England – 2019 – Lake District – the last time I slept with three men………

1969 – Black Sail Youth Hostel

Summer 1969, and a group of teenagers are on a Youth Hostelling and hiking holiday in the English Lake District. They included my now wife, Sue and myself. In planning our 2019 tour, Sue said one day, she would like to go back with me to Black Sail Youth Hostel , to stay and to do some hikes around there. And so it came to pass.

50 years on not much has changed on the outside at Black Sail Youth Hostel, and the mountains around certainly haven’t. We have just changed a bit, children, grandchildren and life in general, but what has not changed is our enthusiasm for the outdoors and trekking in the English Lake District in particular, it’s a special place and where we met in 1967.

So where is Black Sail YH and how to get there?

Black Sail YH is in the Upper Ennerdale Valley a part of the Western Fells of the English Lake District, that starts under the gaze of Great Gable mountain. Further down the valley is Ennerdale Water, a substantial lake in its own right and out at the coast, the Irish Sea and St Bees Head. St Bees Head is an important landmark as it is the start of the West to East – Coast to Coast Walkway- which continues eastwards via Ennerdale Valley – essentially the entry valley to the Lake District section of the Walk and onwards 190 miles to Robin Hoods Bay on the North Sea Coast.

Such is the popularity of this Coast to Coast walk, that ramblers from all around the world complete it, generating significant tourist revenue for the area. Most walkers it seems on the Coast to Coast have their luggage ferried ahead each day, as they walk the overall 190 miles in about 14 to 21 days. We met Americans, British, Canadians and Indians all doing the walk, good on them.

There is a road from the coast up the Ennerdale Valley, past Ennerdale Bridge and up to Gillerthwaite and the Ennerdale Youth Hostel. The public access road finishes there as it’s Forestry Commission land after that with some fairly boring regimented pine trees in the valley floor.

From there it’s Shanks’s Pony and a 7.5km flat walk up the valley, following the River Liza to Black Sail Youth Hostel. You can get to Black Sail by a number of other routes, all walking and all involving trekking over Lake District Passes in the mountains, we chose Black Sail Pass coming over from Wasdale Head, whee we had left our rental car intending a reverse return walk in 3 days time.

This then is our three days in, at, around and about Black Sail Youth Hostel. Oh, did I mention that accommodation is single gender dormitory – up to 8 guys in bunks in one dorm and 8 ladies, split between two rooms, also in bunks, very comfortable too!!

Day 1 Wasdale Head Over Black Sail Pass into Ennerdale and Black Sail YH

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So what started as a windy wet, cold Day 1 outside the Wasdale Head Inn – our Monday night stop- ended in glorious Tuesday afternoon sunshine at Black Sail YH with a cold beer, and glass of wine!

Inside Black Sail YH

It’s location and history, originally a Shepherds bothy, make Black Sail an icon for Youth Hostellers. But it’s single gender dormitories are a blast from the past, but work well , warm dry and are very comfortable. It’s just that the toilets and shower are outside and round the back, super star lit sky to view at 2 am, I am told!!

The food is excellent – supper was chicken pie & veg and chocolate sponge pudding, the bar well stocked very reasonable prices and the company of other multinational walkers, just superb! You see you get to talk to people when there is no radio, tv or wi fi!! And it’s great fun!

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Day 2 – Scarth Gap, Haystacks, Moses Trod and the Tongue – pre the rain!

Arising before the “other chaps” in the dorm, dash to the ablutions, hot shower today, back in 1969 one washed in the River Liza! It’s a cooler and cloudy start to our second day, the blue skies and sunshine of yesterday have gone as have the tops of the mountains. No views of Great or Green Gable, nor Windy Gap and it is pretty windy. Forecast is for rain later in the afternoon, blustery wind and heavy rain in the night ahead!! Welcome to weather in the Lakes, magnificent!!

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Day 2 proposed a 6 hour round trip trek from Black Sail Youth Hostel. The previous evening in glorious sunshine we had walked up the valley away from the YH, looking up the mountain called Great Gable and we said, that’s where will go tomorrow, what views to look forward to!!!

Or not as it turned out, the clouds had come down overnight onto the mountain tops and the wind had become quite blustery. But no rain, and equipped with pack lunches from the YH, good trekking boots and waterproofs + essential safety stuff from a good friend near Kendal – including a map reading lesson reviser and a compass, we set off. One of the Lakeland Passes to access Ennerdale is called Scarth Gap and this links the beautiful Buttermere valley to Ennerdale. So Scarth Gap was our first destination, about 500 metres of climb up a superb path, the reward being amazing views of Buttermere and beyond.

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From Scarth Gap, we thought we remembered it was an easy scramble up onto a series of summits, called Haystacks. It wasn’t easy but it was fun, climbing and scrambling upwards with stunning views until we reached the tops and Innominate Tarn, where the ashes of ( AW) AlfredWainwright have been laid. For readers not familiar with AW, he has left a magnificent legacy of map work, drawings and writings on the Lake District and much more. The Coast to Coast walk referred to above was his brainchild, and he is much revered.

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Up on the Haystacks we took our bearings and with the weather starting to deteriorate a bit, decided to avoid the peaks of Green and Great Gable that were wreathed in cloud and instead struck out across a bog and a passing shower of rain towards an old slate mining track called Moses Trod. Our earlier map reading lesson at Burneside near Kendal was completed at a road side, with no wind or rain. Today searching for paths and finding the map page required was over the page in view, ie remove map from plastic cover, open to correct page and refold then return to plastic cover – all with a howling gale and rain showers!!

Having found Moses Trod, we followed and it cut under the tops of the mountains Brandreth & Green Gable and on to the top of the Ennerdale Valley ridge called The Tongue. Walking down the Tongue was great until the wind gusts threatened to knock us off our feet, but we persevered and headed down back to Black Sail YH. Towards the end you may on the pics be able to see small hillocks, these are “ drumlins” ie moraines left by the receding glacier.

Black Sail supper that night was an excellent lasagne, pudding with custard and washed down with local Ennerdale Brewery Ale. I should point out that by now, 7pm, the rain was pouring down, horizontally!! Mid way through dinner 3 mountain bikers arrived they thought to stay. Unfortunately they had the wrong YH, they had just cycled up Ennerdale Valley, past Ennerdale YH a full 7.5km in the gathering darkness and pouring rain, to be greeted by our YH warden with news that they were in fact booked into Ennerdale YH!!! By now onto my second half litre of Ennerdale Ale, it seemed amusing at the time. They were not impressed but at least it was now downhill with a gale behind.

Day 3 Getting out of Black Sail and Ennerdale

Woken on Day 3 by the rain lashing on the skylight of our dormitory, one knew that this was not great news. I needed post a litre of Ennerdale best ale to get to and from the outside toilet without getting drenched!! On return and slightly wet, surveying the valley one saw the Lake District weather in full flow.

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These pics unfortunately do not really tell the full story of the rainfall overnight that had created spectacular mountain sides of torrents of water. The River Liza was no longer a quiet stream, but a raging cascade of water, banks bursting and flooding well underway.

Faced with this weather, and having our rental car at Wasdale Head, back over and down from Black Sail Pass, we opted instead to walk down Ennerdale Valley to the nearest public road and to have a taxi meet us!!!

This was a wise decision, and we still had a 7.5km walk in pouring rain to get to the taxi, but our first challenge on leaving Black Sail YH was the beck at the side of it that yesterday was a quiet stream to walk through. Today it was a serious torrent that took some negotiating to cross with nothing more than wet boots!

Will we be back walking in the Lake District next year? You Bet!!! Overall it was a fantastic experience, 50 years gone in a flash, brilliant and must now get some better waterproof trousers too!!