| The path led on into the upper reaches of the | | | | Hause as well as some of the best - and least |
| valley. The only sound here was the river | | | | used - ways to Scafell Pike and Bowfell. Trekking |
| somewhere below on my left in a rocky ravine | | | | up here in a snowstorm one early March day I |
| where it flowed back down towards the valley | | | | remember the vast shapes of the giant boulders |
| floor spreading into a wide alluvial plain. A lone | | | | - Sampson's Stones - suddenly appearing out of |
| raven soared above the Grey crags up to my | | | | the blizzard - a scene so far removed from the |
| right and snow blanketed the mountainside higher | | | | tourists eating their ice creams in Bowness that it |
| up. I made my way on up to where the path | | | | could have been a different continent. |
| crossed an ancient stone wall at a stile and was | | | | Still in the South West of Lakeland and nearby, |
| met by a surprise. | | | | the Duddon Valley above Ulpha is relatively |
| On the wall's far side the land was deep in snow - | | | | unfrequented though it is accessible to cars - a |
| a winter world that extended on up to the | | | | winding single track road leads to Cockley Beck |
| remote pass at the head of the valley. The white | | | | between the Hard Knott and Wrynose Passes. |
| hillsides were marked here and there by dark | | | | There is little population up here though, only |
| rocky outcrops that reminded me of a scene in | | | | isolated farmhouses huddle in the shelter of the |
| Norway's Jotunheim, yet this was not the | | | | dale watched over by the highest mountain in |
| Norwegian Wilderness or even the Scottish | | | | England at its head. |
| Highlands but a relatively unfrequented area of the | | | | You're always likely to be part of the crowd |
| Lake District National Park only a few miles north | | | | walking up Skiddaw from Keswick by the Tourist |
| of the busy market town of Kendal. I was | | | | Route but chances are you'll have the fell more or |
| walking up Longsleddale - a comparatively remote | | | | less to yourself if you go up from the northern |
| and little visited valley on the eastern fringes of | | | | side from the little known Barkbethdale or the |
| Lakeland. Access is by a single track road and the | | | | Skiddaw House road near Whitewater Dash - |
| walk up to Gatescarth Pass on the route to | | | | what a wonderful name for a waterfall that is - |
| Mardale is overlooked by fells whose names are | | | | though I recently climbed Skiddaw by the Tourist |
| unfamiliar even to some of the National Park's | | | | Route with my son Josh, and simply leaving the |
| regular visitors. | | | | main track to trek a short distance to Lonscale |
| The Lake District is my favorite corner of England | | | | Fell took us to a fell we had to ourselves. In all |
| but such are the charms of the region that it has | | | | probability we were the only people to walk its |
| become something of a victim of its own | | | | summit that day when probably over a hundred |
| success. The many beauty spots of Lakeland are | | | | climbed Skiddaw. |
| contained within a relatively small area which along | | | | The last one for now is Ennerdale situated |
| with the high visitor numbers who come to view | | | | between the more popular Wasdale and |
| them, means that avoiding the crowds and finding | | | | Buttermere valleys. The circuit of Ennerdale |
| the kind of solitude that many of us look for in | | | | Water provides an enjoyable low level walk if |
| the hills is not always easy. I have here | | | | you've been chased off the high tops by the |
| attempted to list a few of the lesser known | | | | Lakeland weather but to walk in some wonderful |
| corners of the Lake District where though | | | | remote country, head to the valley's upper |
| complete solitude is by no means guaranteed, | | | | reaches where the Black Sail Youth Hostel sits in |
| you'll certainly avoid these crowds - unless that is | | | | splendid isolation beneath Pillar and Great Gable. |
| everyone reads this and heads off at the same | | | | Just getting here involves either a crossing of a |
| time! if they do I'll see you in the Cairngorms. | | | | mountain pass from one of the neighboring |
| One of my favorite places in the Lakes is the | | | | valleys or a tramp of nearly 6 miles up the |
| empty region of Upper Eskdale, an area of wild | | | | forestry track through Ennerdale itself. Arriving at |
| and desolate beauty uncrossed by any roads. This | | | | your destination is always more satisfying if |
| tract of wilderness contains some very lonely and | | | | you've made an effort! |
| rugged terrain and includes the long walk to Esk | | | | |