Great Borne and Starling Dodd

Saturday 26th August 2023

On my eighth day in the Lake District I left the Ennerdale Youth Hostel, where I had just spent my second night, and headed down the forestry track, beside the shores of Ennerdale Water and out of the valley. Soon after joining a road I branched off onto a footpath that climbs through thick bracken on a route that I had previously taken in 2011 and I saw no reason not to repeat the route that I had taken then. On that occasion the small hill of Bowness Knott that overlooks Ennerdale Water had recently been cleared of conifers whose fallen branches prevented me from reaching the top, but now, after branching off the main path, I was able to take a path that led me through heather and past small conifer trees to a small cairn that marks the summit. The sun was shining on Bowness Knott and out of the Lake District, towards the sea, but dark clouds lingered over the fells either side of Ennerdale. The heather was very thick on the ground and had encroached on the path meaning that it was quite an effort for me to wade through, in both directions. Once safely through the heather, rather than retrace my steps all the way down to the junction, I tried to force a way through the bracken that lay between me and the main path, but this was foolish as the bracken was far too thick and, although I did eventually manage to reach the path, it would have been easier to have descended to the junction. With views behind me over Bowness Knott and Ennerdale Water, I climbed past a circular sheepfold and up a steep, rocky path beside Rake Beck.

It hadn’t looked possible to climb this way, but the path ingeniously finds a way through the steep, craggy ground and deposited me at the top of the rake some distance away from the summit, so I followed the path through heather and onto the pathless, bouldery summit plateau where a trig point and shelter marks the top of Great Borne. It had been my intention to descend from there down Steel Brow to the top of Floutern Pass, but instead, on the spur of the moment, I decided to continue to echo my walk of 2011 and traverse to the neighbouring Starling Dodd. These two fells were my last Wainwrights and after bagging them in 2011 I had successfully completed my round. I am now close to a second round, but there are still a few Wainwrights that I have not done twice, or since I completed my first round in 2011. The low clouds that had clung to the fells cleared as I left Great Borne so with sunshine and increasing amounts of blue sky I made my way along a clear path beside a fence that led me from Great Borne and up to the top of Starling Dodd. The views in all directions were mesmerising so it was disappointing that I already needed to descend just as the weather was coming good.

I now had to find a route down from Starling Dodd and I thought the best way down would be alongside Scale Beck, so at the col with Little Dodd I branched off the path and dropped down the heather-covered slope and as the sides of the valley steepened the walking became quite tricky. Eventually an excellent path, coming down from Red Pike, came alongside the stream and took me into a wonderland as the valley closed in and trees appeared within the confined surroundings while the rocky path weaved an interesting route through. I wish I’d taken this magical path before as the abundance of trees was a welcome change from the bare, treeless slopes on top of the fells, as it took me through the gorge, past the top of Scale Force and steeply down to the mouth of the ravine that leads to the great waterfall. There were many people clustered around the foot of the waterfall so I didn’t stop and instead headed off down the path that runs beside Scale Beck. I was also mindful of the time and hopeful that if I kept going I would be able to catch a bus that was scheduled to leave Buttermere soon, so I hastily made my way down the tourist-thronged path, pausing only briefly to take a picture of the stunning views down the stream in the now fantastic weather.

Eventually I reached Buttermere with just a minute or two to spare before the scheduled departure time of the bus, but as I ate my lunch the bus failed to appear on time and was quite late when it finally arrived. This should not have been a surprise on a Bank Holiday Weekend and during the journey I saw why it had been so late with difficulties getting past the many parked cars near Gatesgarth, at the foot of Honister Pass, and in negotiating the oncoming cars on the narrow road. While booking my accommodation for this holiday I had found that the large youth hostels did not have any beds in shared dormitories available, so I was not able to stay at the youth hostels in Buttermere, Borrowdale or Keswick. My bus took me from Buttermere, through Borrowdale and eventually brought me into Keswick, but none of these places had beds for me in the youth hostels. Therefore, after buying some food, I set off walking again, through the crowded streets of Keswick and onto the path that climbs around Latrigg and Lonscale Fell following the route of the Cumbria Way. Since my rucksack was now much heavier and in the warm weather, this was quite an exhausting climb and then after dark clouds came over, it started to rain, but eventually I reached Skiddaw House Hostel where I finally found a bed for the night. Most of this walk was before lunch and although the views were sensational from the top of Starling Dodd, the best part of the walk was through the tree-filled gorge of Scale Beck, despite being unplanned.