Rossett Pike with Lin and Chris  | - Click on the image above to view gallery
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Staying in Ambleside at the same time as us were fellwalking friends Lin and Chris, who we have met via the online Fellwalking Club. They too are trying to finish visiting all the Wainwright Fells and when we discovered they too were planning to visit Rossett Pike we decided to go together. The forecast for the day really wasn’t too good and when we met up we decided that seeing the cloud level was quite low in Ambleside maybe we should drive over to Great Langdale, take a look to see what the conditions were like and then make a decision whether to visit Rossett Pike or find somewhere else to go. As it happened, by the time we reached Great Langdale it wasn’t too bad at all and as we walked towards Rossett Pike along Mickleden there was even some blue sky to be seen. Gradually the cloud was lifting from the summit of Rossett Pike, so maybe we would get a view after all. It was about 30 years ago we were last here on a day when we went up Rossett Gill en route to Scafell Pike. We remember, without much pleasure, the path that used to head steeply up alongside the gill, so were looking forward to using the new path that runs close to where the old pony track used to be. We found it a very nicely graded path too. All the time the views down Mickleden improved the higher we got and also the clouds were now clear of the summit of Rossett Pike, something when we started out on today’s walk none of us were really expecting.
Once on the summit we managed to find someone to take a group picture and grabbed a quick bite to eat because we could see that very soon our luck would run out and the forecast rain arrive. There wasn’t too much to start with but enough to mean waterproofs were required. Our route now was to walk across the rather squelchy top of Rossett Pike, which is well known for its boggy top so some careful avoidance manoeuvres were required to avoid the worst sections. It was only a matter time I guess that one of us was to come off worse. As it happens on this occasion it wasn’t me but poor Chris who disappeared up to his knees into a rather smelly bog. Sadly as it was raining my camera was safely tucked away, so I wasn’t quick enough to get a shot of this unfortunate incident! By the time we had got a good way down the Stake Pass footpath the rain really had set in for the day and so no more pictures were taken. All the rain was a blessing in disguise though as by the time we had walked all the way back to Chris’s car parked at Old Dungeon Ghyll car park he was completely clean again and didn’t smell of the bog any longer.
Thanks to Lin and Chris for their fun-filled company during the day, but the day didn’t stop there as we’d arranged to meet up with Richard and Karen (more OFC friends) for a very enjoyable meal in the Thai restaurant in Ambleside. A perfect end to the day.
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