Best walked when frozen - no photos today
After a week of frosty conditions I decided to tackle the famously marshy ground of the northern Central Fells and enjoy the views. The heavy rain that fell all the way up the motorway had me wandering about the views and whether the ground would still be frozen.
As I arrived at the car park at Ashness Bridge it had just about stopped raining and it didn’t rain for the rest of the day, there was mist on the higher fells and over Derwentwater. As I climbed the easy slopes up to Walla Crag it became obvious that this would be a super viewpoint on a clear day, the same was true throughout the rest of my walk. The path was generally clear of snow and ice but there were places both on and off the path where the normally wet fellside was still a sheet of ice.
From Walla Crag the path towards Bleaberry Fell is reasonably obvious up to a point, I lost the path and I had to make the day’s first traverse over the heather. I climbed a cairned subsidiary peak that gave a superb view of Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite Lake and the surrounding, mist covered fells.
As I approached Bleaberry Fell I came across a path traversing the fell below some crags, I followed this to the left until it petered out so I decided to go straight up through the steep heathery slope. I eventually found the first cairn and the path and I was able to see which way I should have gone.
From now onwards the path was obvious enough to follow for the rest of the walk. From Bleaberry Fell over the undulating ridge was easy, pleasant walking with only a slight worry about exactly where I was, the mist was now quite thick and I didn’t know what to expect. There are many subsidiary summits that could have been explored on a clearer day, the ground contained much frozen water – these are the right conditions for this path.
Then I feel I’m on the right path as an ascent begins, this would be a very muddy climb on another day, the OS column at the summit confirmed that this was High Seat. I abandoned my plan to go over to Raven Crag, it was too misty with no apparent path for a first time attempt. Follow the fence to High Tove, this path is the worst bog I have come across, at its worst the peat hags are about six feet tall, the frozen ground provides definitely the right conditions for this walk.
From High Tove I made my way across to Armboth Fell and back, pathless heather and bog made it hard work for a straightforward walk. The view from Armboth Fell over a mist covered Thirlmere was the only consolation for a walk that I will probably not do again. Back at High Tove take the path down to Watendlath, lower down the steep, pitched path was too slippery to walk on, a path has been worn on the grass at the side of the path to compensate.
The walk from Watendlath back to the car park at Ashess Bridge is probably the most pleasant walk on tarmac in the Lake District, the valley is full of interest.
Andy Wallace 5th January 2002