Lucky The Dog Does Glaramara

Having recovered from the mild attack of Lurgy, and it being a lovely, sunny day AND having a lone Birkett Thorneythwaite Fell to bag, I decided to point the knipemobile once again towards Cumbria and nick off to Borrowdale.

Unfortunately, due to funereally slow drivers on the bendy roads, four or five sets of roadworks with traffic lights, two tractors and a tour bus, it took me two and a half hours to get to Seatoller and then, THEN, readers, I had to pay seven quid to park. SEVEN QUID!!

So, it was with a certain amount of grumpiness that me and LTD (Lucky The Dog) marched off in high dudgeon to the base of the ridge that leads up to Thorneythwaite Fell and, ultimately, Glaramara.

Now this ridge is rather lovely, so , unless you want to have a bit of a whinge about the closeness and sheer number of ten metre contours, and who wouldn’t, it soon puts the curmudgeon and his innocent pup in a much better mood.

And so, we were soon sitting atop Thorneythwaite Fell, a spikey little nobble just next to the path and boasting a fine view of Borrowdale and Skiddaw. Lucky relaxed by rolling about and I had some coffee. Job done.

Glaramara’s scrambly bit

We progressed up the ridge which is now more gentle and we were soon faced with The Scrambly Bit up to the summit of Glaramara. There’s an option to divert around this little rockstep, but I was keen to see if me and a pup, an often wriggly pup, could get up here in one piece (that’s one piece each, we’re not welded together, innit?) Lucky was enthusiastic and leapt up the first step, almost falling off but I put him on a little ledge, told him to sit and wait, and he did. We repeated this method three times until we were past the steep bits and could scramble more freely. It all went very well. Lucky’s attendance at Crook Dog Club on Wednesday evenings has paid off!

We didn’t stop on the top but pressed on over several subsidiary lumps, notably Looking Steads, Red Beck Top, and High House Tarn top before stopping for a rest and a little paddle and a snooze at one of the little tarns, set in a rocky and sheltered slot just off the main path.

The hill was noticeably quiet, being midweek, I suppose – it seemed at times that I had the whole of the place to myself and, even the birdlife was unusually quiet – just a few meadow pipits here and there, and a couple of low-flying RAF jets…..

After a suitable interval during which I failed once again to disconnect Kylie’s bra strap we stirred from our sun-kissed slumbers and toddled off to include Allen Crags before descending back to Borrowdale on the Red Beck path.

It had been hot. We called at the Riverside Bar for a shandy and made a slightly quicker return trip back to knipetowers.

The walk is 8 miles.  And here’s a map.  I like this route. It’s not to be rushed, though, cos its full of nooks and crannies and a sunny and slightly breezy day in June would be the perfect conditions. You’ll forget about the slow drivers and the traffic lights and the seven quid parking charge….

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