Author: bp-admin

A Mosedale Horseshoe – Kirk Fell, Pillar, Scoat Fell and Red Pike

Walk Date – 8th June 2008

Distance – about 10.5 miles

Weather – very hot and sunny

 

Lots of memories from this walk – very hot from the start, leaving a good pair of sunglasses on some rocks just above the Black Sail Pass, meeting a lady wearing exactly the same top as me, a group of weary looking men coming up Wind Gap, and the long walk back to Wasdale Head. Looking back I wish I’d taken more photos of the fabulous scenery around me.

Route

Here we are heading into Mosedale and aiming for the first fell of the day, Kirk Fell. Perhaps its not strictly part of the horseshoe but we might as well call in as we’re passing.

Taking a breather on the stile, crikey, its baking hot in this valley.

Great Gable from Kirk Fell.

Enjoying a well earned sit down on Kirk Fell.

Wast Water from Kirk Fell. Alongside it is the Whin Rigg – Ill Gill ridge, and over on the left is Burnmoor Tarn. We could have walked a bit further down to get a better view but I think we were keen to get going up to Pillar.

Another view of Great Gable from Kirk Fell.

Back down from Kirk Fell and on the path to Pillar. We stopped by some rocks somewhere around here and that’s where I left my sunglasses. The camera went back in its case and off we went up to Pillar. It was only when we were at the summit that I realised I’d left them behind.

We were almost at the summit when we met a couple who were just leaving. The lady was wearing exactly the same top as me, even the colour was the same. We had a bit of a natter and a laugh about the coincidence of it, especially as we had each bought them in different shops in different areas of the country, and then just happened to turn up at the same time on the same day on the same fell wearing the same top. I wonder what the odds would be on that happening again.

The trig point on Pillar. From here we headed off to go down Wind Gap to continue on round the horseshoe. On the way we met the small group of weary looking men I mentioned at the beginning. They had stopped for a rest and as we reached them they asked which we had come up Pillar, so we told them. One of them, very red in the face and perspiring heavily said we’d walked up the best way then. I asked him what was wrong with their route up Wind Gap and all he would say was, “You don’t want to know!” I soon found out though, walking down Wind Gap was a bit of a rough affair, steep, with lots of loose stones, ready to roll down like marbles as soon as you stepped on them. It was very much a case of watching where you were putting your feet.

Safely down from Wind Gap, we continued on around the horseshoe and we are now approaching Red Pike.

A look down to Scoat Tarn from the Red Pike path with Seatallan over on the right.

From the cairn at the Dore Head end of Red Pike a look back to the summit cairn at the other end. No shots of the cairn at that end, perhaps due to talking, or forgetfulness, or tiredness, or all three, who knows. Maybe the discussion we were having at the time about what to do when we got down Dore Head. Should we go up Yewbarrow or return down Over Beck? In the end sense prevailed, going up Stirrup Crag with tired legs at the end of a long and very hot day just wasn’t that great an idea, so down Over Beck we went. It was still a fairly long walk down and then another long walk along the road back to Wasdale Head. Aching legs and feet all round, but nothing that a long soak in the bath can’t put right.

Helvellyn, Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike

Walk Date – 5th October 2007

Distance – 8 miles

Weather – very warm and sunny

 

We still talk about this fabulous day walking the ridge from Helvellyn to Dollywaggon Pike and back. The sun shone all day, there wasn’t a breath of wind and wispy milk white cloud drifted across the bluest of skies. We had intended to return to Wythburn from Dollywaggon Pike via the Grisedale Tarn, Raise Beck and the forest path, but the temptation to simply turn round and do it all again in reverse was just too much. Days as good as this one was don’t come around very often so we felt we just had to make the most of it. Looking back through the photos, once again I was wishing I had taken more of them, even though the camera I had at the time was a very basic one and doesn’t do them justice, because it was such a stunning day.

Route

Its a beautiful morning and there’s a mirror finish on Thirlmere as we climb up towards Comb Crags from the car park at Wythburn. Its steep to begin with but, as the sun isn’t yet high enough, the shade keeps us cool and allows us to see where we are going.

A good pitched path is a great help as we make our way up Birk Side

A pause for a breather and another look back at the view along Thirlmere.

As we neared the ridge we turned off to the left and made our way over to Helvellyn with this view of Striding Edge ahead of us.

Striding Edge disappears behind the head wall of Helvellyn which plunges dramatically into Nethermost Cove.

A closer look at the rock tower, known as The Chimney, just below the head wall.

At the cross shelter just below Helvellyn summit, there wasn’t a soul around either here, on the summit, or back along the ridge as far as we could see. It was extra special to have the place to ourselves and enjoy the peace and quiet and the views.

Busy doing nothing in the sunshine at the cross shelter, you don’t often get the chance to hang around here on your own. The sun visor I’m wearing is still being worn today although its not quite as blue as it was then. I’d had it a while when this shot was taken so it must be getting on for fifteen years old. I’m very fond of it and I don’t care how old it is, it will not be discarded until it falls off in tatters.

From the shelter we made our way up to the cairn on the summit, again no-one was here so we spent a good while just taking in the views. Beyond the cairn is Ullswater with the north Pennines on the skyline.

Looking northwards and on the skyline are Lonscale Fell, Great Calva and Blencathra, below us is the path over to White Side.

Back down to the cross shelter and still no-one around. Out come the binoculars for a more detailed view of the surroundings. The helicopter flying above Ullswater was the only sound to be heard.

The view down to Catstycam and its deserted pathways.

We made our way over to Nethermost Pike from where I took a look back at Helvellyn and the empty path up to the summit.

Looking eastwards across Striding Edge and Ullswater.

On Nethermost Pike and the little dark blob just above Helvellyn is the helicopter about to take its leave and, as the engine drone fades away, we are left with silence once again.

From Nethermost Pike we strolled on over to High Crag and its very substantial cairn, much bigger than the ones on Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike even though these are better known tops.

Its now getting very warm as the morning wears on so off comes the fleece jumper. Nethermost Pike is just behind me and Helvellyn is receding into the distance.

We continue our leisurely stroll across the top with Ullswater still in sight, sandwiched between Gowbarrow Fell, on the left, and Place Fell on the right.

Coming towards the summit of Dollywaggon Pike at the same time as us was another lone walker who very kindly took this shot of us. He headed off towards Helvellyn and we walked further along towards the end of the ridge. The top I’m wearing, which must be even older than the visor, I still have and wear regularly. I wish I could get another because its so comfortable, it hasn’t faded and washes and dries easily. I still have the trousers too, although they have since morphed into a pair of shorts because the bottom of the legs ended up so stained and grimy after ploughing over too many muddy paths year after year.

A look down at Grisedale Tarn as we came to the end of the ridge and where we changed our minds about our return route and turned around to walk the length of the ridge once again. As we walked back there were a few more people here and there but not enough to make it very busy. We noticed a sprinkling of walkers crossing Striding Edge, but nothing like the thronged ant trails of people which seems to be the norm recently. Maybe that’s down to the introduction and widespread use of smartphones, with all their multi-functional capacities, over the past few years. Whatever the reason Striding Edge certainly attracts far more walkers nowadays than it did then.

The day is still as lovely as ever as we make our descent back to Thirlmere.

Some handy rocks were a good place to stop and just enjoy the views over Thirlmere.

Finally back down to the lovely little Wythburn church close to the car park and the end of a really lovely day’s walking.

Bowfell

Walk Date – 4th October 2007

Distance – 6.50 miles

Weather – cold and cloudy, occasional showers and sunny spells

 

Route – out and back

A damp and cloudy morning with not much by way of views as we walked up The Band from the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel car park. By the time we got here, on the summit of Bowfell, the cloud had thinned a little giving some misty glimpses of the neighbouring fells.

Lingmoor Fell with Windermere behind it from Bowfell.

The Langdale Pikes from Bowfell, but the persistent low cloud prevented us from viewing what AW described as ‘ a glorious panorama’ from the summit.

There no mistaking where the summit is …..

….. and all around you the loose jumbled rocks are just waiting for you to put a foot wrong.

AW’s description of Bowfell summit –
‘a shattered pyramid, a great heap of stones and boulders and naked rock, a giant cairn in itself’

We were lucky enough to have a spell of sunshine while we were exploring on the summit so I was able to grab this shot of The Great Slab of Flat Crags with the Langdale Pikes behind it.

After having a good look round and a bite to eat up on the summit we made our way back down to the Three Tarns col. It was extremely windy here as the ballooning waterproof trousers demonstrate.

One of the three tarns up here and a great view of Scafell on the left of Mickledore, the U shaped gap, with Scafell Pike to the right of it.

Still windy so its my turn to have inflated trousers.

Looking across to Crinkle Crags as we make our way down The Band.

Pike O’Blisco straight ahead of us as we continue down The Band. True to form, by the time we were back at the Dungeon Ghyll car park, the cloud had lifted and thinned a bit more and we drove back in some lovely afternoon sunshine.

Crinkle Crags

Walk Date – 2nd October 2007

Distance – 5.5 miles

Weather – cool and cloudy

 

Route – out and back

Parking at the Three Shire Stone, which stands at the summit of Wrynose Pass, saves about a thousand feet of climbing and it pays to get there early as the road side parking spaces are very limited. We waited in the car for a good while in the hopes that the very low cloud would move, but it didn’t so we just had to get on with it. There was no point in taking pictures until we reached this point as we walked in fog and the views were non-existent. There’s not much of a view either from the first crinkle on Crinkle Crags but a brief gap in the cloud gave a fleeting glimpse of Eskdale. The cut on the nose, sustained on Slight Side the other day, is healing nicely.

The view down into Great Langdale as the cloud breaks for a short while.

Approaching the second crinkle where there is the choice of routes, to the right, where the dark patch is, the ‘bad step’ which requires a bit of scrambling, to the left, a straightforward bypass round the rocky section and back over to the top. Not having a stepladder handy and being a bit short in the leg department its the bypass for me.

Another brief break in the cloud gives us a view down to Eskdale with the long northern slope of Hard Knott just below us.

Didn’t need the sunglasses in all this cloud today so I took them off and put them down on top of the rocks to put the camera away. I put my rucksack back on and promptly walked off without the sunglasses.

A misty Pike O’Blisco from the path across Crinkle Crags. The cloud continued coming and going all the way along which meant that views were very sporadic today.

A look back on the return leg and the cloud continues to drift around.

Looking ahead to Cold Pike and the cloud isn’t quite so bad in this direction.

We didn’t go over to Cold Pike but continued on down the path towards Red Tarn. On the way down I took a look back for this slightly clearer view of Great Knott and Crinkle Crags. Bowfell over on the right is still cloud covered though.

Finally, the cloud clears and a patch of sunlight lands on one of the crinkles.

As is often the case, the cloud lifts and the sun breaks through just as you get near to the end of the walk. Crinkle Crags and Bowfell now completely cloud free so the views from up there will now be much better. Maybe we should have set off later. It was round about here that I realised that I had left my sunglasses behind, so it was a bit of an unsatisfactory day all round.

Inscription near the Three Shire Stone which reads –
THREE SHIRE STONES
Three stones have traditionally marked the adjoining counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and Lancashire on this site. The limestone monolith carved in 1816 for the Furness Roadmaster William Field of Cartmel (D. 1860) was set up by friends after his death.
Repaired and re-erected by the National Trust in 1998 with local support.

The Three Shire Stone, as it stands today ,at the summit of Wrynose Pass, 1289 feet above sea level. The counties of Cumberland and Westmorland, together with parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire, were combined in 1974 to form the new administrative county of Cumbria.

Scafell and Slight Side

Walk Date – 30th September 2007

Distance – 8 miles

Weather – sunny start, cloudy and overcast later

 

Route

The first picture taken on this walk after a very steep climb up from Brackenclose. There was very little change in the views on the first section, in front of us our noses were almost touching the steep grassy slopes of Green How, on our right were the steep slopes of Ill Gill Head, and on our left the equally steep slopes of Lingmell. By the time we reached this point I had seen enough steep grassy slopes to keep me going for weeks. In any case I had enough to concentrate on just dragging myself up without attempting to stand upright and take photos. We had a short refreshment break when we reached a more level area around Green How before tackling the last section of the climb up to Scafell summit. It was still steep but the view in front of our noses was now of scree rather than grass, nice!

‘No, I’m not getting up there, this’ll have to do.”

A very welcome sit down on Scafell summit. There were so many people up here it looked like a works outing.

The Mosedale Horseshoe from Scafell summit.

Looking across to Scafell Pike from Scafell. The view is deceiving since it looks as though you can just nip across from one fell to the other, which you can’t as there is great big gap between the two.

“Shall we have a wander over to Slight Side?’

“Might as well since we’re here and its only just over a mile to the right.”

Burnmoor Tarn from Scafell summit.

The view down to Wast Water from Scafell summit.

Smiling on Slight Side summit.

Another smile on Slight Side summit. The smiles disappeared about fifteen minutes later. On the descent across the rough and rocky slope a misplaced step resulted in a fall, a bump on the head and a deep cut to the nose, not mine I hasten to add. Out came the first aid kit and after some patching up with sticking plasters, a couple of paracetamols and a bit of recovery time we were able to continue, with me leading the way this time. That way I could be sure that the descent back down to Brackenclose would be done a whole lot more carefully and slowly, and any attempt to go past me was absolutely forbidden. J was still a bit too shaken up to argue and did as he was told for once.

Scafell Pike

Walk Date – 7th July 2004

Distance – about 6.5 miles

Weather – dry with warm sunny spells

 

I don’t have many photos of the walk up to, and back from, the summit, which is probably just as well since what photos I do have are poor in quality. I cannot remember what camera I was using at the time and I can’t see any evidence on the photos of a camera case, so it may have been one of the cheaper, simple point and shoot digital variety which was small and light enough to fit into a pocket. I remember having a few of these which always ended up dying on me for one reason or another. I do remember being reluctant to splash out on anything very expensive because the technology was changing so quickly at the time. You had no sooner bought one product than another one appeared with the next layer of bells and whistles and I refused to get sucked into the money pit spiral until it seemed as though things had settled down enough to warrant spending a bit more than usual.

Route – mostly out and back

We walked up the pitched path from Brackenclose to Hollow Stones, where we had a short break and a discussion about which path to take from there up to the summit. Taking the left hand path from Hollow Stones would mean more of the same, whereas following the right hand one would add interest by having to get up the stony slopes of Mickledore with some impressive crags on either side of us, even though it involved a bit more effort. Ahead of us was a woman with two young boys and she was carrying a huge back pack which didn’t seem to slow her down very much. When we reached Mickledore she and the boys were already there, but what really surprised us was that she had unpacked and lit a gas burner, on the top of which sat a pan full of what looked like a thick meat and vegetable stew, which was already warming up nicely. Meanwhile she was busy getting out the bowls and spoons and calling for the two boys to come back and have their lunch, so casual was she that they could have been having their lunch on some campsite or other, rather than being perched on a rock outcrop with long drops down either side. Anyway, I digress, here’s a shot of Scafell Pike summit from Mickledore, now there’s just the little matter of a half mile walk over that boulder field.

‘The ridge of Mickledore, gained by a steep scree gully, is the best place in Lakeland for viewing the vertical from the comfort and safety of the horizontal’ – AW

AW’s opinion seemed perfectly reasonable to us so we took a break on Mickledore and, in relative comfort and absolute safety, viewed the surrounding verticals. The woman with the stew was over to the right of the shot. The skyline behind forms part of the Mosedale Horseshoe, with the sunlit slopes of Lingmell just behind me.

We teetered our way across the boulder field, a nightmare walk full of potential for twisted ankles, and arrived at the trig point just below the summit area.

 There’s just a smidge of Wast Water showing over on the left, and my photographer has just about managed to include the top of Seatallan on the centre skyline behind me.

Once you’ve reached the highest rock on England’s highest summit there’s nowhere else to go but down. Before we do, you may be interested to know some of the distances from here to some of the fells on the skyline. On the far left is Skiddaw, 13.75 miles away, on the centre skyline, behind the intrepid summiteer, is Blencathra, 14.5 miles away, and on the far right is Clough Head, 12 miles away. Good thing the cloud wasn’t down or I wouldn’t have been able to include that. I will own up to not doing the measuring , AW had already done it and put the all the details in Book 4, which saved me having to get the ruler out.

The views were worth all the effort but I don’t look too thrilled. This is not my favourite fell, not because of the terrain or the height, its to do with the attitudes you encounter up here. OK, its the highest summit and reaching it is an achievement but it hardly merits the swaggering self-importance you witness when you get up here. Its not an impenetrable peak located somewhere in the back of beyond, and there are paths leading up from all directions, so well trodden and so full of walkers that you barely need to consult a map to reach the top. It is simply a steep walk up a high hill. Perhaps all that goes some way to explaining why its so many years since we came here. Will we return? Perhaps.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away …..

Further ferreting around in the shoe box turned up a few more photos from times past. Not very good quality I’m afraid, but then they are getting on a bit as they range from the late 1990’s to the early 2000’s. Take no notice of the date of 15th August 2000, that’s only there because a date needs to be entered for this to show up on the diary page.

Whin Rigg & Illgill Head

Helvellyn

Harter Fell

Ingleborough, Yorkshire Dales

Whernside, Yorkshire Dales

Annoyingly, I can’t find the shots from Pen-y-Ghent although I know we took one or two. Another trawl through the photo albums then and if they turn up I’ll upload them.