Castle Crag and the Borrowdale Valley

The green and wooded valley of Borrowdale is home to some of the best walking in the Lake District, as well as to some of the best views. There are a number of well known summits to be ascended from here; Scafell Pike, Great Gable and Glaramara among others, but the lower level routes are just as beautiful, owing to the lush vegetation that abounds in this valley. One of these is the short hike from the Youth Hostel to Castle Crag with a return along the River Derwent which I recently did with my son Ben after a stay at Borrowdale Youth Hostel. A modest height of 985 feet makes for an easy ascent but the views are

The early part of the walk

stunning...

Setting out we followed the path from the youth hostel along the west bank of the river, heading downstream or northwards, until the wooded peak of Castle Crag appeared ahead through the trees. This path is part of the route known as the Cumbria Way that goes from Ulverston to Carlisle, a walk of 5 days. We left it at this point to follow another path to the left across open fields before re-entering woodland before a short but steep ascent gave us great views back to the head of Borrowdale.

After the steeper section we passed an interesting high valley on our left which Ben declared would be a good place to live - I was inclined to agree but thankfully no building is allowed up here! Now our route turned up to the right and crossed a stile into more woods. After the stile we took a path heading up to the right that soon brought us up a steep stony section, the top of which gives some spectacular views of the head of Borrowdale and the high fells beyond. A little further along the path is the top of Castle Crag where a beautiful vista extends

Ben contemplates the Borrowdale valley

northwards to Derwentwater and Skiddaw framed by the forested walls of the Borrowdale Valley.

After a brief exploration of the old quarry area below the summit, we returned to the stile and continued down to the right through more woods and steeply down to join another well marked path - this is part of another long distance walk known as the Allerdale Ramble - and followed it down below the precipitous ramparts of Castle Crag, impressive from this angle, until just after re-entering the woods, we once again reached the River Derwent, 

An idyllic spot by the river where the trees overhung the shingle banks invited a lunch stop and some more photos, before we headed back, following the river in a southerly direction towards our start point. Continuing the way we had been going would take you to Grange (there is a pub here) and for the more

Borrowdale from Castle Crag

energetic, to Derwentwater and Keswick. Our route back lay along a good path through the woods, a peaceful landscape of temperate rainforest, back towards Rosthwaite and passing an interesting cave up on the right. 

This walk was Ben's first Wainwright and is a fine outing with kids, having many points of interest and not being too long. It's just under 4 miles starting from the Youth Hostel and slightly less again from Rosthwaite.  A good bus service runs up and down the Borrowdale Valley and the main road can be reached over a stone bridge by Grange village. You come out not far from the Bowder Stone. 

Distant Skiddaw and Derwentwater

Scafell Pike's somewhere up there...

The way down, Castle Crag on the right

An idyllic place for lunch

Walking Wainwright's Hills... The Last One

There was no way I was getting across this river without getting wet. The path ahead clearly led beneath the fast flowing current to a point where it was hard to judge the depth. Further investigation up and down stream brought me to the same conclusion that this was the intended ford and that the recent heavy rain had raised the water level to such a degree that any stepping stones were well submerged. Faced with this prospect near the end of a walk where the alternative was to retrace one’s steps, it would have been into the water with walking poles at the ready to aid balance but lacking any desire to do the walk soaked through on a not so warm November morning, I admitted defeat and returned to the main path to look at my alternatives.

My map showed the path leading southwards up the Mosedale valley from Loweswater following the course of Mosedale Beck which was the name of the river. The most important feature I noticed on the map though was a footbridge a little under two miles from my present position. My map was a recent one which gave me high confidence that the bridge would still be there so I set off to find it.

The path was good if a little wet, and led up a wide and wild looking valley between windswept grassy hills. It does eventually join the Floutern Tarn path, another notoriously damp route that links Buttermere with the Ennerdale valley, but I would be leaving it at that point. With a sense of relief I reached the bridge and it took me over the stream which was less formidable than lower down and I followed the path on and slowly around to the right with the crags of Great Borne walling the valley ahead and to my left. My way led up the grassy slopes to my right and I presently followed a faint path that climbed, steeply at first and then more gradually until the uphill ran out and I stood on the modest grassy summit of Hen Comb.

Surrounded by views of this relatively remote area of Lakeland under grey November skies, I found a lunch spot sheltered from the wind and removed my copy of Wainwright’s Western fells from my rucksack along with a pen and placed a tick in the single remaining gap in the list of fells at its start. That was the 214th tick I had made in the seven volumes meaning that I had finished my quest to complete the Wainwrights.

It had been a journey that had taken me to all the regions of the Lake District, both to popular summits as well as the less frequented and one that had begun many years earlier, though it had only been during the last couple of years that I had decided to summit them all. Why the lowly Hen Comb as the last one? well – there had never been a plan but the Loweswater area along with a couple of unfinished Buttermere fells required an overnight stay owing to their distance from home and had simply been left until last for that reason.

Did I feel a sense of achievement? Certainly, though despite subsequent admiring comments from other hikers on the same quest, the completion of any ambition is one of personal satisfaction and only of passing interest to others, unless of course it is a “first” and there are precious few of those left! I returned the book to my rucksack and finishing my spicy bean burger wrap, shouldered my bag, said a prayer to the Lord for getting me this far and set off back the way I had come, careful to remember that the shorter way down the wide grassy ridge to the north would lead me to the awkward river crossing from earlier. Where from here? Well firstly it would back to Buttermere youth hostel where I was staying for a well earned pint and then… well wherever the trail takes me I’ll record it in these pages.

The route as described to Hen Comb from Loweswater Village and back covers a distance of about 7.5 miles or 12km with 1300 feet or 400m of ascent. The usual way when Mosedale Beck is fordable is just 5 miles (8km) and heads south up the ridge to the top. Parking can be found at Scalehill bridge a short distance east of the village or at Maggie’s Bridge to the west.