TR: fine winter walking round Haweswater



M

Mark Manning

Guest
(This is a TR from last weekend; a magnificent Saturday, and a
still-not-bad Sunday made for a great round. GeoffC posted a fine TR
here; I did a walk covering much of the ground he did, but on different
days. There are fine pictures of his at http://www.v-g.me.uk.)

Left the car at the junction of the Manchester Corporation private
road near NY 528 157, and headed down the road towards Burn Banks. Last
time I was here, the village looked a little dowdy; new building has given
it an air of life again. Then on to the common behind the village and the
long but easy ascent to Wether Hill through an area of hillocks. A fine
day was in prospect; there was some sun, plenty of broken cloud to keep
changing the light on the hills, and no wind to speak of at all. It
looked as if there was no more than a light dusting of snow on the tops,
and I regretted toting my ice axe. The last time I'd been here there were
gales on the tops; when I reached the ridge, there was no more than a
gentle breeze. The tussocky grass held patches of snow. It was here that
I met my first fellow-walkers of the day.

I searched half-heartedly for Wether Hill's top (not easy to locate
on a pretty flat plateau), but gave up and headed towards High Raise.
On the way, the snow started to deepen, and there were one or two areas
where I reached playfully for my axe; it wasn't really needed (and indeed
I could easily have skirted any deep snow), but it was nice actually to
use the axe for the first (and probably only) time this winter, and to
hear the crunch of a boot in icy snow. Met a couple of cycle parties
during the day, heading along to Wether Hill; I think we were all a little
surprised by the conditions, as there hadn't appeared to be this much snow
when viewed from the valley. Very fine views west to the Helvellyn range;
I could see why the Lake District Weatherline was recommending full winter
kit there. Then a stop for lunch on Rampsgill Head, enjoying the views
and the sunshine. The sun was surprisingly warm (in the absence of any
real wind), and a number of people were walking in T-shirts; unusual when
there's snow on the ground!

I walked on the east of the wall heading to High Street, above the
Straits of Riggindale. The precipice comes close to the wall in places,
but this wasn't a serious worry, even under these conditions. Plenty of
people at the top of High Street, as always. I needed some water by now,
so I headed along the escarpment to Mardale Ill Bell (a little gingerly in
places), stopping to collect water from the feeder stream for Blea Water.
I'd originally intended to camp above Blea Water, but there was still
quite a bit of daylight left, so I headed down to the Nan Bield Pass and
up the other side to Harter Fell. Almost everyone had left the hills now,
to be able to get down in the light (or to get to a pint or a tea-shop, I
assume), so I had the top to myself. The breeze, whilst still quite
light, was quite cool.

I camped close to AW's "third cairn" with its fine view over
Haweswater. The first time I'd camped on a fell top, but well worth it
for the view. Cooked dinner by natural light, and then settled down for
the night. I didn't seem to be worried by the prospect of a cold night,
and indeed I didn't need to be: although my bag was only rated as -5
Celsius, I was so seriously snug wearing a couple of fleeces that I took
one off about midnight to insulate the water bottle from the ground.
Just as well I did this! The trick was getting a Z-lite in addition to my
Thermarest; the extra insulation from the frozen ground made all the
difference. I slept very well; but then I always do in the hills.

Opened the tent to a land covered with hoar-frost, but the sky was
clear. There was a thin coating of ice on the inside of my inner tent, so
it had been a cold night (I'd estimate about -7 Celsius). I was on my way
again by about 0900, and headed down towards Gatescarth Pass. I was
originally going to go over Branstree to Tarn Crag, but spotted that it
would be possible to contour from Gatescarth Pass to the Mosedale col.
This wasn't quite easy, as there was a lot of boggy ground; fortunately a
sheep track provided an easy route above it. I kept to the Mosedale side
of the fence in the ascent, which was a mistake, as there's a fair path on
the Longsleddale side. And the tussocky grass made the ascent hard work!
Then the easy descent and reascent (less than 60m) to Grey Crag. I'd
actually thought of doing the approaches from the A6 to this hill over the
weekend, and it was good finally to see the four ridges displayed with the
Pennines beyond. But they don't really seem very interesting hills. As
AW says, "this is fine open country, but it is not Lakeland".

Then back over Tarn Crag and up steepish slope to the top of
Branstree. Had lunch near Artlecrag Pike, which is when the snow hit;
fortunately it was just fine particles, and there were no problems with
the visibility. Stopped at Selside Pike for a last look at the hills, and
then followed mini-tractor tracks down. This proved a good move; the
tracks were easy to spot and follow, and it was straightforward to head in
the right direction. (I have navigated this section more formally before,
but the ground was less even, and of course more brainwork was involved!)
Finally got to the car about 1515. I had been wrong about having a "final
look at the hills" from Selside Pike; I could still see its cairn from the
car! A fine weekend, with a perfect winter Saturday, and a well
worthwhile Sunday.

Mark
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Mark Manning [email protected]