The Lake District: Oxendale and Mickleden

Having planned to attend the Kendal Mountain Festival at the end of November, I was delighted when, in the days prior, the Lake District experienced some significant snowfall, covering the higher fells with a glorious white coat.

Heading towards Stool Farm and Oxendale beyond

With a reasonable weather outlook for the weekend ahead, I headed up to Cumbria bright and early on the Friday morning. Having originally planned to go to Mardale, I decided at the last minute to head to Langdale instead, for easier access to Kendal on the Sunday.

Arriving into Langdale, the surrounding fells were stunning in the morning light. I gathered my things and headed into Oxendale, intending to follow the path up its southern flanks up and onto Crinkle Crags via Great Knott, where I was planning to spend the night, as the forecast was looking gusty but doable. However, upon reaching the point at which the path ascends into the hills, I was dismayed to watch the clag rolling in; this had been forecast for later that evening but the microclimates of the Lakes were throwing a spanner in the works once again.

I reluctantly retreated from Oxendale and ascended The Band, which splits this end of Langdale into its two valleys. I’ve camped here up before, and on that previous trip I’d noticed another really nice flat patch at around 350m up which I headed for. The path was thick with ice, more than two inches in places, forcing a slow pace, microspikes and the occasional use of my axe to gain purchase on the one or two slightly scrambly bits along the way.

With light rapidly fading from the sky, I found my spot, pitched and settled in for what turned out to be an incredibly windy and rainy night. The snow vanished pretty quickly under the deluge, and the battering noise of my tent’s flysheet kept me up most of the night. Not ideal!

The following morning, what I thought was still the roar of wind in the col above the Markeens across Oxendale turned out, instead, to be the roar of the river below, now in spate.

At least the now ice-free path made for a relatively easy descent down to the valley floor, before I headed back to my car to sort out parking for another day, get a brew on and consider my plan for the day ahead.

The atmosphere was incredible. Thick, low clouds clung to the base of the Langdale fells, highlighting the bright autumn colours of the lower valley against them, punctuated by brief glimpses of the crags above.

Conditions down in the valley were absolutely gorgeous

I strolled out into Mickleden, wending my way along the now swollen Mickleden Beck as it tumbled eastwards, thundering down through the valley. I’d last visited Mickleden back in August, after a rather dry spell, and the river had been little more than a trickle amongst the boulders that I’d easily forded to cross over to the morains below Green Tongue. The contrast between that trip and this one couldn’t have been starker.

Last winter I’d spent a lovely peaceful night up on the lower slopes of Mart Crag, near the head of the valley, and I decided to return there once more. A short, sharp ascent of a rocky hill levels out to a perfect, somewhat hidden little spot that overlooks the valley below. I set up and settled in for another wet night.

In the morning, the rain was unrelenting. Streams had formed right alongside my tent and the roar of the river below was louder than ever. I packed everything away, headed back down to the path and sloshed my way along the now very flooded footpath back to Stickle Ghyll, before heading over to Kendal to watch the paddling film showcase that afternoon. All in all, another perfectly atmospheric weekend in the best part of England.

Feel free to reply below if you have any questions, or your own experiences of Langdale to share!