Sunday 28th July 2013
This day did not go to plan, all due to the changeable weather. My glorious camp location at the top of Harter Fell in the Lake District was not so special in the morning after heavy rain fell all night and left me with a damp, misty start to the day. I ate my breakfast while it was still raining and clouds completely enveloped the mountain. During a lull in the rain I broke camp and set off down the fell, disconsolately realising that all my carefully laid plans for the day of walking along the broad ridge of Birker Fell and Ulpha Fell all the way to the south-western corner of the Lake District on Black Combe would have to be abandoned. I needed good, clear weather for that walk to succeed and above all little rain as boggy ground and poor visibility would have made the walk not only difficult, but not at all enjoyable. Instead I headed straight back down the mountain the way I’d come.
When I got to Spothow Gill, the gentle stream that I had easily crossed the evening before, I found a raging torrent that could not be crossed with any measure of safety. Since I couldn’t descend that way I stayed on the main footpath veering to the right and crossing the northern slopes of Harter Fell I eventually reached the bottom of the valley at Jubilee Bridge. I hadn’t intended on going all the way to Jubilee Bridge and actually I had intended on taking the route that I have taken on a couple of previous occasions down to Whahouse Bridge, but I completely missed the turning and ended up on a great track that I hadn’t taken before that leads to the foot of Hardknott Pass beside Jubilee Bridge. Ultimately I needed to head back towards the coast so I turned around and followed the edge of the fell-wall along a path that took me back to Penny Hill Farm. The day before I had walked beside the River Esk as far as Doctor Bridge, so now when I reached the bridge I crossed it and followed the river downstream on the opposite bank.
By this time the rain had stopped and the sun briefly came out which added sparkles to the water that was passing under Doctor Bridge. I had an enjoyable walk along the slightly over-grown path, beside the river, until eventually I reached St Catherine’s Church where I noticed that the stepping stones that had been perfectly safe the day before were now completely submerged. It was a good thing I wasn’t planning on going that way; instead I walked out to the valley road and Dalegarth Station on the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway. I was still unsure what I was going to do having debated with myself all the way down Eskdale and had still not reached a decision. I contemplated taking the train to Ravenglass and then the mainline train to the foot of Black Combe so I could accomplish at least some of my original plan.
When I discovered that the mainline trains don’t run on a Sunday I abandoned that idea, left the station and walked up to the delightful hamlet of Boot. From there I climbed the fells that overlook Bootm mainly because I’d never been on those fells before. There is no definite summit in this area with the highest point, Boat How, being too far away and not significant enough for me to bother with, so instead I headed toward Blea Tarn, which is a lovely lake in a pleasant setting. A steep climb brought me onto the open moor where relics of a mining past littered the area, but were too meagre to add much interest. The earlier sun had not lasted long and now an overcast sky, cold winds and murky views accompanied me as I had my lunch. Things soon improved, however, with the terrain as I made my way along a slender path down a ravine to the shore of Blea Tarn, an attractive lake surrounded by bracken and crags on a shelf overlooking Eskdale.
Slowly I made my way across the complex terrain following faint paths that often led me astray as I tried to find a route from Blea Tarn past Siney Tarn and Blind Tarn to Fell End. All the way the weather gradually improved so by the time I reached secluded Miterdale the weather had changed completely with the clouds now breaking up to let the sun shine brightly and provide me with better weather and views than I’d even had the day before. It was thanks to these improving conditions that I decided to do Wainwright’s walk from his Outlying Fells book up Irton Pike. The path that Wainwright describes as ‘a charmer’ took me steeply through Miterdale Forest all the way up to the top of the ridge. As I made my way along the ridge left towards Irton Pike the views behind me started to open up and grab my attention, for in that direction was Wasdale with Great Gable standing proud at the head of the valley. The weather was now perfect and gave me an excellent view of these great fells.
Continuing along the ridge I made my way onto the tiny summit of Irton Pike, an excellent vantage point with unrestricted views across to the sea and into Eskdale as well as more of that view towards Wasdale Head. I sat by the summit in awe of my surroundings and completely content with what had turned out to be a great day, unfortunately it soon started to deteriorate. A steep, narrow path took me off Irton Pike onto a road where a long walk along the road brought me back down to the bottom of Eskdale, but I still had no idea where I would spend the night. In the end I tried to find somewhere to camp on Muncaster Fell, where I’d started the weekend's walk the day before, but it was getting late by the time I started to climb the fell and after a wrong turning brought me to the top of Silver Knott, a low hill at the eastern end of Muncaster Fell, I was too exhausted to go any further and camped in the hollow between Silver Knott and Hooker Crag. It was soon obvious that this was a mistake as I had camped beside a midge-infested marsh, but in the morning this became even worse as heavy overnight rain flooded my camp spot. It is a pity the weekend had to end so badly.
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