My last day in the Lake District proved to be good, even if I was rushing at the end to catch a bus to the railway station. After leaving the youth hostel for the last time and buying my sandwich for lunch, I headed along Ambleside Road past the church and at Spring Lane I turned right up the road to Brockle Beck where I walked up a delightful path to Rakefoot. Emerging onto open country I followed a path up the hill towards Walla Crag, but leaving the path through a gate in the wall I followed a thrilling path on the other side, which afforded me with amazing views across Derwent Water and Keswick, so it was just a pity it was rather grey. With the views getting progressively more stunning I made my way along the wooded cliff edge to the summit of Walla Crag where I had the best views yet. Did I have to go home? I was still having too much fun.
Dragging my eyes away from the awe-inspiring views I headed across moorland towards Bleaberry Fell. Soon the path deteriorated into a quagmire, however I had something to my advantage: it's December and a lot of the mud was frozen and what wasn't I was able to test with my walking pole as my stick started proving its worth, and I'm glad I bought it. On reaching a sheepfold the route turned into a constructed gravel path that was a doddle to walk along and when the going became very steep turned into steps. With relative ease the summit of Bleaberry Fell was achieved.
On top of the fell it was very cold so now with a second fleece and a woolly hat on I braved the crossing from Bleaberry Fell to High Seat. Once again the near freezing weather was a great help; there are only two times in the year when a walk across these fells is advisable: the height of summer or the depths of winter. I think it almost qualified on this walk for the latter. Eventually I made it across the morass onto the top of High Seat, the highest point on my walk, and the highest point on the ridge (okay, that's not very accurate, let's call it the long boggy upland) north of Ullscarf.
After I had admired more of the stunning views I left the summit venturing pathless across the wet heather moor towards Castle Crag and the Shoulthwaite valley. As luck would have it since I was now coming down off the fells, the clouds parted and revealed glorious blue skies with even better views (what I could still see). Sitting on Castle Crag near the Litt Memorial while basking in the bright sunshine I had my lunch; thankfully no stomach problems now! After lunch I made my way down into the deep, hidden valley of Shoulthwaite Gill, which is rarely visited and looks like it. The path was hard to see despite the map claiming that there is a right of way up the valley. Very carefully (especially when crossing Mere Gill) I made my way down the steep sided valley until it opened out and a clear path manifested itself. The whole valley is a sheer delight and almost made up for my being stuck in a deep, dark valley while up above were clear blue skies.
Picking my target I headed straight down the grassy slopes and eventually encountered the path down to the road. That was the easy bit, but I still had to go over Low Rigg and there was hardly any light left. Finding a path I headed in the right direction, but prudence eventually prevented me from going up to the top of the cliff-like Low Rigg in the dark (!). Using my map and compass I guessed where the path should be going and eventually managed to find the path past Tewet Tarn to a road. A short cut along a farm track brought me onto the old Penrith road and now direction finding was easy as I hurried along the road, crossed the A66, and hurried into Threlkeld. I caught the bus, and was able to catch the train in Penrith back home. This was my fourth visit of the year to the Lake District, so it seems I just can't get enough of the place. When am I going back?
No comments:
Post a Comment