Maiden Moor and Cat Bells

Tuesday 1st January 2013

At midnight before this walk I was standing in the centre of Keswick with several hundred other people watching the New Year clock on the side of the Skiddaw Hotel countdown to zero so that we could welcome in the New Year. I have never welcomed in the New Year with so many people before and it was a fabulous experience. My walk the following morning, starting later than usual, was through the glorious scenery west of the most beautiful lake in the Lake District, Derwent Water, with weather that was the best that I was to enjoy in the whole of this holiday: clear views in all directions and even occasionally flashes of sunlight. I started on a great route that I have taken many times before from Keswick through the village of Portinscale and Fawe Park to the northern tip of Cat Bells. I’ve walked around the western slopes of Cat Bells several times before but never taken the wide track on the Derwent Water side of the fell, so rather than climb this popular fell I joined this and found an excellent path that was a pleasure to stroll along.

This thoroughly relaxing path is well-graded and well-laid with stunning views across Derwent Water towards Bleaberry Fell and through the Jaws of Borrowdale, and took me all the way down to the road at Manesty where the path south deteriorated. With hindsight it would have been best to have walked along the road as far as the Borrowdale Gates Hotel and then taken the path through Peace How. Instead I took a rough, muddy path around Manesty and above a small wood to Ellers Beck. My plan for this walk was to climb Maiden Moor using Wainwright’s ‘Ascent from Grange via Peace How,’ because in the past I’d always walked along the ridge from High Spy to Maiden Moor and never climbed just this fell. However I got a bit sidetracked by an excellent path that climbs High Spy on a drove road between High and Low White Rakes. While climbing the steep grassy slopes beside Ellers Beck the crags to my left kept attracting my attention including the path that climbs between these formidable barriers.

Spurning the tiring trudge up the grassy slopes to Maiden Moor, I climbed the path to the foot of High White Rake and walked along the thrilling drove road that crosses the foot of the crags to the top of Low White Rake. This is a fabulous path high above the fellside with excellent views across Derwent Water; it is just the sort of path that I absolutely adore. Some years ago I tried to take this path from Castle Crag but I was coming from the wrong direction and ended up climbing through Nitting Haws. The drove road had brought me to the bottom of a vast and wild upland area east of the top of High Spy, filled with heather, bracken and moss set amongst rocks, and is a long way away from the popular path that runs along the top of the fell. When I reached this natural amphitheatre it started to rain as the good weather of the morning failed to last very long, and it continued to rain while I had my lunch and while I battled all the way up to the top of the ridge through the wind and rain.

My target was still Maiden Moor, however I was at Blea Crag on the northern edge of High Spy, and actually higher than the top of Maiden Moor. I’m not sure if this counts as an ascent of Maiden Moor even though I never actually visited the summit of High Spy. I had to battle against unbelievably strong winds, hail and rain while on the exposed ridge over to the top of Maiden Moor. The main path across the fell doesn’t go to the summit but actually descends the eastern slopes and would have sheltered me from the winds, but since I was trying to climb Maiden Moor I had to take the exposed path to the summit. The weather eased after I passed over the top of Maiden Moor and from there I descended the craggy path down the broad northern slopes of the fell to Hause Gate and from there up to Cat Bells. Cat Bells is always a pleasure to climb as it is like a miniature version of the big fells. Half their height but with everything the bigger fells have got except for height. It is a real family favourite. The excellent northern ridge of Cat Bells took me back onto my outward route through Fawe Park and Portinscale in dwindling daylight to Keswick. This was not a long walk since there I had started late and a long approach had been necessary at the start and end from Keswick, but it was a good walk on a great day through fabulous scenery and with some enjoyable weather in the morning. It was a great way to start the year.

Greenup Pass

Monday 31st December 2012

The weather forecast for this walk did not look good. The rain that had started the day before had continued all through the night and was forecast to continue throughout the morning. The ‘F’ word was even mentioned in the forecast which made me rather nervous as I was attempting a walk that I had started, in the opposite direction, at Easter in 2010. On that occasion it had rained heavily all night and was still raining as I started to walk from Borrowdale through Stonethwaite up the Greenup valley, but it wasn’t long before my way was blocked by a raging torrent that forced me to turn back and find an alternative route over the hills via Blea Tarn. However, despite the weather forecast warning of flooding, when I got up for this walk it wasn’t raining so my fears were eased slightly and I decided to attempt the climb over the pass of Greenup Edge, which is something I’d never succeeded in doing before.

Leaving Grasmere I walked up the lane and into Far Easedale. The lane was very wet with deep pools of water littering the lane that would have been trouble for me if I wasn’t wearing the SealSkinz Trekking Socks that I had been using for the first time on this holiday. Despite the flooded lane my feet stayed dry thanks to my waterproof socks. This lane is a fantastic walk, whether wet or dry, and leads to Stythwaite Steps where a wet and muddy climb started up Far Easedale under grim weather. The promised rain soon began to fall and the wind blew strong but I battled on nevertheless. The weather wasn’t making this a pleasant walk, but the surroundings were just as awesome as ever with high crags either side of a valley that would have been a delight to explore, if the weather was good. Far Easedale is a fantastic valley, but this was actually only the second time that I’d walked along its length, with the first time being back in 2004, also in poor weather. In good weather the ridge between Calf Crag and Helm Crag proves too strong a temptation.

The bad weather encouraged me to just put my head down and plough on up the valley until I reached the top of Far Easedale where I had a rest at the top before crossing the upper end of the notoriously boggy Wythburn valley. This is a horribly wet place, particularly with the weather that I had to cope with as the path had deteriorated into a muddy slime and then disappeared to leave me with a boggy traverse of the valley until I reached higher ground on the other side where the path re-appeared. This was not a nice place to be in this weather, but I would have worse to come. Despite the weather, I resolutely climbed the path battling against the wind and rain until finally I reached Greenup Edge, the misnomer that is actually a wide boggy plain between the fells of High Raise and Ullscarf. I had never walked over Greenup Pass before and based on my horrifying experience on this walk I’ll not be in a hurry to repeat the experience.

The Coast to Coast Path crosses Greenup Pass, but that hasn’t made the path any clearer as all I found was a faint path marked by cairns crossing the bogs, and all the time it was raining and very windy. This was a truly horrible place to be in these weather conditions and not somewhere that I wanted to linger. Finally I reached the top of Lining Crag where I found myself on the edge of an astonishing cove with steep sides all around; if there is an actual edge at Greenup then surely this was it, even if it is only one-sided. Retreating slightly from the edge of the cliff-face I took a path that crosses the top of Greenup Gill and carefully made my way down a steep, manufactured path following the stream all the way into the bowl, continuing on this interesting path that I had attempted to walk up in 2010 and found impassable. With the rain continuing to fall I grew apprehensive about the raging torrent that had blocked my path almost three years earlier.

When I eventually reached the torrent that had blocked my passage in 2010 I found a gently flowing stream that was easy to ford. The Greenup path has an astonishing number of fords to cross and that was my undoing in 2010, but now, despite the prolonged rain, the river levels were not as high as then. I think that is because the Lake District is used to prolonged rainfall and has a vast network of rivers and streams to remove that water. For the Lake District to flood, recently most notably in November 2009 (and my experience was not long after that compounded by snow melt), requires enormous amounts of rain to fall in an astonishingly short space of time. This wasn’t the case now and I was able to continue along the water-logged path with no trouble all the way into Borrowdale. One of the reasons why I was able to complete this walk, despite the horrendous weather, was because I had gear that was able to keep me warm and dry. I remember as a child being told by an experienced walker that so long as you can stay warm and dry then you will be able to walk in any weather.

Once in Borrowdale I walked along the road through the Jaws of Borrowdale and then took a track on the right that climbed up to the Bowder Stone, which is a huge rock that appears to have fallen from Bowder Crag uncounted years ago. I had never visited this popular tourist attraction before and since there was no one else around I was easily able to climb the ladder to the top and enjoy the vertiginous views. My original plan for the end of this walk had been to walk through Borrowdale all the way to Derwent Water and then along the western shore to Keswick, but I quickly realized that it would be dark long before I reached Keswick. A walk through woodland brought me back down to the road and thence to the village of Grange where I caught a bus to Keswick, which was a much more prudent idea than attempting to walk to Keswick. This was an interesting walk in challenging weather that I found strangely satisfying in my adventure over Greenup Pass. I never saw anyone else going over the pass and I’m not surprised for the weather was truly awful.

Calf Crag and Steel Fell

Sunday 30th December 2012

On this day I had a bit of a rest from my northward trek towards Keswick and spent two nights in the popular tourist village of Grasmere. When I was coming off the fells the day before this walk I noticed particularly that there was hardly any snow, even on the highest fells, but when I got up for this walk I was surprised to discover that it had snowed during the night which had left an inch of snow on hills as low as four hundred metres high. My original plan for this day had been to climb High Raise, the highest fell in the Central Fells at two and a half thousand feet high, but in view of the snow I decided not to do that ascent. This is not the first time this has happened to me with High Raise; on my first ever holiday in the Lake District I climbed High Raise from the top of Far Easedale in bad weather and ever since I’ve wanted to retrace my steps. A couple of years ago, at Christmas, a plan to climb the fell from the top of Far Easedale was thwarted by snow, and last Easter an ascent from Tarn Crag was also stopped by snow. As disappointing as this might be I didn't need to worry as High Raise will still be there next time I want to explore the eastern slopes of the fell, and that time I might have the good weather that I’ll need in that complex area.

I had only one goal for this day and that was to go up Calf Crag, the highest fell on the Helm Crag ridge. On all the previous occasions that I have been to Calf Crag I have always walked onto the fell along a ridge from the neighbouring fells, Helm Crag and Gibson Knott. Now I wanted to climb Calf Crag from the valley to the top so that I could say that I have actually climbed the fell, and the route that I’d selected was that from the unfrequented valley of Greenburn. Once past the last house I found a wonderfully deserted, little valley with lovely, little waterfalls below the flat swamp of Greenburn Bottom. Despite being lashed by strong winds and hail I enjoyed the climb up this delightful valley along an excellent track that led me to the edge of Greenburn Bottom where it crosses the valley before starting to climb the valley walls. I followed an old path up onto the ridge just above the snowline, reaching it at the lowest point between Calf Crag and Gibson Knott. Despite the popularity of this ridge undisturbed snow lay all around me, even on the path, and it was tremendous fun walking through virgin snow and exploring the tops east of the summit including the cairn at the top of Rough Crag.

The weather was quieter at the top than I had endured in the valley with clear views all around me and not a soul in sight; it was a great moment to be on the fells. After a quick lunch I crossed the boggy ridge above Greenburn Bottom to Steel Fell, but it wasn’t cold enough to freeze the bogs on the ridge so it was still very wet underfoot, but my waterproof socks made light work of them. This ridge is rather too broad and boggy to be interesting so I was relieved when the ground finally started to rise along with the appearance of some outcrops that always make a walk more stimulating. As I approached the summit of Steel Fell the isolation that I had enjoyed on Calf Crag ended with the appearance of other walkers that prompted me to veer away from the path towards the top of Blakerigg Crag, high above Greenburn Bottom, before finally heading for the top when it was clear. The views from the eastern cairn were particularly good as they look down the length of Thirlmere Reservoir with the brooding giants of Skiddaw and Blencathra lurking in the misty distance.

From the top of Steel Fell I descended the southern ridge where fabulous views could be seen past Helm Crag towards Grasmere. I had tried climbing this ridge a few years ago just after the New Year when it was very windy, though probably not much more windy than it was for this walk. The lower slopes are particularly exposed, as I found now, so I’d decided to turn back. I guess I just didn’t feel like doing much walking that day. It was a pity though as there is a good path down the south ridge with some nice, tricky bits as it zigzags across the steep crags. Eventually I reached the bottom of Greenburn and since it was still quite early I decided that it would be an excellent idea to climb up Gibson Knott. I had though of the idea of walking up the right-of-way from Greenburn to Bracken Hause at the start of the walk while still walking towards Greenburn, but this route is not recommended by Wainwright and having now taken it I wouldn’t recommend it myself. Wainwright did recommend the route that I’d taken in the morning as a route for going up Gibson Knott, but I’d already done that. It didn't help that it started raining soon after I started the climb up muddy, grassy slopes and the zigzagging path was doing little to alleviate the tedium.

When I eventually reached the ridge between Helm Crag and Gibson Knott I found that the strong winds that had hit me in Greenburn and on the south ridge of Steel Fell were back in force on this extremely exposed ridge, so with my head down I battled against the wind walking along the ridge as far as the summit of Gibson Knott. As soon as I reached Gibson Knott I turned right around and headed back along the ridge trying to stay on the sheltered side of the ridge past Bracken Hause and up to the top of Helm Crag. It must be a few years since I was last up Helm Crag as I’d forgotten how good and craggy is that fell. I’d even forgotten how good the popular path up to Helm Crag is as I carefully made my way down the rugged, stony path in the rain. There is some stunning rock scenery alongside the path that really made up for the driving rain and high winds. This wasn’t a good end to the day, especially weather-wise as this rain gradually wiped out all the snow that I’d been enjoying. The best weather and most enjoyable part of the day was around noon while I was at the top of Calf Crag, and that made up for the rest of the day, but even when it is wet and windy it was still fabulous being in the Lake District.

Carron Crag

Saturday 29th December 2012

My primary goal for this walk was to get to Grasmere from the Hawkeshead Youth Hostel near the shores of Esthwaite Water, but rather than take a direct route I decided to take a big diversion via Carron Crag, the highest point in Grizedale Forest. There are no Wainwrights in the area between Windermere and Coniston Water, but in addition to his seven celebrated Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells, Wainwright also wrote a volume on the Outlying Fells. These are smaller hills on the outskirts of the Lake District more suited to people of advancing years, as Wainwright was by this time. Having done all the primary Wainwrights (all two hundred fourteen fells described in his Pictorial Guides) my attention has strayed onto the secondary Outlying Fells to see if there if is anything there to interest me. I have already visited some of these fells, and indeed the two fells that I walked over the day before this walk, Claife Heights and Latterbarrow, are themselves Outlying Fells typical of the wide selection. Within Grizedale Forest is another Outlying Fell, that of Carron Crag, the highest point in the forest.

Leaving the youth hostel I climbed steep, muddy fields into Grizedale Forest, which covers an immense area between Esthwaite Water and Coniston Water. It is a relatively recent development, having been acquired after the Second World War by the Forestry Commission who promptly planted millions of coniferous trees that now cast a dark shadow over the once open, undulating fellsides. Once the wood was established it was opened up to the public as an adventure park filled with (to quote the Forestry Commission website) “easy going trails for all abilities, MTB routes to test your skills, quiet spots to admire the wildlife and amazing sculptures or places to relax and enjoy some great food.” I had never been to Grizedale Forest before as there was nothing there to appeal to me since, despite the tourist attractions, it is still a timber factory.

Once on good forest tracks I passed easily over the hill and down into Grizedale valley along one of those wonderful, Lakeland lanes that have provided routes onto the fells for Lakeland farmers for centuries. Passing the deserted Visitor Centre I climbed steeply up the wooded fellside following not only Wainwright’s directions but also red marker posts that reliably showed me the way to Carron Crag. Shortly after turning right at a crossroads I took a narrow path that climbs steeply through the wood all the way up to the summit of Carron Crag, which is free from trees so it enjoys tremendous views across the tops of the trees towards the distant fells. The weather was surprisingly clear at this point with relatively far-reaching views above the low-lying mist that lingered in the valleys.

Coming down from the top I followed good forest tracks until I came off the tracks onto a very boggy ancient right-of-way across the top of High Man. My waterproof socks earnt their way now as I waded through ankle deep bogs across Grizedale Moor as the weather deteriorated with persistent rain beginning to test all my waterproofs, not just those on my feet. After passing two radio masts I finally reached solid ground and continued my northward course to the northern tip of the forest at the ancient crossroads of High Cross where I took a path around Wharton Tarn through Lakeland terrain that would have been delightful if the weather had been just slightly better. Eventually I reached the picturesque lake of Tarn Hows, but with the rain showing no sign of stopping and low clouds spoiling the views across the lake I did not have a picturesque scene before me as I sat eating my lunch in the rain.

I have been to Tarn Hows only once before, while on my way to Coniston, and on that occasion I walked around the eastern side of the lake, so now I thought I’d go up the western side, but it didn’t seem long before I branched off the lakeside path to continue my course north. When I joined the byway between Knipe Fold and Oxen Fell High Cross the rain stopped and I had an enjoyable time strolling along the lane through stunning wild scenery with fantastic views towards Holme Fell, while splashing through every puddle in the lane. There is something so liberating about splashing through puddles (when no one else is looking) so long as you aren’t getting your feet wet, and my SealSkinz Trekking Socks were working a treat. After reaching the main road I continued northwards past Colwith Force (to which I had to pay a visit), along a quiet land to Elterwater and beside the raging Great Langdale Beck to Chapel Stile.

In order to get to Grasmere I had to climb over a low hill and the easiest route would have been to follow the road, but it wouldn’t have been the most fun. Instead, despite the rain that had begun to fall again as I approached Elterwater, I decided to take the route that I had taken on my second ever day in the Lake District, back in 2002. This route starts with a very steep, craggy climb, tricky in the wet conditions, above the narrow ravine of Megs Gill. The weather cleared as I climbed and astonishingly the clouds began to break and provide me with my first glimpse of sunlight all holiday. The views were fantastic as I climbed the tremendous path around the top of Megs Gill and onto the broad felltop below the summit of Silver How. As I climbed that great path with great views behind me I finally felt like I was in the Lake District, and I was ecstatic to be there. The rain of earlier in the day was forgotten as I embraced the awesome views and tremendous scenery.

Claife Heights and Latterbarrow

Friday 28th December 2012

A couple of years ago I spent the New Year in the Lake District, which struck me as such an excellent way to spend the New Year that I thought I’d do it again for the start of 2013. Unfortunately the weather, as has been common for most of 2012, was not very good, with the wet weather of Christmas continuing into the New Year. Instead of cold, dry, sunny weather (such as I got New Year 2009) it was mild, wet and windy. To start this holiday I thought I’d walk in an area of the Lake District that I’d never walked in before, which you would have thought would be difficult to find as I have walked all around the Lakes and been up every fell that Wainwright described. But, I actually went to a place that a lot of the tourists to the Lake District go to, and that is Bowness-on-Windermere, the small town on the eastern shore of the largest lake in England, Windermere. I arrived at Windermere station after travelling through the morning, which is not unusual as I often arrive in the Lake District at Windermere, but this time I didn’t catch a bus to more interesting places, instead I walked down the hill to the harbour at Bowness. Despite the poor weather there were loads of tourists waiting to take a steamer onto the lake, while I walked straight past them to the Windermere Ferry that goes to the other side of the lake at Cockshott Point.

After a quick journey across the lake I started climbing the wooded hillside past the Claife Viewing Station (a relic of early Victorian tourism – now a ruin) and on a fabulous path that twists very steeply up the side of the hill. It was very wet underfoot with leaves covering the ground, which made the walking rather treacherous, but it was still an enjoyable climb after the long autumn days without a good walk. On coming out of Station Scar Wood a left and a right turn brought me to the small Scale Ivy Tarn which lies right alongside the path, or at least it should. After all the rain of recent weeks the tarn completely covered the footpath to a good depth. Previously this would have been a problem as the water was too deep, but anticipating wet weather I had bought, especially for this holiday, gaiters and waterproof socks. I’d never used Gaiters before, although there’s nothing new about them, but the SealSkinz Trekking Socks were an absolute wonder. They were especially useful as the boots I was using was an old pair that I’d stopped using in 2009 because they were letting in water. The sole on the boots that I had been using until now was not in a good state so I was going for boots that had a good tread rather than waterproof boots.

With these waterproof Trekking Socks I found that it didn’t matter how much water I walked through my feet stayed dry. I don’t do gear reviews, but these socks were fabulous, and with the wet weather I was encountering in the Lake District they were going to be getting a thorough workout. It wasn’t long before it started raining again as I waded through Scale Ivy Tarn and plunged into more woodland. I was walking in an area of low hills that lie between Esthwaite Water and Windermere called Claife Heights. The highest point is called High Blind How, but it is not very well-defined, and was difficult to find. Much of Claife Heights is wooded which makes navigation difficult as you can’t see where you’re going for all the trees, so you are solely reliant on a good footpath. I had that until I entered an area that had recently been felled, obliterating the path. There were very good signposts in the wood but at the crucial point I lost track of where I was going with strong winds and low clouds making route-finding impossible. There is a trig-point at the summit but I couldn’t find it; I did find some crags in the general area but the summit could have been anywhere in the mist.

Despite getting a little lost trying to find the summit I somehow eventually managed to find my way back onto the correct route at Brownstone Tarn. I continued along the path following signs to Hawkeshead until I decided to turn off the main path and head towards Latterbarrow, a prominent hill in the north-western corner of Claife Heights. I had no problems with navigation now as the hill is devoid of trees and it felt so much better walking up this hill rather than through the interminable woodland that I had been walking through. At the top of Latterbarrow is an impressive beacon, an elegant obelisk and monument to whoever built it. Unfortunately it was getting dark by the time I got to the top and it was so windy I had difficulty getting a good picture of the magnificent construction. After many pictures I finally got one that I was reasonably happy with so I made my way down the wind-swept western slopes of Latterbarrow to a road. This was a tricky descent in the strong winds so I was relieved when I finally reached the shelter of the trees near the road, where a short walk took me into the village of Hawkeshead.