Walna Scar

Saturday 6th August 2011 

After my disappointments in Scotland I was desperate to go up a mountain so I quickly planned a day trip to the Lake District. The mountains I had in mind were the Coniston Fells but while planning my walk I noticed the Dunnerdale Fells to the south. I had never been south of the Walna Scar Road before whereas I've already been to the top of all the Coniston Fells. I was still in two minds when I caught a train to the south Cumbrian town of Ulverston (birthplace of Stan Laurel) where I caught a bus to Coniston. Now it was decision time: do I walk up the Coniston Fells and satisfy my mountain craving, or do I walk over the lower hills south of the Walna Scar Road that I’d never been over before? In the end the weather decided it for me. It was overcast with rain threatened when I arrived in Coniston so I set off along the excellent Walna Scar Road. 

At Boo Tarn I was very tempted to go up a mountain after all by turning to the right and climbing up the Old Man of Coniston following in the footsteps of Sean McMahon of StridingEdge.Net, but eventually I came to my senses. As later events proved, if I had gone up the Old Man I would never have been able to complete the walk. At the foot of the zigzags that lead up to the top of the Walna Scar Pass I actually did leave the path. To the north of the Walna Scar Pass is Brown Pike, a relatively small fell that even Wainwright didn't honour with its own chapter in his guide books, but it is a fell and it is bigger than any of the hills south of the Walna Scar Road. As an added interest there are some disused mine workings on the eastern side of Brown Pike so I climbed up to the old miners' tracks and investigated the remains, marvelling at the well-made tracks (which are mostly all that's left). At the end of one track I came on an awesome view of the seldom seen Blind Tarn. Hidden away behind Brown Pike this small lake would only be seen by people looking down from the ridge above, from where it would appear small and insignificant. From where I was standing it looked delectable. 

Climbing further up the steep fell I eventually reached the summit of Brown Pike where I had my lunch. While eating I gazed out over the nearby fells all the way to the Scafell Pikes. Even in the low cloud it was an awesome sight. There were many people passing me as they made their way along the ridge towards Dow Crag and the other Coniston Fells and I couldn't help thinking how old and tired this route was. I have walked along all the main ridges in the Lake District, so they no longer hold any appeal for me. It is the more unusual ascents or off-path routes that interest me now. So after eating I dropped down to the Walna Scar Road and crossed over to the barely trodden ground beyond, south of the Walna Scar Road, where there are no Wainwrights and the highest point barely touches two thousand feet, but as with the rest of the Lake District what they lack in height they make up for in complexity. 

The first and highest top beyond the Walna Scar Road is Walna Scar itself, but before reaching the summit the clouds descended which made navigation trickier than it should have been. With only faint paths to follow I made my way to the summit and across to the neighbouring tops of White Maiden and White Pike. Once the clouds had thankfully lifted I was able to enjoy myself by taking full advantage of every bit of rock I could find while descending the southern ridge of White Pike before dropping steeply down to the boggy saddle of Yauld Mire. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment as I picked my way across the complex terrain over the small top of Pikes and onto the top of Caw. Just as I approached the trig point however it started to rain and this continued as I took a challenging and very steep descent to the ground below. Spurning the insignificant hills around Fox Haw I followed a bridlepath past them onto a road and the rain finally stopped as I crossed the road and climbed the bracken covered terrain to the deliciously prominent top of Stickle Pike. I was now mindful of the clock so I quickly made my way over the insignificant Tarn Hills to Great Stickle, the last top of my walk where the sea now dominated the views ahead of me.

Dropping down once more I entered a dense area of bracken that was really tricky to traverse. Every path seemed to be crossing the ridge rather than traversing it so eventually I had to wade through the dense growth without knowing where I was putting my feet. When I finally reached the edge of the bracken field I sprinted along a path over the low hill of Raven’s Crag and steeply down to the road. My GPS was telling me that I still had many miles to walk before I reached a railway station but with only one hour left until the train was due. There ensued a mad dash down the road and an even madder dash walking beside the busy A595 because it was quicker than following footpaths. The sun came out during my dash so by the time I reached the station with minutes to spare I was roasting in my waterproofs. This was a very different walk to the ones I usually do in the Lake District, and all the better for it. After crossing the Walna Scar Road I hardly saw another person, which just goes to show there's a lot more to the Lake District than the popular routes. It can be difficult to find off-the-beaten-track routes in the Lake District, but once I was there I found that they were worth the effort.

The Machair of Uist

Thursday 7th July 2011 

After the washout of the day before I woke to good weather again, but unlike the previous day the weather stayed good. I had a strong temptation to do the walk I’d tried to do the previous day again, going up Beinn Mhor (which wouldn’t have been a bad idea), but in the end I did a pleasant, but long walk down the west coast of Uist between the beach and the grassy, fertile plain of the machair. Some of this grassland is farmed, but a lot of it has been left fallow and at this time of the year it was filled with a dense covering of wild flowers, mainly white clover, buttercups and a few daisies. I walked from the hostel to the beach at Bun na Feathlach and then along the dunes between the beach and the wide plains of the machair. This went on all day with me trying to pick out my route along farm tracks, roads or through the pathless grasslands. Sometimes a path was easy to find and at other times it was quite tricky trying to make progress through the dense growth. On occasions I descended onto the beach and walked beside the sea for a while before climbing back onto the dunes. The weather was generally good all day with varying cloud cover and only occasional light showers, but the eastern hills never lost their clouds and there was even a thunderstorm over the hills later in the day. As I journeyed south I passed the cemetery on the headland of Rubh’ Àird-mhicheil, past the ruin of Caisteal Ormacleit and onto the headland of Rubha Àird a’ Mhuile. This rocky promontory is very occasionally used for weapons testing but not on this day as the herd of Hebridean cattle testified. Going around the cattle I visited the deserted, ancient settlement of Dùn Dùlan before dropping back down onto the beach. There was an abundance of wildlife throughout this walk from the many varieties of wild flowers in the machair to the birds that swarmed around the coastland. 

After some hours I ventured off the path and through an area of the machair abundant in rabbit holes back onto the main road where I visited the South Uist Museum (called the Kildonan Museum). After lunch I spent some time looking around the museum getting a taste for what island life was like a hundred years ago. Back across the machair I walked further south negotiating a route through a golf course until eventually I stopped off for one last visit to the sea. Eventually I climbed back over the dunes and walked across the machair to the village of Daliburgh where I caught a bus back to the hostel. At the end of the walk I saw a sign for the Machair Way, but I never saw any other trace of this waymarked route and a look around the internet has failed to find much of a sign of it, which is a pity as it would be a lovely route. This was a pleasant walk through the peaceful and secluded landscape of the Isle of Uist and I especially enjoyed looking at all the flowers that were growing in the machair. 

The day after this walk I caught a ferry back across to the mainland to start my journey home. This was a good holiday where I saw some really different scenery, but it also didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. My week on the Isle of Skye went completely different to how I’d planned and with hindsight I wish I’d been able to go up more mountains than I did. As fabulous as the Outer Hebrides are they can’t really compete in the mountain stakes, but instead they have other charms. The hills of Harris are unique and the atmosphere of Uist is eerily special, but they don’t compare with a good Munro. Next year I’ll have to quench my insatiable desire to be at the top of mountains that the Outer Hebrides has been unable to satisfy.