Castlerigg Stone Circle

If there is one list that will probably never be exhausted, it is "Things to do in the Lake District". Quite often it's the cause of a bit of a dilemma - on a quick weekend in the Lakes you want to cram in as much as you can, but you also don't want to rush things! Fell walking shouldn't really be rushed as there is always so much to take in, but sometimes time is a luxury you don't have.

My recent broken ankle has put paid to strenuous walks for the future months, but this has given me a chance to look at some of the walks that might get overlooked. This time around I made a trip to Castlerigg Stone Circle - one which has long been on the list. I originally visited Castlerigg back on my first visit to the Lake District with Crag Rat Rainer. Back then we weren't particularly in tune with navigation and so we chose short walks, relying on 50p leaflets from the Moot Hall. Well times may have changed and a leaflet will now set you back 95p, but the fells, lakes and sights are all still there.

Setting off from Keswick along the road towards woods surrounding Brockle Beck we were immediately rewarded with views of Derwentwater and the Newlands fells across the lake, these views just got better and better with every step upwards.

As with lots of the walks around Keswick this one offers plenty of variety. After pausing to say hello to the friendly highland cattle at Springs Farm we took the path heading up through the woods, before heading out across the fields behind Castlerigg campsite. I was surprised to see a fair amount of tents and caravans out in mid October!

From here there were great views over towards the Dodds and the Helvellyn range, and back over to Latrigg and the Skiddaw fells.

After crossing the A591 we headed along a little lane, with the stone circle not yet visible but just beyond. The views here were beautifully framed by the great bulk of Blencathra in the distance.
Soon enough the stile in the stone wall pointed towards the stones, and finally we had arrived at Castlerigg Stone Circle.

I guess you have to arrive either very early or very late to have the place to yourself, but when we arrived there were only a couple of people there. You would have thought that the handful of souls there would have a bit of consideration for the views and pictures that the others wanted to take, but one person evidently thought he was the only one in the world, and stood in the centre of the stones for an eternity, seemingly oblivious of the others stood not far away waiting patiently for him to move. Grrr!

Castlerigg is a pretty enchanting place, perched away from civilisation just far enough from Keswick to make it feel like it inhabits a world of its own. It occupies a beautiful platform stuck between various groups of fells and as well as offering amazing views it is a great place to be.

Souther Fell more Northern Fells fun!

Following some recent roaming around the Skiddaw range, Claire and I had a few hours on our way home from the Lakes, so we headed off the A66 for a quick stop at Mungrisdale village and a nip up the slopes of Souther Fell.

Souther Fell

Strictly speaking this is an extension of the Blencathra range and when coming eastwards on the A66 it is Souther Fell that hides the bulk of Blencathra itself. Its smooth slopes up from the pretty village of Mungrisdale mean an easy enough climb - just right for the day after a long hard slog! If you had a full day it is also a great alternative route up some of the busier neighbouring fells.

looking back towards Mungrisdale

The walk out of the village is steep but easy going up the grassy slopes. Stopping every once in a while the view behind you really stretches out, across the plains to the Pennines and over Little Mell Fell and Great Mell Fell until the Eastern and Far Eastern Fells come into sight.

looking across to the Mell Fells

Without any scrambling to do this might be considered dull by many, but for a quick walk for an hour or two this was just right. The sun was beating down but the relative ease of the fell meant it wasn't too hot. The views juest kept getting better, coming round the curve of the fell we could also see over towards Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crags.

Bannerdale Crags

The summit is a long flat ridge, not at all your typical textbook fell top - but a bit of level walking is always welcome after a steady climb. Once you have reached the summit plains the "saddle" of Blencathra reveals its full glory with great views of some of its classic ridges.

Blencathra rising in the distance

Instead of retracing our steps we carried on westwards slowly coming off the fell until we reached Mousthwaite Comb. Slowly the ants we could see in the distance revealed themselves to be fellow walkers making the pilgrimage up towards Scales Tarn on the way up to Blencathra via Sharp Edge.

Sharp Edge and Foule Crag

When we met the river Glenderamackin we turned back eastwards and followed the stream back along the valley, with steep grassy on either side. The descent off the fell top seemed fairly gentle and it was a suprise to see just how far we had descended when looking back up at Souther Fell.

the return route along the bottom of the valley

The rest of the return journey along the valley was easy walking and we soon walked through the gate that brings you back into the pretty village of Mungrisdale. Did I already mention how pretty Mungrisdale is?!

the gateway to the village

Scenes from Derwentwater

On a recent trip to the Lakes I took a trip on one of the launches on Derwentwater. This offers a  different angle on views of many of the popular fells.

Setting off from the camping barn at Skelgill farm, the boat trip started at Hawes End and going anti-clockwise offered us a nice leisurely ride to Keswick, down to the start of Borrowdale before heading back up the lake.

The views of Catbells over to Maiden Moor and High Spy offer a good view of that popular ridge walk.

Further down and you get a great view of the diminutive Castle Crag as it stands in the jaws of Borrowdale.

As the lauch heads back up the Lake towards Keswick you have a perfect view of the Skiddaw fells and a distant Blencathra.

From the water you cannot really see Keswick at all, and as you can only see a few houses and hotels dotted around the edge of the lake you really get the impression of being away from it all.

This is a great way to spend some time in the Keswick area, with each launch stop offering its own walks and sites.

Blencathra via Sharp Edge

Recounting a walk I did a while ago...enjoy!

This is one of the Lakeland classics. Sharp Edge is a name that commands a certain degree of respect. As Wainwright himself put it; 

"the crest itself is sharp enough for shaving ... and can be traversed only à cheval at some risk of damage to tender parts."

So of course it was that route that crag rat Rainer and myself decided to have a go at. After nearly a week's worth of tough walking, maybe we should have set our sights a little lower but what the hell, when you have flown a thousand miles to come to the Lakes for a precious few days, what's the odd blister or ten between friends?
We walked from Keswick to Scales and that in itself is a pleasant walk, along the old railway path via Threlkeld.

Easy section over with, we headed up the side of the fell behind Scales, heading onwards and upwards. It was quite amazing how the sounds of civilisation and the A66 all but disappeared once we headed round thr ridge onto the path that follows the River Glenderamackin.

We puffed and panted our way up to Scales Tarn in the blazing heat and marveled at the fell-runners who flew effortlessly by.

Scales Tarn really is the perfect picnic spot, as you might expect with this location on a sunny Summer day, we weren't alone but it was still very serene. As we were sat there - as if to top the fell runners - a man ran up to the tarn, jumped right in, swam across then scrambled up the side of Sharp Edge!

Sarnies and cherries finished we headed up onto Sharp Edge.

And, it certainly is sharp - and a great experience despite getting quite giddy looking at the ground drop away either side of you.

The adrenaline was flowing and it was great fun.
What I didn't realise was that Sharp Edge was the easy bit! Immediately after you've crossed the Edge the scamble up Foule Crag and that was real hard work.

The scramble was over before long, and the plateau or Saddle of the summit was reached. We had been up Skiddaw the day before to be surrounded by cloud but this time we were lucky to have a massive view over Lakeland and beyond. Blencathra benefits from its commanding position, not to mention the mass of information Wainwright dedicates to this Fell in his Pictorial Guide to The Northern Fells.




Our descent took us down the more eastern facing flank of the fell, down towards the Blencathra Centre. We then retraced our steps back to the welcoming pubs of Keswick. Definitely one to repeat!

Great Dodd & Watson's Dodd

Following a night in Keswick and a great full breakfast at our b&b we headed out for a Sunday on the fells. We were slightly limited in time, so I decided on Great Dodd and Watson's Dodd as they were more or less in the direction of our home journey, and the distances weren't too great.

Castle Rock from Legburthwaite

We parked up at Legburthwaite with a lovely view of Castle Rock, complete with climbers. The first section was fairly steep and Wainwright's directions were somewhat hard to follow, basically we didn't find find his suggested path around Castle Rock - and we weren't the only ones either, another couple we met on the fells later on had the same problem as us. We did head up through some magical woods before scrambling our way round the rock.

Claire's enchanted woodland

We briefly followed a path round the back of the rock that led us over towards Mill Gill ravine. I think we walked too high up the southern side of the ravine but with the help of a couple of rocks we got across the water without trouble.

Mill Gill

We had another short scramble up to the slopes of Great Dodd, and then the real hard work started! The grassy slope up Great Dodd was very long and pretty steep - a day after our adventures on Barf, Claire must have thought I was doing it on purpose! The route really went on and on, with no change in scenery and Watson's Dodd on our right hand side seemed to tower over us for hours.

hopefully this shows how steep the ascent was!

Eventually the gradient relented and we could finally see the summit of Great Dodd. The views were opening up, with Blencathra north of us, the Helvellyn range to the south and the Far Eastern Fells somewhere behind. It was a shame it was so hazy, as we couldn't really make out distant fells. it was still a gorgeous day and for early March we were really lucky.

Blencathra in the distance beyond Clough Head

The walk from Great Dodd to Watson's Dodd was the first bit of easy walking all day, just following the ridge. It was a shame we didn't have more time, having slogged our way up to the fell tops we had done the hard work and could have enjoyed a couple more fells by following some ridge routes.

looking back to Great Dodd from the summit of Watson's Dodd

Our route back down Watson's Dodd was...pretty much identical to our way up! A long trudge down the steep slopes. At least it was easier going down than up, and we soon made it back down to Castle Rock for a well deserved picnic stop.

the back of Castle Rock and Skiddaw in the distance

We then had a short walk back to the car and easy journey home. A great weekend in the Lakes!

Best of 2010 Part 4 - Showing Mungrisdale Common a bit of love

One of my last walks before starting my new job was a late Autumns walk in the Northern Fells. I had intended to hike up Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crags. It was such a perfect day - there was a slight chill in the air but stepping up the pace a little meant that it wasn't cold. There was absolutely no-one around - the whole day I saw two ladies with a dog, and one lone fell runner.

Bowscale Fell summit

Having made the summit of Bowscale Fell in good time, I decided to push on and have a wander over Mungrisdale Common. Seeing as this fell gets more or less universally slated by all and sundry, including Alfred Wainwright describing its "natural attractions are of a type that appeals only to sheep" I decided if I was on a mission to tick off Wainwrights here was an opportunity to get Mungrisedale out of the way without dragging anyone else up this sorry fell.

Mungrisdale Common

Well having made the admittedly rather dull walk to the "summit" (again admittedly rather dull), I stopped for a breather, and decided I have a soft spot for this little unloved patch of Lakeland. It has a great view of the back of Blencathra, views of the Skiddaw Fells, and a view of the "back o' both" which are similarly often overlooked.

I stood on the upturned bowl that is Mungrisedale Common, and it was my friend for the day.
I had plenty of work cut out for myself afterwards - the only sensible way back to the car was to go via Blencathra and Bannerdale Crags, with more than doubled my planned route. Blame Mungrisedale for tempting me away! The route up from Mungrisedale Common to Blencathra was easy work, especially as I was protected from the howling wind that day - no wonder I saw no-one risking Sharp Edge in those conditions.

the white cross on Blencathra

Once I came around Foule Crag all of a sudden the wind was in my face and it was hard going - I even took my glasses off for fear they would get blown off! The summit of Blencathra was deserted which must have been a rarity. I did spot someone in the distance but that was it. Unfortunately the conditions meant you could not really enjoy the quiet.

Blencathra summit looking along Gategill Fell towards Derwentwater

So a few minutes later I was headed back down towards Bannerdale Crags. I wasn't until I was well off the tops that the winds died down and I settled down for a quick bite to eat and a view back up at Bannerdale Crags and Blencathra.

Blencathra from Bannerdale Crags

From there it was a very pleasant walk back down past Souther Fell back to the quiet village of Mungrisdale. A perfect day out!

arriving back at Mungrisdale village