Great Gable and Kirk Fell

Thursday 3rd May 2018

As I left the Borrowdale Youth Hostel at the start of this walk, the sun was beaming through the clouds and there was a distinct feeling of warmth to the air that was a marked improvement on the cold weather that I had previously endured on this holiday. Although Borrowdale was enjoying sunshine, the fells at the head of the valley were veiled under grey clouds that were a warning of the poor weather that was to come later in the day. At Seathwaite I passed through the farm buildings, over the River Derwent and up the steep path that climbs beside Sourmilk Gill enjoying the lovely sunshine that would soon prove to be short-lived. Eventually after slowly climbing the steep fellside and passing a spectacular waterfall, I reached a wall above which the path eases as it enters Gillercomb. At that point I came off the path and headed towards a very large boulder that was my key to reach the object that is marked on O.S. maps as the Hanging Stone. It could easily be this big boulder even though there is nothing hanging about it, but it is clearly not the rock that is marked on the map. Wainwright was also dubious about the identity of the Hanging Stone and nominated a rather insignificant boulder half way up the side of the hill for the title.

A slender path starting at the big boulder leads up the craggy fell past several possible candidates for the Hanging Stone and weaves through several bands of rock to finally reach the ridge coming down from the top of Base Brown. On this holiday I was trying to climb all the fells in the Lake District that are more than two and a half thousand feet high and Base Brown doesn’t count as it is too low. I have visited the summit of Base Brown on only one previous occasion, back in 2006, on a descent at the end of a long day, so I thought I would now do an ascent up Base Brown as a bit of a sneaky fell on the side. With the sun lingering in the north and east of the Lake District, the clouds were already starting to encroach upon the corner where I was walking and soon descended onto the tops. From the top of Base Brown, I walked along the occasionally boggy ridge, around the top of Gillercomb and all the way up to the cloud-enclosed summit of Green Gable. This was my first High Fell of the walk and the fourteenth of my holiday. The fifteenth High Fell was across the eerie Windy Gap where I had to negotiate scree slopes and boulders before I could reach the misty surrounds of Great Gable.

Cairns guided my route up the crags and through the boulder-strewn top of Great Gable until eventually I reached the memorial-adorned summit. When I was last on Great Gable, in 2013, the memorial plate to fallen heroes had been removed for refurbishment so it was gratifying to see it back in place and looking in fine condition. Testament to the poor weather I had the summit of Great Gable to myself, which doesn’t happen very often, but for the same reason I didn’t stay long and after checking my direction I headed off along a line of cairns away from the summit. This path is so rough across the boulder-strewn top and steeply down the rock-filled hillside, if it wasn’t for the cairns I would seriously doubt I was going in the right direction, but they didn’t let me down and when the terrain improved with smaller rocks underfoot, a path began to appear. Unfortunately this path did begin to lead me astray and it was only when the clouds briefly parted affording me with a glimpse of the valley before, that I realised I had strayed from the north-west ridge that I should have been on. Crossing the northern scree slopes I rejoined the correct path that safely brought me down to Beck Head just as the rain started.

The rain didn’t last long at first and by the time I was climbing the craggy slopes of Kirk Fell on the far side of the pass it had stopped. A fence used to surround Ennerdale and in places the old posts can still be seen providing a guide in mist for the wary traveller and is particularly helpful on Kirk Fell. Climbing Rib End brought me to the broad plateau on Kirk Fell that is quite tricky in misty weather as the path is not clear. There are two tops and the first I encountered is not the summit. Fortunately I knew this and continued to follow the fence posts past Kirkfell Tarn and up to the summit of Kirk Fell, High Fell number sixteen. I remember being at the top of Kirk Fell in similar weather in 2003 and 2005, eventually getting much better weather in 2006 (the aforementioned walk), but I don’t remember a more recent visit. One of the benefits of my High Fells Challenge is that it is bringing me to fells that I haven’t climbed in many years. After lunch sheltered from the wind at the summit, I set off across the top following the posts again until I reached Kirkfell Crags. These looked quite scary especially as it had now started to raining quite heavily, but the only alternative is a gully full of loose stones and muddy, red soil that seemed even less appealing.

Despite the rain I decided to scramble down Kirkfell Crags and ultimately found it to be really exciting, though slightly scary at the same time, and it was not until I was safely at the bottom that I finally succumbed to the weather and put on my waterproof trousers. I had planned to continue along the ridge to Pillar, but with the rain getting heavier and with no sign of stopping for the rest of the afternoon I started heading back towards Borrowdale. From the Blacksail Pass I took a path that descends steeply to avoid the Sail Beck ravine before crossing the northern slopes of Kirk Fell on a sketchy path that I have taken many times before and now enjoyed making its acquaintance again. Returning to Beck Head I joined the Moses’ Trod path below Gable Crag and Greengable Crag and across the grassy slopes of Brandrath to eventually join the clear path of the Coast to Coast Walk. This was a long walkout in the grey, misty conditions with nothing to see but the path before me through the grass, and it required a bit of blind faith that I was on the right route and that it would take me through the mist to my destination. Thanks to my long experience in the Lake District, I had no doubts and it did take me to Honister Hause and eventually Borrowdale.

The early morning sunshine had promised much at the start of this walk, but it failed to deliver and eventually produced possibly the worst weather of the holiday. The day before I had been elated at being at the top of a mountain, but now my emotions were very different in much worse weather. The lack of a view was largely the reason even though the low cloud does add a challenge and some excitement to the walk that wouldn’t otherwise be there. It is a very different experience when the weather is poor and ultimately I would always prefer a view, though in the Lake District rain and low clouds are to be expected. Great Gable is a fantastic mountain with some really tricky paths and Kirk Fell is not much easier especially above Black Sail Pass. These are mountains that are a challenge in the best of weather and even more so in this typical Lakeland weather.