|
|
|
The Fellwalker by Peter John Farnworth
WALK 20 AUGUST 1978With this area being well off the beaten track, and the time it takes to get here from home, I decided to bring the tent. Yes, the tent. I remembered Walks 1 and 15 very well indeed! With the luck I had on those two walks, I was looking for better weather. So we are heading for Wasdale Head, Wastwater, for a three-day break; hopefully to walk seven summits within those three days. Arrived Friday 25th at 5.00pm. Removed all the equipment needed for the stay and then started to haul it up towards Black Sail Pass. From a point midway along the Pass, we headed to the valley of Mosedale, where we set up camp. Time now 7.30pm. Weather at time is clear and warm and we were looking forward to an early start tomorrow. SATURDAY 26th What’s the saying, "When it rains in the Lake District, it drops like golf balls!" More like cannon balls!!! It never stopped raining till about dinnertime, so we just sat there in the tent till it eased off. After a meeting of two, we decided to put the waterproofs on and head for the summit of Kirk Fell by following Black Sail Pass to its head. From here it was straight up the fell side to the summit. The rain started to come down again, so it was about-turn and back down, but that’s the big problem with tenting - if it rains there is no where to dry your wet clothes. Later in the day, the sun came out so it was a pegging job on the nearest rock. That’s the Lake District for you!
Mountains walked that day: Kirk Fell 34 [[]] SUNDAY 27th Woke up wondering what the day would be like. The sun was shinning and this made us feel much better. Today we will be walking the Mosedale Horseshoe. After a good fry-up, we left camp and headed towards our first objective, Looking Stead. This is just away from the head of Black Sail Pass, to your left as you walk up, and points the way to the summit of Pillar. There has been so much written about this summit, all I can say about it is this is a very popular rock-climbers area with the very well known Pillar Rock and other rock faces to climb. To get to this pinnacle you have got to take the high-level route from just past Looking Stead below the crags to your left on the Ennerdale side. And look out for Robinson’s Cairn as this will point the way to the Rock. This is also a good traverse to the summit but keep to the path as danger is about if you stray from it. But we will be giving it a miss today and taking the ridge route. This is the easy way to this summit, following the rim of the fell to Scoat Fell. From here we will go to Steeple. This is not a part of this Horseshoe and all I can say to you is, if you get this far just make the effort and go to this summit and you will be well rewarded as you stand there enjoying the magnificent views down the Ennerdale valley. From here we returned back to Scoat Fell, still following the rim of the fell to Red Pike. From here you come to a point between here and Yewbarrow, called Dore Head. This is the scree slope I mentioned in Walk 15. From here it was straight down to the valley floor. On our way back we called at Ritsons Force (waterfall) for a swim. As I walked along the stream towards the waterfall, it got deeper the near I got. I was about eight feet away when all of a sudden I went under. Now I stand six-feet-two inches tall and my feet never touched the bottom. I honestly thought it was one of those underground waterways ending up maybe two miles away. I tell you, I was out of there before you could shout "Jack Flash!"' Mountains walked that day: Pillar 8 Scoat Fell 22 Steeple 28 Red Pike 26 [[]] Diagram & Stats
|
