Seatallan

Second walk of the summer and we were off to Wasdale to make the most of the long days.  As its a long drive to the Western Fells, Peter came for me at 6.00 am.  We arrived in Wasdale at the entrance to Windsor Farm around 8.30 and parked up.  We got ready and I was trying out my new knee braces for the first time thanks to Peacocks Medical Group.  Hopefully they would support my knees today and help me finish the remaining 14 tops.

Early morning view of Sellafield and the coast

We set off walking before 9.00 am and began climbing straight away, walking up the road towards Windsor Farm.  Just before the farm we took a right signed Bridleway and followed the wall past the farm onto the fells.  The path we were on was heading towards Iron Crag (save that one for another day).  We wanted to veer off to the right towards Seatallan, our target for today.

This was the direction we were heading, over the top of this rise.

It was a long, slow slog towards Cat Bields over boggy, tufty grass.  Also at this time we got a bit of a shower and the temperature was dropping.  As the rain eased off a little we decided to have a cuppa and a little bait.

Boggy walk towards Cat Bields

We were still climbing steadily all the way and the top was shrouded in mist.  There was only a faint path too which would be difficult to pick up on the way down, so Peter ingeniously drew some arrows in the mud so we could find the way back down.

A very misty summit

We reached the top just after 11.30, a trig point and a shelter but unfortunately we couldn't see past them.  On a clear day it would have been a great view from up here but sadly not today.  It was a good job Peter drew those arrows as the mist was making directions very difficult.

Descent through the ferns

It was actually quite cold now so we dropped down off the top as quickly as possible, out of the mist. We got back down to Cat Bields and had a choice whether to turn right to go back the way we came up or left down by the side of Buckbarrow through these ferns.

Looking back up towards Cat Bields

We took the left turn down through the ferns until we reached a path for the descent back down to the road.

Back down to the car

The path was actually quite steep although my knees were doing fine thanks to the knee braces. These braces have lateral support around the knee rather than the simple neoprene bandage I got from Boots.  They were certainly providing much better support today, so thanks again to Peacocks.

Gill Beck

Buckbarrow

The Screes

We got back to the car at 1.15, somewhere around 19,000 steps and just under 7 miles and top number 58 in the bag.

See you on the next one hopefully in September.

Yewbarrow

This is a rare occurrence, 2 walks in 2 weeks but we wanted to make the most of the summer we have been having before we both take our holidays later this month.  We had already decided to head over to Wasdale so it was an early start.  Peter came for me at 6.00 am on the dot and we set off for the west coast.

As we drove down the A1 towards Scotch Corner, it was raining quite heavy but with a huge rainbow and a little sunshine.  We realised it was going to be a day  of mixed blessings with the weather.  Its a long drive over to Wasdale, even when you pass Blencathra you know you still have about an hour to go.

We arrived around 8.45 at the car park next to Overbeck bridge, there was only one other car here.  We had our pies and set off walking at exactly 9.00 am.  Leaving the car park from the far right hand corner we began walking in dense ferns, eventually arriving at a couple of newly built gates and also a newly laid path.

Our task today was clearly marked out in front of us, simply follow the wall up to just below the crags and then move around to the left of the crags, climbing towards the summit.

Yewbarrow

View back to Wast Water

It was immediate climbing too, making for a very tough first half hour or so.  As we reached the second stile we followed the path away from the wall around to the left of Dropping Crag.  Once we got onto the crags we began scrambling.  It was also getting windier the higher we got.

Onwards and Upwards

As we reached the Great Door you could see the type of  views you would have had on a clear day.  It was too windy to take my bag off to get a photo though as it was literally difficult to stand up.  We climbed higher beyond the Great Door over an exposed ridge and decided to take shelter out of the wind and have a cuppa.  The wind was ferocious at this stage and we contemplated turning back as it was too dangerous.   We were so close though and it would be a shame not to chalk off a top when we were so close.  So we decided to carry on.

Very windy summit

It was worth the effort as we reached the summit about 15 minutes later.  It was very windy as you can see from the picture above but it was clearing and we could see some of the bigger tops right next to us.  Kirk Fell, Great Gable and in the far distance Skiddaw.  The Scafels were right next to us but the summits were shrouded in cloud all day.  Likewise Pillar was on the other side of Yewbarrow but also had a covering of cloud. 

We dropped off the top, down towards Dore Head.  We could see Red Pike in between the clouds but we could also see the steep drop to begin climbing again.  So we decided Yewbarrow was enough today and found an excellent bait stop looking straight at Kirk Fell.  We sat here for 10 or 15 minutes before setting off over the crags to the grassy slopes below.  Once we got down the the grassy slope we turned left and followed the path back towards the car park

Whilst Yewbarrow is one of the smallest mountains in our quest, it was  not without its challenges.  A steep ascent at first, scrambling over crags, an excellent view to reward our climb, wind and then further crags on the way down.  All in all another great day on the fells and number 45 out of 71 done!

We plan to be back in September. 

Surveying todays conquest

Scafell Pike

We are managing to get a few walks in lately in training for The Three Peaks Challenge next month. I wanted to check progress and see how quickly I could do Scafell Pike so me and Peter set off for Wasdale just before 6.30. Steve was away this weekend so couldn't make it. It was a very wet morning as we left the north east on the long drive to Wasdale. We arrived there about 9.15, the car park was very busy with mini buses and camping stoves, lots of three peakers were taking advantage of what was allegedly mid summer!

Neither of us had a chance to get pies yesterday so we had a couple of slices of pizza leftover from last night and set off walking at 9.30. We crossed the stream and started a steady climb pretty much straight away. After about half an hour we reached the fast flowing stream again and crossed it. The path got steeper now and was made up of small, smooth rocks and it was clear they were going to be slippy coming back down! It was not raining at this point and was actually quite warm, after another half hour we reached a fork in the path and we took the right side towards Mickledore. Up to this point we were surrounded by bus loads of walkers but they all took the left path. We had a 10 minute sit down and a cuppa and put on the water proofs as it was starting to rain and getting very cold considering it was June. The path climbed into the crags and became very steep on very wet scree. Finally to reach the summit of Mickledore we had a rough scramble. At the top was a Mountain Rescue store where I stopped for a minute to catch my breath and then set off for the final summit.

The last 25 minutes was then a walk over large rocks, being very careful where to place your feet because one foot wrong could easily break an ankle. We reached the summit of the highest mountain in England at exactly noon so 2.5 hours ascent was exactly on target. We stopped for a quick photo (above) and then set off back down. This time we set off on the path that would take us back to the other junction of the fork. It seemed like a less direct route but without the climb, it was certainly busier. As most of the path was made up of the slippy stones it was quite a slow descent for me. We stopped for a cuppa and some bait for around 25 minutes, far too long when we come to do the Three Peaks proper. It rained most of the way back down so the water proofs stayed on all the way to the car park.

We got back to the car park at 2.50 exactly so 5 hours 20 minutes not the fastest but bearing in mind the weather and 2 stops, not bad.

With the Three Peaks in 3 weeks still lots of training to do but heading in the right direction.