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There is also a very rough path at Langdale Head up Rosset
Ghyll, answering on the left to the Stake road on the right.
It at once catches the eye; and the invariable question of
the stranger is which of the two is the Stake. This track
leads by Esk Hause and Sprinkling Tarn to the Sty Head Pass.
This is truly a glorious mountain walk. From Esk Hause,
there is a singular view, composed of three lines of
landscape. One begins with Borrowdale, lying immediately
below, and extends to Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite, past
Skiddaw, in full glory, and on over the whole intervening
plain, to the Solway and the Scotch mountains. This is the
north-western view.- The opposite, or south-eastern one,
begins with Langdale, and proceeds by the opening of the
Brathay valley and Windermere, till it is closed in by
Ingleborough, in Yorkshire.- The third, and intermediate
view, is down Eskdale, past its verdure and its cataracts,
past the sands, past lonely Blackcombe, to the broad sea.
When we were on Esk Hause, the spectacle of these three
lines of landscape was remarkable. Towards Keswick, the
atmosphere was thick, just to the degree that gave a
visionary character to the long perspective. The lake of
Derwentwater was hardly distinguishable from its shores, so
that the wooded islands and the town of Keswick lay as if in
air, still and unsubstantial. In the direction of Eskdale,
all was bright and glittering; while from Langdale and the
head of Borrowdale the
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