Caw Fell and Lank Rigg

Friday 25th August 2023

After two days of fantastic weather, during which I did two very strenuous walks, it was actually a relief to get some poor weather on this day as I had come to the Lake District for some rest and recuperation, so now I was being forced to take it easy because of the change in weather. The clouds were now low, there was a cold westerly wind and it was raining, so normal service in the Lake District was resumed. Fortunately it wasn’t raining when I left the Ennerdale Youth Hostel, passed the Low Gillerthwaite Field Centre and crossed the valley onto a path that passes between the trees beside the Woundell Beck. I had come out of the hostel wearing waterproofs, ready for the bad weather, but since it wasn’t raining I had soon taken them off, which was a great help as I climbed up a steep path on the tongue between the streams of Silvercove Beck and Deep Gill. Just as I neared the edge of the forestry plantation it started to rain again so my waterproofs went back on as I climbed up gentler slopes through purple-flowering heather. This is a great route up to the ridge south of Ennerdale and the rain now falling did nothing to diminish my enjoyment of it, although as the rain got heavier later on I did begin to question my sanity of going for a walk in this weather. There were moments when I stopped and just stood with my back to the wind and rain wishing it would ease and eventually, as I approached the top of the climb, it finally did and I made my way around the top of Silver Cove up to the top of Caw Fell.

In stark contrast to the rugged, craggy fells to the east, further up the valley, Caw Fell is a sprawling pasture of grass and sheep with little to interest me, but whose gentler gradients were perhaps safer in the poor weather than the steeper, rockier ground elsewhere. It is still a Wainwright so I branched up to the cairn that marks the summit before following the wall and fence west that runs across the top. A direct course towards Lank Rigg from Caw Fell would involve a big descent to the bottom of the valley of Worm Gill before a steeper climb would take me back up the hill and that had been my plan, but when I reached a right turn in the wall I decided to take the easier option and follow the wall north rather go straight ahead down the western slopes of Caw Fell. I minimised the unnecessary descent by following the ridge over Iron Crag, which is a broad grassy fell that some people consider to be a separate fell, but Wainwright disregarded it. I passed over Iron Crag in 2013 but on this occasion I took a different path to the one that runs along the top of the ridge and instead crossed the western slopes, though this did nothing to minimise the long distance that I had to walk through weather that was not much better even though it had stopped raining. After coming down from the top of Iron Crag, I rounded the top of the valley slowly making my way towards Lank Rigg, but first I had to negotiate the wet ground in the saddle before Whoap.

After going around the insignificant top of Whoap I dropped down to the col before climbing steeply up to the top of Lank Rigg, which I had previously visited just once before, at Christmas 2010, so I was eager to do it again as it is one of a dwindling number of fells that I’ve only done once. This grassy hill feels far removed from the rest of the Lake District, sitting as it does on the western edge and perhaps its best appeal is the views it affords over West Cumbria and out to sea. Wainwright tried to add some appeal to the fell by burying hidden treasure near the summit and others have followed his example, but I couldn’t be bothered to look. Instead I stopped by the trig point with my back to the cold, westerly wind and had my lunch before setting off again back down the hill. I had gotten quite cold while sitting at the top, so the sun coming out as I set off was a welcome addition, but it was fleeting and it was the climb over Whoap that really warmed me up again. When I was previously in the area, in 2010, trees filled the banks north of the young River Calder, and are still shown on Ordnance Survey Maps, but these have now been felled and provided me with unrestricted views towards Grike while heather covered the ground formally shrouded by trees.

With the sun now trying to break through the clouds I strode on towards Grike crossing the southern slopes of Crag Fell on a bridleway that Wainwright reveals is an old mine road, but it was a trap as it does not reach the top of Grike so I had to climb over a locked gate beside a communications mast. A wet path on other side of the fence took me up to the top of Grike, which is another Wainwright that I have visited only once before, back in 2009, and I now found the summit to be generously decorated with shelters and cairns, and also afforded me with good views across West Cumbria and out to sea. It had been my intention to descend from here, but Crag Fell was too close to ignore, even though I have done it a few more times than Grike or Lank Rigg. I was last there in 2013, but the real reason I wanted to get to the top of Crag Fell was to get an uninterrupted view up Ennerdale, which at the moment was blocked by Crag Fell. With the improving weather since lunch it seemed to be a no brainer, but when I got there dark clouds cast a shadow over the bottom of the valley so the views were not as good as I had hoped. Heavy rain had been forecast for the afternoon, but it seems I got that in the morning instead during my ascent, so I now had good weather for my descent off Crag Fell, across Ben Gill and into an area of recently felled conifers. At the bottom I turned right to reach Ennerdale Water and join the route of the Coast to Coast along the shore of the lake. This is quite a craggy path, particularly around Robin Hood’s Chair where some scrambling was required, and provided me with an enjoyable and relaxing walk all the way back to the Youth Hostel.