BB1529 : As We Walk We Grow Our Brains  

Wednesday 12th August 2015

As we walk we grow our brains.

Those were the words I heard on the radio as I set off this morning.

That was so encouraging.  We had a biggish day ahead of us so I envisaged returning home much wiser.

Clearly my brain was in need of growing as I took a couple of wrong turnings between Stan’s house and Terry’s.  Eventually we reached the National Trust car park at the Old Dungeon Ghyll in Langdale, looking forward to our brain-growing exercise in the sunshine.

Pike o'Blisco and the Crinkles

It certainly seemed to be working.  As we climbed the hill towards Pike o’Blisco many erudite topics were discussed, some of which I almost understood.  Things went a little quieter as we reached the scrambles where we had to concentrate.

This is one of my favourite hills.  There is a lot of “hands-on” needed to get up the gullies.  Not exposed climbs but still capable of providing a good scraping and a headache if you get things wrong.  Fortunately we didn’t and reached the top without incident.

Cold Pike was the next objective.  My plan was to approach from the south ridge but Stan’s brain had grown so much that he was able to skip down the hill and make strategic decisions simultaneously.  By the time I was able to catch him, it was too late and we were committed to his preferred northern approach.  The only problem with that strategy is that a return by the same route is needed if, as we did, you plan to move onwards to Crinkle Crags.

The Crinkles peek out

Looking back to Pike o'Blisco and Cold Pike

The Crinkles are rocky but present no real problem apart from the "Bad Step" on Crinkle 2 which involves a very short rock climb.  No more than two small holds and a heave but still a bit of a challenge for a non-climber like me.

Our brains were now so large that we let them rest whilst we had lunch on Crinkle 3.

Scafell left then Scafell Pike;  Bowfell to the right

Glimpse of Windermere behind Pike o'Blisco, then the Wetherlam  range + Crinkles 1& 2

After Crinkles 4 ,5 and 6 wisdom told us not to think about Bowfell which was looming invitingly before us, nor skinny-dipping in the tarn that was looking uninvitingly before us, but instead to drop down the Band back to the valley. Time was a little tight.

Our conclusion was that walking may grow your brain but drinking relieves the in-skull overcrowding problem.  Normal silliness has been restored.

Don, Thursday 12th August 2015

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BOOTboys routes are put online in gpx format which should work with most mapping software. You can follow our route in detail by downloading bb1529 .

To discover which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing - although it may not be that up to date - or for the totals of the mileages and heights (ditto) see the Excel file: BB Log.

You can navigate to the required report via the Home Page

Photos have been gleaned from many sources
although mostly from me and other BOOTboys. Likewise written comment.

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Wainwrights

To see which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing see Which Wainwright When? This may or may not be up to date!

For the latest totals of the mileages, heights and Lakeland Fells Books Wainwrights see: Wainwrights.
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BOOTboys 2015

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