Stoompa to Mangerton Horseshoe.

 

The weather has been really quite good for the time of year. It was an especially good forecast for today so I decided that it would be a shame not to have a day on the mountains. With that in mind I decided that Mangerton would make a nice outing. It was therefore something of a disappointment to emerge from the house to an overcast dreary morning and a steady drizzle falling. Ah well, I wasn't going to let a little drizzle stop me and perhaps things would be better further west. The precipitation stopped as I drove back but the cloud and mist was pervasive and obscured all views.

I arrived at the start just after 10am and after suiting up I set off in along the heavily eroded trail. I decided to go across the rough ground and go to the summit via the Horses Glen. There wasn't a puff of breeze and in the low misty cloud things were quite atmospheric and calming. When I reached in by the lake I had a change of heart and decided to climb Stoompa and do a high level circuit of the glen instead. I reasoned that it was seldom so calm and it would be very pleasant up high. The vie from the end of the lake to the rugged entrance to the glen is one of my favourites and I paused awhile to admire it before heading up the (initially easy) north northwestern spur of Stoompa. Once on the ridge I was again enveloped by the mist and no views were on offer for a long time after that. There was nothing for it but to put the head down and slog up to the summit. I must say I was feeling a bit less than energetic but I managed to keep going without pause. Once on the top there follows an easy walk around the elbow of the glen, high above the triumvirate of lakes nestled below. The cloud became wispier and occasional misty views into the glen lifted the spirits. After giving a guy (whose dog was off the lead and chasing some sheep) a good bollocking, I continued to the arete between Mangerton and Mangerton North, and here I paused for a bite to eat. It was a simple thing to cross over Mangerton North and as soon as I started to descend towards the main track the clouds cleared and I enjoyed great views for the rest of the descent. Seeing three young stags added even more to the outing and I really enjoyed the rest of the descent. I arrived back at the car 3 hours 50mins after setting out, so it had been a decent effort to cover the 14.5 kilometres with over 900 metres ascent. I am getting the urge to immerse myself in the mountains once again.