We came up with this route within the depths of winter, and after the recent spell of dry weather, we thought there was no better time to ascend Rampsgill Head directly from the Ramps Gill valley. The route got a mention probably around a month ago; we were just waiting for the right time.

After hearing we were going to give the Ramps Gill route a go, Lakeland fell walker Ian Sharples, a buddy of mine walked the same route and came back to me with a brilliant report of what to expect.  We followed the same course through Ramps Gill along the course of Rampsgill Beck, until we arrived at the sheepfold. .

The sheepfold signifies the start of the ascent, which is where our routes differed. While Ian followed a grassy tongue to the right below crag and scree he topped out on a grassy col about 260 feet below the summit. Our route was as direct as we could get without the use of ropes following a centralised tongue into the upper reaches of Ramps Gill followed by a steep ascent via a grass rake which led us onto equally steep grassy shelf from where we dug deep for the last 80 feet emerging almost on top of the summit cairn.

Rod had arrived at 7:40am and was shocked to find just two parking spaces left at Martindale New Church including the lay-by opposite, that said a huge walking party had just left, which would explain a lot. I arrived around 8:00am. and managed to park next to Rod, but not before I had to negotiate the car around a stone large enough to take my sump out. So by 8:00am, there was nowhere left to park, and the sad thing is, it's happening every weekend now, no matter the season.

But before I spread the doom and gloom, we had a bit of a shock at the end of the walk, which I'll touch on later. Amazingly, a chap appeared from the Church, passed on a 'morning' then reversed his car out right at the same time David arrived, who slotted his car straight into the space. Talk about good timing. To keep the ticks at bay, we had listened to Ian's advice and worn long trousers, and David, quite rightly, hadn't brought Calva along, not just because of the ticks, but because of the heat too. The whole valley was under strong sunshine now, and after a quick sweep of the boot, I locked the car, swung my laden pack onto my back, and set off towards Martindale Old Church.

The morning was heating up now and despite being warned of the ticks we hadn't encountered any so far, but that couldn't be said about horseflies of which there were many.

You're looking at the area where we stripped down, removed our long trousers and put our shorts on. For anyone looking down on us there's no need to call the cops, just three blokes with their trousers round their ankles nothing to see here move on!

The word 'food' was mentioned which I hadn't thought about all morning but once you hear the word the stomach starts to growl! Not at High Raise though as we knew more walkers were due so we left and took in the slight descent towards Raven Howe.

With Steel Knotts behind us, we walked its ridge as far as Birkie Knott then began the steep descent with Martindale New Church always in view. Across from the Church, there was only the odd walker ascending or descending Hallin Fell as we crossed The Coombs where I kicked my feet into the backs of my boots. Through the trees, we spotted the car park, its cars protected from the strong sunshine by the canopy above. Once at the Church we had a clearer view of the car park, which to our amazement, was half empty.

It was prime time weekend, and we couldn't believe what we were seeing. Over six hours ago, we had our reservations on how we would find the car park, and here we are six hours later, shocked that it's half empty. Perhaps all is not lost after all. We arrived back at the cars and began to kit down. I couldn't wait to remove my boots, which I'm going to treat to a new pair of gel insoles given the pain my feet have been in lately. Ravens squark above, and other than our own chatter, it's so peaceful. We've had it all today, with strenuous ascents, mind-blowing views, and a quiet that we thought had gone forever. What a great day for Lakeland.