Half past Eight saw me walking alone up the valley of Mosedale in the chill shadow of the valley while above, the tops of the higher hills were bathed in a golden glow and behind me Scafell jutted above the intervening fells like a dark tooth outlined against the rising sun. At this hour there is a quality of light that just seems to fade away as the day goes on.
I had had an early breakfast and set off as it was too cold to sit around - even now it was only 3 degrees C and while I was warm walking, the tips of my fingers tingled in the cold air. My route had turned left in front of the shop and right after passing the entrance to the bar at the Wasdale Head Inn before leading through trees beside the stream - you don't cross the stream by the pub - and over a stile to enter Mosedale.Now my first objective - Pillar - towered ahead while the impossibly steep slopes of Kirk Fell rose to my right. The track was at first fairly level before it climbed to cross a river then ascended by zig zags more steeply for a couple of hundred feet.
The way to Black Sail Pass now lay ahead through a high valley in a wonderful stillness broken only by the sound of distant streams. I ignored the short cut which misses out the pass and followed this before climbing the last bit to where the top of the pass was lit by the rising Sun and I crossed into a world of sunlight and warmth with the vast space of Upper Ennerdale ahead.
The path to Pillar leads to the left from the Black Sail, passing a small tarn and keeping just below the ridge at first though a short diversion to Looking Stead - one of the best vantage points in the Western Fells - iswell worthwhile. After Looking stead the ridge climbs in a series of steps with 2 sections of easy scrambling each followed by swathes of sheep cropped turf before the final climb with spectacular views down some precipitous gullies on the right. The summit appears all of a sudden as the final rise is topped.
The top of Pillar is a wide flat space unexpected from below. The best views are to be had from the cairn on its northern edge where the rocky escarpment overlooks the River Liza flowing through Ennerdale's woodlands to Ennerdale Water 2500 feet below. A path leads down towards the top of Pillar Rock and for any exploration of that side of the mountain it should be stuck to - the slope being precipitous. Pillar Rock itself is no place for walkers!
Leaving Pillar, I set off down the path towards Wind Gap and Scoat Fell which became rougher and stonier the further down I went until I reached the ridge known as Wind Gap - not to be confused with Windy Gap which is the one between Great Gable and Green Gable. There is surprisingly an ascent route to this high col from Wasdale Head but it doesn't look like fun - very steep loose scree most of the way by the look of it! The decent was followed by a marginally easier ascent over the summit of Black Crag - not a separate fell in Wainwright's list but a fine top nontheless with its cairn perched near the cliff edge - and a grassy stroll to the wall running along the top of Scoat Fell.
Wainwright describes the walk along the narrow ridge to the intriguingly named Steeple as "Ten enjoyable minutes" and that's exactly what it is. The ridge is in a sensational position jutting out over the precipitous Ennerdale side of the fells and the small summit of steeple gives almost a bird's eye view of the shadowed northern crags of the range dropping to the verdant Ennerdale valley.
One day in November me and Jacqui had it to ourselves - a day when the snow clung to the ledges and whitened the tops and the distant Scottish hills stood out as clear and white across the Solway Firth...
Today haze hid the distant prospects and several people milled around up here but it is still one of the best places in the Lake District to have lunch! Reluctantly leaving, I recrossed the ridge - which presents no difficulty if the path is kept to - and returned to Scoat Fell. Up until now - apart from my solitary walk to Black Sail that morning - there had been a steady stream of walkers but as I headed west down the broad ridge towards the rounded form of Haycock they thinned out to just the occasional group. The far western fells here have a remoter feel than the popular summits closer to the head of Wasdale.
Haycock was a steady climb with the leg muscles starting to realise how far I'd already walked and its wide stony summit revealed open views to the Irish Sea and a hazy Isle of Man across the West Cumbria Plain and the empty valley of the River Bleng which streched away towards the coast. How many of the tourists in Bowness and Ambleside have even heard of the River Bleng?
The home stretch of my route lay back to the col before Haycock and down an equally remote valley to the South. I had the fells to myself once more as I descended the valley of Nether Beck which would take me back to the shores of Wastwater by Nether Beck Bridge. The path here was still easy to follow but had clearly seen much less use than the previous trails I'd been on. It led down grassy fellsides below craggy outcrops and past a destinctive perched boulder over to the right. Always downhill, now through bracken besides the tumbling stream of Nether Beck, the route passed a waterfall and crossed the stream coming down from the right to follow a ravine below on the left before the first trees indicated I was approaching the valley. A slightly damp short cut is possible to the bridge and cuts off a section of road if Wasdale Head is the destination but don't try and cross the beck as it's a steep drop down and the bridge is far easier and drier.
The road walk was soon over and I was back at the Green having walked 21 km or nearly 14 miles which is a bit more than my usual 8-10 miles - I deserved that pint in the Head!
Summits >>> Pillar 892m/2927ft >>> Scoat Fell 841m/2759ft >>> Steeple 819m/2687ft >>> Haycock 797m/2615ft
Essentials >>> 13.5 miles or 21km of walking >>> 3550 feet or 1080m of ascent >>> Start and finish at Wasdale Head >>> Here's the route up Pillar from Buttermere
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