Lake District Meet, 15th-17th May 2026
- a_dale
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
Meet Co-ordinator: Zak Page
Ten GMC’ers made their way to the Lake District for a weekend of climbing, hiking, trail running, and wild swimming in May 2026. The fun started almost immediately — arriving on Friday evening, the group stumbled upon a music festival in full swing at the Old Dungeon Ghyll pub.
Our base was The Loft — a bunkhouse owned by the Lancashire Mountaineering Club, situated at Blea Tarn House on National Trust land above the head of Great Langdale. A characterful hut sat right in the mountains. The loft is one large room with Alpine bunks and a large kitchen/dinning area. There is also a smaller room with two more bunks. Toilet outside
Friday: Raven Crag
While most of the group was still making their way north, A and J arrived early and made straight for the Raven Crags. J took a memorable belay from an ancient oak tree on Holly Tree Direct
Saturday: Three Adventures
Saturday saw the group split into three parties, each pursuing their own adventure across the fells and crags. With the weather doing its best Lakeland impression, dark clouds looming on the horizon; but they never came to anything and we even had some sun
Climber:, Gimmer Crag. The climbing party headed up to Gimmer Crag, one of the Lake District’s classic trad climbing venues, high on the flanks of the Langdale Pikes. With its clean, rough rhyolite and a wealth of classic lines across all grades, Gimmer rarely disappoints. The team spread across the crag’s finest routes: Polly and Midge climbed Ash Tree Slabs, Nancy and john got on D Route and Introduction, while Adam and Josh took on Gimmer String before the deteriorating weather forced a creative escape onto the final pitch of Kipling Groove.
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Walkers: Keswick to New Dungeon Ghyll. Z, F and D realised they had not brought breakfast for Sunday morning, and decided drastic action was required and so taking advantage of the extensive Lake District bus network, the lads headed to Keswick where they were able to find suitable supplies. All that was left was a 25km traverse of the central fells back to the hut. The route took in Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, and across the plateau of Armboth Fell and High Tove, before pushing south via Watendlath Fell, Standing Crag, Ullscarf, High Raise and descending past Pavey Ark and Stickle to the New Dungeon Ghyll.
Solo Project: Scarfell Pike. Managing to remember his own breakfast and not content with an ordinary day in the hills, J set out from the Loft on a route so epic no one else was brave enough to attempt it. His circuit took him past Cold Pike and onto Bowfell, via Esk Hause and to the summit of Scafell Pike, the highest point in England don’t you know! before looping back via Rossett Pike and the Langdale Pikes. The full round covered 27.44 km with 2,125 m of ascent and took a mere 8hrs30, not 11hrs as suggested by OS maps.
In a satisfying end to the day, all three groups converged at the New Dungeon Ghyll, the walkers arriving on foot and the climbers descending from the crag for a pub dinner together before heading back to The Loft.
Sunday: Trail Running and Wild Swimming
Sunday brought a change of pace, literally. Five of the group laced up trail shoes for a guided 10 km run around Loughrigg Fell, led by a friend of F from the Langdale Ambleside Mountain Rescue Team.
The route wound through lush woodland, climbed onto the open fell, and passed a cave above Rydal Water and finishing with a plunge into the cold waters of Loughrigg Tarn. From there the group descended to Ambleside for coffee and cake. The run covered 10.39 km with 429 m of elevation gain, completed in 1 hour 18 minutes.
Summary
A brilliant weekend in every respect. Ten club members, three very different days out on Saturday, a superb fell run and wild swim on Sunday. The Loft proved a basic but brilliant base, well placed for both the Langdale crags and the wider Lakes, affordable, would recommend to anyone!
Thanks to everyone who made the trip — to F’s friend from LAMRT for guiding Sunday’s run, and to the Lancashire Mountaineering Club for making The Loft available to us. We’ll be back.