A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to join a couple of my friends on a short adventure to the Lake District. We started off with a beautiful and peaceful walk along the Langdale Pikes circular. We enjoyed a lovely meal at Lanty Slee’s, a pub with gorgeous views. As we chowed down on our burgers, an indie band played live. The band members were appropriately dressed in hipster-y outfits: corduroy dungarees abounded! We then ventured up to Stickle Tarn with our camping gear. In the Lake District, wild camping is tolerated as long as it is above the tree line, and we luckily made it just after sunset to set up our tents and get settled in for the night. In the complete darkness, all you could see were the lighted tents of the two other people who had the same idea we did.

The next morning, we woke up to this view

The plan was to start the scramble up Jack’s Rake as soon as possible to take advantage of the good weather and make it back in time to Leeds. We made our way through boggy fields onto the approach to Jack’s Rake, which was a steep slope covered in scree. Once on it, there was no opportunity to turn back, really. As a grade 1 scramble, most of it was very easy climbing within a chimney where you could not see the exposure. However, there were a couple of sections with “crux” moves and although they were both completely within my capabilities as a climber, it became very easy for fear to set in with my inexperience outdoors. It’s really interesting to see how panic can set in (your breathing suddenly becomes ragged) and cloud your judgment! What you were doing with ease moments previously now becomes “difficult.” With the help of a sling (and some gentle encouragement from my friends), I managed to make it past those parts. On the whole, it was a stunning route and well worth it.