Date: 20-Apr-2010
Map: Landranger 89, 90, OL4
Weather: Mixed but mainly sunny, with a
chill wind.
From the forest car park at Darling How,
up to Graystones, over to Broom Fell and Lord's Seat.
Through the forest to Whinlatter and back down below Aitken
to the car:
7.8 miles as measured on memory map.
Good
weather this week and everyone else was busy, so I browsed
my Wainwright list and decided on Whinlatter. I was going to
do Grasmoor but my knee is still hurting and high winds may
have blown me off the higher fells. So I plumped for the
ones I'd missed when I walked up Barf in December, and only
managed 2 out of the 5 on the round - so I polished off the
other three today including Graystones, Broom Fell and
Whinlatter. I took the road through Braithwaite along the
Whinlatter Pass and noted that there are plenty of routes up
and into the Whinlatter Forest. I parked up near to Darling
How and walked down into the valley before ascending in a
direct line up to Graystones. My legs howled in protest at
the lack of a warm up and the backs of my calves were really
sore, the remnants of last weeks walk. It was bad enough
that that the knee wasn't so good and I had it strapped up
in a neoprene support bandage - I ended up like a Forrest
Gump lookalike, only not so fast. But I was in no rush and
knew that this was the only real pull of the day.
looking down to Scawgill Bridge just after
the start
on my way up to Graystones
my legs struggled up here
Grisedale Pike across the valley
I took
plenty of stops on the way. I decided to use my camera in
auto mode today as I have a big backlog of pictures to
process - let the camera do the work. It was mixed weather
but with a very chill wind, and higher up it was cold - so
it was a three layer day with mitts, until I was in the sun
then it was too warm. I soon made headway, with most of the
view behind me to Grisedale Pike - as with all lakeland
fells I've been on they look very different from the other
side. Whinlatter Forest has been harvested in lots of ugly
patches here and there, but there's a nice whiff of pine
when the wind blows through. Scawgill Bridge just down the
road from where I had parked looked good in the sun as I
headed up the hillside above an old quarry. The path was
barely discernable, so I kept the wall
to the right until it ran out. I could see the
bigger Derwent Fells beyond Grisedale Pike, good views to
start the day and very peaceful - a change of pace for
me to walk solo for a change. All of the fells I walked
today were of a similar height around 1500ft to 1700ft - so
once I was up on the top of Graystones it was a gentle
perambulation up and down to the next fells - no really
steep drops or climbs. The next stop was over to Broom Fell,
and I could see the few Wainwrights to the north of me -
Ling Fell, Sale Fell, and Binsey - all walked at my Wasdale
weekend. I took a check on my navigation to make sure I
headed for the right summit and dropped off the top of
Graystones. Notable today was that every summit had some
walkers on at the same time I was up on my empty summits -
obviously I couldn't see up to the bigger fells, but the
ones I could see were busy.
looking over to Fellbarrow and Melbreak
up on top of Graystones
the summit cairn on Broom Fell
The ground up here would
normally be a bit boggy and mossy, but it was quite dry
underfoot and skylarks began to be more populous - but they
aren't singing for another month or two. I only saw one
grouse today, practicing flying up out of the heather before
it gets shot later in the year. I only passed by a few
people today, but all were happy and well wrapped up.
Significantly in the forest trails there were plenty of
people clad in denim and trainers, slavishly following the
numbered posts - protected from the elements by the forest -
until it pees down! I met a couple of guys who were playing
tick as they made sure that they touched each summit pole or
cairn - nut they didn't stop to admire the views - each to
their own I suppose. Up on Broom Fell there were good views
from the cairn over to Skiddaw, the Derwent Fells and the
Solway Firth to the north. But it was windy today and it
must have been bitter up on the higher ground. I had a
gentle stroll across to Lord's Seat and could have trotted
off to Barf - the hill not me, but I'd already experienced
the delights of that one. I didn't hang around as I didn't
want to get stiff legged in the cold, so I took a heading
down and across into the forest across the mossy heather
clad slopes.
the view over to Lord's Seat and Skiddaw
the Derwent Fells
looking back to Broom Fell and Graystones
the Skiddaw massif
from Lord's Seat
lots of volcanic ash up
above but out of sight
lots of ripple marks at my lunch spot
As I progressed there were plenty of glimpses
of Skiddaw through the trees. I walked past some delightful
clumps of moss looking like a mini forest and found a nice
lunch spot along a sheltered forest ride. I sat beneath a
crumpled rock face in the sunshine and enjoyed the warmth of
the sun for a while. I had to take care walking along the
forest rides as they are not always the same as printed on
the map - but my GPS guided me well and I followed my trail
and picked my way through - but it would be easy to get
disoriented in here as they all look the same. I came out of
the woods onto Tarbarrel Moss, which was dry and had a
decent path alongside the fence and wall. It ran down and
then up to a slight ridge that takes you over to Whinlatter.
Ahead of me now was Grisedale again and over to my right was
my earlier route. High up in the sky were alto cirrus clouds
or could it be the volcanic dust from Iceland - I'm due back
to work this week and this might stop it, but I should be
careful for what I wish for.
a moss forest
Grisedale Pike again from near Whinlatter
looking over to Graystones from Whinlatter
Skiddaw in the background from Whinlatter summit
the summit cairn
The gentle ups and downs led me
up to the summit of Whinlatter, before turning north again
to follow the contours around to the end of the plantation.
My knees didn't feel too bad today despite the steep drop
off the top, thankfully on mossy ground. I clipped the
corner of a wood and then the path dropped directly downhill
through a recently felled wood below Aitken. There was a lot
of wood lying around casually, and it tried to trip me up
frequently - the sneaky things nearly succeeded a couple of
times as well. Back on the forest ride it was a gentle
descent back to the car, and with the wind whistling through
the trees my ears were quiet for a change - I couldn't hear
my tinnitus, which was a good thing. The walk above Aitken
Beck was pleasant, and I could have nipped over to Spout
Force for a look at the falls but didn't as there's not a
lot of water around at the moment. I got back to the car and
it was still there - always a bonus to see it parked up.
Three more ticked off and a brilliant little walk.
looking back to Lord's Seat
the view over to Graystones
steeply back down through Aitken Plantation to
Aitken Beck
Graystones and the track back to the car
Where now:
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