Lingmell

Friday 4th May 2018

When I started to plan my holiday in the Lake District I decided the best way of descent from Scafell Pike and Sca Fell would be along the Terrace Route into Eskdale. This is a fantastic route, especially in descent, and I absolutely love it having taken it several times including on my first ever visit to the Lake District in 2002. However when I came to booking the Youth Hostels I found that Eskdale was fully booked for the day I wanted, which was a great disappointment as it’s a good hostel. My solution was not pretty, which was to double back from Sca Fell to Borrowdale, but the problem with this is that it's not easy to get from Scafell Pike to Sca Fell as the big cliff of Broad Stand is in the way. There are two ways around with one that is really difficult while the other is almost impossible (I am slightly exaggerating). The official right-of-way involves a considerable descent before a wet scramble up a rough gully to Foxes Tarn, and the other route is the notorious Lord’s Rake. I had not been looking to this walk and was keen to avoid it, so I jumped on the idea that came to me during the week to switch Thursday and Friday's planned walk, therefore Great Gable and Kirk Fell was switched to Thursday and Scafell Pike was postponed to Friday.

My idea now was to descend from Sca Fell down Green How to Wasdale Head and then after climbing the two highest mountains in England I would climb again up over Black Sail Pass into Ennerdale. This was possibly only slightly better than going around Broad Stand twice, but in the end the weather intervened. In good weather these plans would probably have been achievable, but the warmer weather that had arrived the day before was very moist leaving thick mist on top of all the fells. As I set off from the Borrowdale Youth Hostel I took the same route I had taken the day before as far as Seathwaite, but then continued along the bridleway past Taylor Gill Force up to Sty Head. Usually I take the much better footpath on the other side of the river, which takes an exciting and scrambly route much closer to the waterfall, but I thought I would take the bridlepath on this occasion, because I thought it would be quicker, and because I had never actually taken it before all the way to Sty Head. By the time I reached the stretcher box at the top of the pass I was within clouds and it was very difficult for me to see where I was going. The paths are not clear at that point and I think I took the wrong path while trying to find a short cut onto the Corridor Route.

I started to descend into Wasdale before I eventually checked my position and found that I was at the 455 metre level, which is not only lower than Sty Head Pass, but also considerably lower than the Corridor Route. I had to climb the grassy slopes, thoroughly wearing myself out and I had still not reached the path, so eventually I checked my position again and found that I was at 619 metres, which must have meant I was almost on the Corridor Route! I was wasting valuable time running up and down this hill that I could not spare on my ambitiously planned walk. Soon I came across a deep ravine filled with the sound of falling water and blocking my way which forced me to climb further uphill until I found the wonderful Corridor Route. Greta Gill had funnelled me onto the scrambly section of the path and brought me back on track, but I was now completely fed up with the idea of doing Scafell Pike and Sca Fell. I had not been looking forward to this walk ever since I booked the hostels, so getting lost just sealed my fate. I no longer wanted to do Scafell Pike and Sca Fell as it no longer seemed worth it. Even though I was now safely on the Corridor Route I had already decided to miss out those two fells.

Walking along the fabulous Corridor Route is always a pleasure, despite the low clouds, and eventually it brought me to Lingmell Col where I turned right away from Scafell Pike and up to the large cairn that marks the summit of Lingmell. There I had my lunch and even though it was only half an hour later than my planned arrival time I started to head down Lingmell towards Wasdale Head. There is a path down the shoulder of Lingmell but is too sketchy at first to provide direction in mist across the broad top so eventually I gave up trying to find it and decided to cross the grassy slopes until I reached the tourist path down Brown Tongue. This is the first time I’d descended this path and it’s horrible. It’s very slippery when wet and very steep so I was quite relieved when I finally reached the bottom and was crossing the foot of Lingmell to reach Wasdale Head. After passing the Inn I took the bridlepath that heads into the delightful Mosedale that I can’t say I’ve visited very often. I was entranced by what I saw of this secluded, unspoilt valley where a lovely, little path gently climbs all the way up to the top of Black Sail Pass. I have only once before been on this path when I came down from the pass in 2004. I remember it back then being heavily eroded, but since then a lot of work has been done to create a great, well-constructed path.

Eventually I reached the top of Black Sail Pass and on the other side was path was in a completely different condition to the smoothly graded path on the other side: it is badly disintegrated, stony and requires some scrambling to negotiate the steep terrain. In some ways it’s horrible, but looked at differently it’s a great rocky path with some fun, challenging scrambly sections down the steep, stony hillside. After passing Black Sail Hut I walked all the way down Ennerdale to the Youth Hostel at the bottom of the valley.  If the weather had been good then I think I would have had no problems doing this walk as planned, but getting lost after Sty Head prevented me from having fun so I had no desire to continue as planned. It is possible that I overreacted when I chickened out of doing Lord’s Rake in the mist, but if it was a mistake then I erred on the side of caution. As it is I had now failed in my challenge to climb all fifty-six fells in the Lake District that are more than two and a half thousand feet high, and so now my challenge was simply to do as many as I could, and with the vagaries of Lakeland weather that is all I ever could have hoped.

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. However, 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 prove to be short-lived. Eventually after slowly climbing the steep side of the fell 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 marked on O.S. maps as the Hanging Stone. That 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 led me up the craggy fell past several possible candidates for the Hanging Stone weaving 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 of 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 reaching the misty surrounds of Great Gable.

Cairns guided my route up the crags and across 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 for me to see it back in place and looking in fine condition. It is a testament to the poor weather that 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 pat across the boulder-strewn top is so rough and steep 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, that I realised I had strayed away from the north-west ridge that I should have been on. By crossing the northern scree slopes I rejoined the correct path which 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 particularly 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 was bringing me to fells that I hadn’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 rain 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 I 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 it stopping for the rest of the afternoon I started to head back towards Borrowdale. From 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 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 Brandreth to eventually join the clear path of the Coast to Coast Walk. This was a long walkout in 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 eventually took me to Honister Hause and ultimately 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 a walk which 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 typical Lakeland weather.