Murton Pike
Walk date – 16th December 2025
Distance – 3.3 miles
Weather – dry, sunny, no wind (and an inversion)
Today’s forecast seemed to promise some decent weather with the best of the sunny spells towards the east of the county, so that’s where we headed. As we drove across the Eden Valley it was foggy in places but, as the valley is often foggy, it didn’t give rise to any great concern. On arrival in Murton village the car park had more vehicles in it than usual but that wasn’t too surprising either given the good weather forecast. We intended to take a walk up Murton Pike and return via White Mines in Gasdale and when we mentioned that to a local dog-walker who we met by the car park she said it might be a good idea to check the state of Murton beck which flows down Gasdale. There is a ford there but no footbridge so J went over to take a look and he didn’t return with good news. The ford area was in full flow and the water level too high so we abandoned the planned visit to the mine area and had to be content with just a walk up High Pike.
Route
Murton village car park – engineered track via Sweety Briggs/Cringley Hill/ Moley Hill/ Murton Crag – Murton Pike – off path descent back to Murton
Beside the car park gate is this info board which gives the geological history of the area although it’ll need a zoom in to be able to read it. The ‘Mell Fell’ referred to at the top right isn’t one of the ones along the Vale of Keswick, its a high point, just like Murton Pike is, on part of the sprawling mass of Murton Fell.
We set off walking up the engineered track towards Murton Pike leaving behind us a big machine with an empty container on it. There was also an excavator with a bucket dangling from it with a pile of rocks close by it. A workman was talking to a young woman who had a car/truck type of vehicle, something like a Toyota HiLux. We were to see them both later. We didn’t have sunshine as we set off but the sky was blue and it wasn’t raining, unlike yesterday when it rained all day.
As we were making our way along the path the sun appeared and lit up the whole scene. We could even see the white painted trig column on the summit glowing in the sunlight. It might be possible with a zoom in to spot it up there on the summit.
The track isn’t overly steep but it does climb continuously and during a pause to get our breath we took a look back across the valley we were surprised to see the extent of the fog covering it. The darker grey line above it isn’t land just another layer of cloud. Immediately below us the fields were clear though but …..
….. as I took a look back towards the car park below us it seemed as though the fog was creeping slowly across towards Murton village.
A little further round to the south the fog seemed to be thicker and denser and so I gave up on expecting to see the Howgills and the Lake District fells on the skyline.
The track levelled out for a while as we approached Murton Crag which was very welcome after the continuous uphill walking. Navigation isn’t complicated at all, just keep following the track.
We walked along enjoying the sunshine and the good (dry and no puddles) track and could see a pair of walkers ahead of us. They had three dogs with them who were clearly enjoying scampering up and down the grassy slopes. When we met them we stopped and had a chat, mostly about today’s good weather and the amount of rain we’ve been having lately, and as we were chatting the young woman with the car/truck vehicle came driving by and we all wondered where she might be heading, especially as there are no houses up there. We eventually ended our chat and went our separate ways.
A view of Murton Crag as we passed below it …..
….. and a view of the other side of it as we passed below it. We gradually became aware of the rumbling of an engine behind us and as we stepped aside …..
….. this big wheeled machine loaded with rocks came past. We’ve seen all manner of different things over the years but this was the first time we’ve had to share a track with such a large vehicle. As with the young woman in the car/truck we wondered where this much larger vehicle was also going. On the right of the shot we were also noticing that the fog seemed to be creeping up the Gasdale valley so we thought that perhaps the fog was beginning to thin out and disperse. We couldn’t see the old mining area down in the valley in the foggy conditions so there are no photos of it. If you want to see what the mining area looks like take a look at our walk of 6th May 2018 where there are a couple of shots.
J silhouetted against the fog rising from the Gasdale valley as we plod on up the track.
From the track a view of the summit of Murton Pike. The walker on the right skyline was waiting for the appearance of an Osprey helicopter which J had heard about from another group of walkers we met along the track. They had mentioned to him that the Osprey was due to appear in about half an hour’s time. When he relayed that snippet back to me I thought he was talking about a bird and made some remark about how could an osprey let them know that it was due to arrive in half an hour. Anyway by the time we were close enough to the walker to talk to him, and well over thirty minutes had elapsed by then, there was still no sign of a helicopter. He had brought along a movie camera to record the occasion but all he had filmed so far was the two of us huffing and puffing our way up towards him. He was obviously a military enthusiast and told us about the troops it was supposed to be carrying and what they were going to do. He was even hoping to persuade the helicopter pilot to take him for a short flight over the valley but “it all depends on the pilot” he told us.
We left the track at this point to begin our climb across the grass to the summit. Its not in the above shot but when we looked across to the left of the shot above we could see the big truck with its load of rocks in the distance, still steadily making its way up to its destination. When it dipped beyond the crest of a rise it disappeared from view.
After our chat with the man with the movie camera on the flat ridge lower down we carried on up a slightly gentler slope where I noticed that the green fields of the valley had been replaced by a layer of white fog which was still creeping slowly up every valley it could find. There was no fog around us which could only mean one thing, an inversion was taking place. The final approach to the summit is very steep which slowed us down but eventually we were on the summit and …..
….. were met with a gleaming white trig point and an ocean of dense white cloud across the length and breadth of the Eden Valley. What a fabulous sight. As we looked around we noticed the big wheeled truck, now empty of rocks, making its way down the track and back to Murton.
The cloud layer has rolled across the valley and now we can see the line of Lake District fells I mentioned earlier. Blencathra and some of the other Northern fells are over on the right of the shot while to the left of them are the Dodds and the Helvellyn range.
Further to the left Harter Fell (the Mardale one) High Street, and Kidsty Pike are on view.
Looking south from the trig point the inversion is just as extensive and is occupying as many valleys in the foothills of the North Pennines as it can reach into.
To the north the inversion is covering the valley just about as far as the eye can see.
The peak to the right of centre, which appears to be floating in isolation, is Dufton Pike, with some of the foothills of the North Pennines directly in front of it.
J waiting patiently on the summit for me to return from my photography trip!
On the extreme left of the skyline is the extensive plateau of Wild Boar Fell and to the right of it are the Howgills.
Pretty much the same view but now including the trig point. While we were here a solo female walker suddenly popped up right in front of us. We had a chat about the view, the good weather and she mentioned that she had arrived via the alternative and quite steep path up to the summit. It goes straight up from the path we returned on although it isn’t marked on our route map. She had walked up most of the time as it is steep but was planning to run back down to the village. On hearing that we were also about to return to the village she mentioned that in that case we might see each other again when we were back down. More on that later.
We followed a grassy path as we began our descent with this fabulous view ahead of us for most of the way.
To our right, on the centre of the skyline, is Cross Fell and to its right are the radomes on Great Dun Fell. The radomes protect the radar equipment inside them and the site is operated by National Air Traffic Services. The radar station is part of the air traffic control system and covers Northern England and Southern Scotland. No problem seeing them today in all this bright sunlight.
After descending along the grassy path for some distance we turned away from it and headed off-path across the grass back towards Murton. Below us the tree tops began appearing through the inversion which looked as though it was breaking up. It wasn’t and didn’t.
Our final clear view (Roman Fell I think) before we are back in the gloomy murk and down on the low level path going between Harbour Flatts and Murton.
Back at the sheepfolds which are marked on our route map and quite close to the village car park. I had been having trouble with the camera shutter button and as I couldn’t see anything through the misted up viewfinder or my equally misted up specs I took another shot to be sure …..
….. which just happened to turn out better than the previous one. A short distance back along this path is the start of the steep path across the grass to the summit of Murton Pike that the female walker/runner had followed.
As we approached the car park we could see that some activity was taking place, confirmed by the dull rumble of rocks sliding over metal and thudding onto the ground as the hydraulics of the white cabbed lorry got to work. After completing the delivery the lorry trundled away for another load, and by which time we had arrived beside the big wheeled vehicle which had passed us on the track, so we decided to stop and have a chat with its driver.
The driver of the vehicle (a Hydrema Dump Truck to give it its proper name) and J having a chat during which we learned that the truck driver had made three deliveries of rock so far, that he had taken them up to an old quarrying area in readiness for helicopters to transport them to when and where they were needed, that having just had a load of rocks tipped onto the ground he now had to operate the bucket on the excavator to get the next load of rocks onto this other vehicle and then do another run up the track to get them up to the quarry area! He told us he was going to have his lunch break while he was up there in the sunshine rather than have it down here in the fog. He was a nice chap, very easy to talk to and seemed sort of surprised that someone would want to take his photo when I asked for his permission to take one. We left him to get on with his loading, along with our hopes for a sunny lunch break when he got back up there again, and walked the few paces back to the car park. I forgot to ask him where the young woman with the car/truck vehicle had been going so that will have to remain a mystery! We decided to have our lunch break in the car and had been there about fifteen minutes when I noticed the female walker/runner we had met on the summit walking through the car park and back into the village. I was surprised to see her as I thought she would have been back long ago, especially as she was planning to run back. After our lunch break we began the drive home which took a bit longer than usual because in the dense fog, which was down to ground level, we missed the sign for the A66 and consequently returned via the very foggy back roads. Whether we’ll get out for another walk before Christmas is debatable at the moment, the forecast for the remainder of the week and the coming weekend suggests more rain and strong winds. Beyond the weekend the outlook is rather mixed and next Monday and Tuesday are already taken up by my hair appointment and the weekly laundry day, after which it will be Christmas Eve and all the preparations which accompany that. So, if we don’t get out again beforehand we would like to wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas.
