High Rigg: Walking Wainwright's Central Fells

Fell walking in the Lake District is many things, and one thing you certainly can't accuse it of is being repetitive. Not only do you have hundreds of different fells to ascend, but they are of varying distances, difficulties and with a multitude of routes available to ensure you never get bored.

After a long march up Sergeant Man, High Rigg the following day couldn't have been more different. For starters the weather had made a considerable turn for the worse, so much so that when we set off from Ambleside it didn't look like we would be getting any kind of walk in.

The adventure started in the car, the tiny road up to the church of St Johns In The Vale is barely wide enough for one car, with not much scope for passing places either - and we were headed up just as several cars were coming down. Once we were parked up opposite the church, the walk itself was short and sweet, and with the poor weather conditions this was about as good as it was going to get. The fog and rain had lifted slightly, although the higher fells were still shrouded in cloud.

As for the walk itself - there really wasn't a great deal to it. Although there were numerous footpaths criss-crossing the grassy top of High Rigg, it was a simple case of heading upwards until we reached the rocky outcrop that marks the summit. It reminded me in some ways of a miniature version of Loughrigg with its grassy undulating terrain.

Unfortunately the conditions were quite poor and a picnic on the fell was out of the question, so after a little more exploration on the fell top we soon made our way back down the short trek back to the warmth of the car.