At the end of August, just after the busy summer holidays, I headed up to the Lake District for a few nights’ camping. I stayed at the National Trust’s Great Langdale campsite, which is a great base for walks around the Langdale Pikes and, on the other side of the Langdale Valley, Pike of Blisco and Lingmoor Fell.

On my first full day, I headed up to the Langdale Pikes. I had visited before in June 2019, so on this occasion I took a slightly different route. The first part of the walk, to get onto the fell, is the same; a short, steep climb up to Stickle Tarn.

From here, I deviated from the previous route, and continued to High Raise. The climb to High Raise from this side is hardly a climb at all, more of a gentle slope. The view from the summit appears very suddenly, and is spectacular.

Continuing back past Sergeant Man and Thunacar Knott, I dropped down into the Great Langdale valley. It was a long walk back to my starting point and the New Dungeon Ghyll hotel where I would find a meal and a pint of beer. The sun was having thoughts about setting, and Great Langdale entered the ‘golden hour’, a fabled time for photography.