the National Trust car park near the Old Dungeon Ghyll. We had to see get Pete's car out of its parking place due to the frozen snow so that there were no problems later. Then there was the searching for change for the £5.80 parking charge until Pete found a change machine near the toilets.

Crinkle Crags

After getting our boots on we set off through a farmyard and along a track. Since the track was hard going due to ice, I stopped to put my crampons on and Karen did the same then we continued onwards with lovely views of the snow covered peaks all around. Pete had back problems and was pretty sure that he would have to turn around early and when that time came, Karen also decided to head back early.

Pete with a New Friend

This left Keith and myself to carry on up the initial steep snow leading towards Crinkle Crags. We intended to reach the ridge above and traverse it for a distance then drop back down in a nearby valley leading back to where we had started out.

Langdale from Crinkle Crags

After a bit of a slog upwards Keith paused for a rest and I continued on plodding uphill. We gradually approached the ridge and the ground steepened and the snow became deeper. There were a set of footprints approaching upwards from our right and we joined them heading uphill. The snow was knee deep know and made the going very slow with sections being very annoying as you thought the snow would support your weight only to suddenly allow your leg to drop down again to be knee deep.

Snow and Sun

We reached a section of thin wind slab as we were on the lee of the ridge and the ground steepened as Keith again went in front to break the trail. After some more knee deep going we headed towards some rocks and clambered past these. The wind slab seemed to be getting thicker now and I was concerned over the conditions which may get worse soon as we approached the top if the ridge. I suggested to Keith we should head back down and maybe try further along but as he pointed out, time was running out due to the time we had taken to get that far and it was now after 2:00 pm leaving only a couple of hours of daylight. I received a text message form Karen saying she had gone with Pete in his car back to Ambleside to go shopping!

Keith Before We Turned Around to Descend

So, we decided to head back down the way we had come. We didn't take too long to get back to the car as we were a lot quicker going downhill. As we were changing out of our boots, a robin landed nearby and was perched on my gaiters which were on the ground a couple of feet away and seemed to be very tame as long as you didn't get too near.
We planned to go to a chip shop after a trip to the pub at around 9:00 pm but found it was closed. So we had a meal in the Indian restaurant a couple of doors away from the B&B.
I wore my Paramo Cascada trousers, Paramo Summit Hoodie and Paramo Fuera Ascent jacket. Also Polar Buff as a hat, Asolo Powermatic 200 GTX boots and Osprey Kestrel 38 rucksack.