A Short Walk in the Western Fells

Only the seasoned Wainwright bagger and local residents of West Cumbria will ever have heard of the hill called Grike but for everyone else it's the westernmost of the Wainwrights or Lake District

The early part of the walk looking to Blake Fell

Fells, and stands next to Crag Fell whose far side rises splendidly above Ennerdale Water. In the mist and rain this area is bleak and lonely indeed but when the sun shines it reveals a side of the Lake District most tourists never see. Lonely it certainly is but that is part of its appeal.

Leaving the minor road that links Gosforth and Ennerdale Bridge I followed the track that leads into the hills from just south of Kinniside Stone Circle. The ancient monument itself is well worth a visit before setting out and if you're not walking is a worthwhile destination in itself. The track led over open fields before reaching patchy coniferous forest beyond a gate and climbing at an

easy gradient to meet another track coming up from woodland below. Crossing this trail, the open fellside was gained close to a low col and I took the left hand of two tracks in a roughly easterly direction over open grassland. After a short distance - perhaps a kilometre or so - I left the trail and crossed a stile to climb the sheep cropped turf to the left up to the large cairn on the summit of Grike.

At 488m this is no great height but its position as the westernmost of the Wainwrights affords a wide view over the West Cumbrian Plain and the Irish Sea as well as ahead where the grassland rises steadily towards the more rugged terrain of Pillar, Scoat Fell and Haycock on the horizon. Leaving the cairn I headed on down into the dip between here and Crag Fell which is slightly higher at 523m. The low ground is boggy and it's maybe better to

Pillar Scoat Fell and Haycock from the summit of Grike

return to the track which lies just beyond the communications mast right of the dip but I didn't and got slightly wet.

The top of Crag Fell is impressive for a lesser fell and commands an eye catching panorama of the head of Ennerdale above a steep drop to Ennerdale Water. It is well worth journeying the short distance beyond the cairn to the next minor summit where the view is even better and brought to mind the walk along the top of the Screes from Whin Rigg to Illgill Head above nearby Wastwater.

These lower hills often provide an experience in excess of their stature and these two remote and

The wild head of Ennerdale from Crag Fell

seldom visited summits are no exception though today the weather contributed to the experience with blue skies and far off views forming a backdrop to the empty miles of Lakeland's western rim. What had started as a mere peak bagging exercise to achieve two more ticks towards finishing the Wainwrights became a fine walk in itself.To return I merely headed south from Crag Fell to join the original track further up and follow it back to where I had started for a total outing of just under 9km or 6 miles.

The High Level Route to Pillar - a Venture into Mountaineering

Pillar has always been one of my favorite mountains of the Lake District but for some reason I had never walked the so called High Level Route until a week or so ago which was a shame as it turned out to be one of the best walks in the area. The trail leaves Black Sail Pass; the col that links Wasdale Head with Ennerdale, and initially follows the usual route to Pillar along the first part of the ridge. After Looking Stead which is worth a visit in itself as a viewpoint, a cairn is seen a short way up the path to Pillar. Here a path leads off to the right and follows an exciting route across the rugged mountainsides overlooking the wild upper reaches of Ennerdale and leading to the summit above the great bastion of Pillar Rock.

This route ventures into mountaineering territory though if the path is kept to it remains easy throughout.and is undoubtedly the finest way to Pillar. I wouldn't do it in the snow without the right gear as there are a few places where it wouldn't be good to slip but the path is easy to follow most of the way This is very much a walk on Lakeland's wild side with the unpopulated Ennerdale being below throughout and despite it being a great route I had it to myself today.. The track along Ennerdale makes a great bike ride (MTB) and there's a link at the end of the post to that and also on the route to Black Sail itself.

This is a beautiful bridge (behind the pub at Wasdale Head) but don't cross it as its the wrong way - carry straight on and bear left over a stile into Mosedale for the way to Black Sail.

Looking down to Ennerdale from the first part of the High Level Route - the River Liza and the track to the Black Sail Youth Hostel can clearly be seen. That track is great on a mountain bike.

The way is usually clear and always easy - as long as you don't leave the path...

Looking back along the trail from some way before Robinson's Cairn - the path can clearly be seen with Looking Stead (left) and Great Gable in the distance

From Robinson's Cairn there's a wonderful view of the wild upper reaches of Ennerdale with Great Gable at its head

Ahead from Robinson's Cairn with the 200m high bulk of Pillar Rock barring the way. The route goes up the low rock ridge in the foreground and across the ledge top left - the Shamrock Traverse.

The start of the Shamrock Traverse - it looks daunting from below but the way is wide and not too exposed though You would need to gear up if it was icy.

Above the Shamrock Traverse there are great views back over the top of the Rock to the High Stile Range

Looking back down to the Rock and Ennerdale 2000 feet below from near the summit - High stile and Grasmoor beyond

The summit of Pillar 2928ft is level ground in contrast to the route we've just followed; Great Gable, Great End Scafell Pike and Scafell beyond.

The way down to Wasdale (or Ennerdale) is by the usual route to Pillar. Here's a link to the bike trail through Ennerdale and the first part of the Four Valleys Walk describes the way to Black Sail Pass from Wasdale.

Pete Buckley Sept 2015
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The Lake District Four Valleys Walk

The approximate route taken without diversions

The topography of the western Lake District is so aligned that four of the seven main valleys converge on the relatively small area between Great Gable and Honister Pass. The advantage of this to the hiker is that these four valleys can be linked by a circular walk through some of the finest scenery in the National Park that is no more than a longish day's outing in the fells.

This route which I've called here the Four Valleys Walk leaves Wasdale Head to cross Black Sail into Ennerdale before skirting the very upper reaches of the Buttermere valley and returning over Brandreth and Green Gable to Styhead Tarn in Borrowdale. From here the return is over Styhead Pass to Wasdale and the start point. My deviation to the fell called Base Brown - the only Wainwright in the region I had not climbed - added 2 miles and considerable ascent but a better diversion would be Great Gable if you haven't been up there before. Without deviations it's a walk of 15k or about nine and a half miles and an ascent of 3700ft. Great Gable adds 500 feet of ascent and perhaps half a mile (you can return from the summit directly to Styhead) while my version was eleven and a half miles and 4200 feet of ascent which fully justified the pint in the Head afterwards.

If some of the photos look as though they were taken on different days it's because they were - my camera died and I was forced to dig out old pictures along the route and no - I did not spend the whole day in the Wasdale Head Hotel!

Pillar and Mosedale in early morning light

There was something satisfying about being up at 6AM in a Wasdale Head that I seemed to have completely to myself. A short breakfast and I headed up past the pub and along the bank of the stream - the route here goes left in front of the shop, past the bar entrance at the side and right along the river bank - until I left the valley track and turned left into Mosedale with Pillar at its head and the seemingly unbroken wall of Yewbarrow and Red Pike on the left. For a while at least I was alone as the early light painted the fells in rich reds and golds that revealed every fold of the hills.

The path soon steepened as the climb to Black Sail was reached and hard work replaced serenity. After crossing the stream I climbed steeply to gain the upper valley before the gradient relented. The line of sunlight moved steadily lower until it reached me as I gained Black Sail Pass. Here I left the Wasdale Valley and entered the wilds of Ennerdale; the upper reaches of which are only accessible to the walker and the mountain biker as no road extends up here.

Walking up Mosedale from Wasdale Head at dawn

After pausing to admire the sublime scenery of the pass - if you head a short way north west along the ridge to Looking Stead the views are even better - I followed the path down in warm sunlight to the wooden footbridge that crosses the River Liza in the valley floor. The valley here is still a thousand feet above sea level so its a short descent and a nice one in almost any weather. This area is one of my favorite in the Lakes and always reminds me more of the remote Scottish highlands than the relatively busy Lake District but the hordes don't come here - they would have to walk too far from their cars! After the bridge which is a short distance up the path from the Youth Hostel I headed right towards Great Gable at the head of Ennerdale. For this walk it's essential to follow one of the paths up to the left before a prominent ridge is reached that rises ahead to Green Gable. The path to the right of this is the route to Great Gable but that's another walk.

Black Sail Pass is the route into Ennerdale from Wasdale

Presently I joined a good path that climbed steeply in a shady gully to gain the edge of the plateau above. The route isn't obvious from nearer the Youth Hostel but it becomes clear as the aforementioned ridge is approached. From up here on the high ground connecting Haystacks with Brandreth and Grey Knotts a new vista opened up of the Buttermere valley with Grasmoor beyond and following the path roughly eastwards past a fence took me into the heathery upper reaches of that valley towards Fleetwith Pike and Honister. That is where this path heads to but only as far as where it met the Honister to Great Gable path.

My first actual summit of the morning  - and it was still early - was Brandreth which I reached after 3000 feet of ascent and sat down to enjoy the views down to Buttermere and Crummock Water on one side and my final valley of Borrowdale on the other. From here it was just a case of following the wide easy ridge towards Green Gable though I deviated to Base Brown which was the one

The beautiful upper part of Ennerdale is 6 miles from the road

"Wainwright" of the area I had not climbed. It was a a nice place for lunch but further than it looked and meant I had ascended precisely 4000 feet by the time I'd reached Green Gable. The path up on the left side of the ridge led on to Great Gable but I had no need to go up again - it's a steep and stony climb but not hard and well worth doing if you haven't been up before though there are easier ways up Great Gable than trekking through four Lakeland valleys!

My way led finally down to the left which again was very rough and stony at first but soon met a path constructed of stone steps that made the going easier down to Styhead Tarn about a thousand feet lower in the Upper part of the fourth valley - Borrowdale. In places the river must run a little way underground as it can be heard out of sight below the stones - frustrating if you had run out of water on a warm day. The path

The path crosses the River Liza just above the Youth Hostel

here to the left goes to Seathwaite while my route led a little way up to Styhead Pass and on down back to Wasdale Head which comes into sight just after the pass indicating that it is all downhill from here. Once in the valley, the path passes the Church of St Olaf which is reputedly England's smallest before emerging at the Green just past the small campsite. From here the pub is not far...

High Stile and Grasmoor frame the Buttermere Valley

Pete Buckley April 2015

Pillar and Ennerdale from the summit of Green Gable

Styhead Tarn in the upper reaches of Borrowdale with Great End beyond

Back into Wasdale Head from Styhead Pass after coming full circle