Ennerdale South - Photo Gallery

I have been planning this walk for a long time, Ennerdale is too far to reach on a day trip so I have stayed overnight at Cockermouth in order to make an early start from the car park at the western end of Ennerdale Water.

In warm and sunny conditions I walked past Bleach Green Cottage and along the lane towards Crag Farm House. Before reaching the house there is a faint path on the right over a field until reaching a gate leading onto a track. Turn right along the track for a hundred yards or so when a path on the left goes straight up through the wooded fellside.

Following the path as it turns left the humid conditions became even more humid as it started to rain. Shortly afterwards as I reached the gate at the edge of the woods the rain became impossible to ignore and I swapped my sun hat for my new lightweight summer jacket. I followed the path and crossed the impressive Ben Gill before following a green path uphill. After days of planning my route to Grike I realised that I was on my way to Crag Fell.

By the time I had walked to the pleasant little summit of Crag Fell it had stopped raining but it was quite windy, the distant view especially up the valley of Ennerdale was obscured by horrible looking weather. From Crag Fell I made a beeline towards Grike, slightly downhill at first and then followed the fence upwards. The summit of Grike is quite a surprise with a crown of rocks in the midst of an ocean of grass, an impressive cairn and shelter built from the local pink stones.

From the summit of Grike walk downhill southwards and there is soon a fence to follow, you can see a track, the old mine road, but you have to climb over the fence to reach the cairn at the side of the track. Turn left along the track, back in the direction of Crag Fell through the pine trees. At a couple of places it looks as though steam is venting out of the trees, it must be the water vapour on the trees being blown into a cloud by the wind.

The track is level and makes for easy walking and daydreaming but I suddenly noticed a large cairn on the left hand side of the track and a faint path going off to the right through taller pine trees. The path through the trees is very muddy and slippery until coming out of the trees you reach a wall corner. One of the walls goes straight upwards but don't follow it, head directly south over more grass, it really becomes a bit of a slog until you reach the flat top of Whoap.

Fortunately the visibility is good otherwise the way over to Lank Rigg might be a bit difficult to find, there aren't a lot of landmarks. Lots of grass, slopes too easy to complain about but too steep for your calf muscles to ignore. There are several places on these green slopes where there are what seem to be outcrops of boulders but you can't help but feel that some of the formations are man made.

From Lank Rigg walk back towards Whoap but rather that climb all of the way to the top I follow a faint trod going right following the contours to a small col where a substantial wall sets off along the flat ridge to the right. There is a very long walk alongside the wall without really having any idea where you are, it is quite featureless and all you can see is the wall. I reached what I thought was the summit of Caw Fell but is really just Ennerdale Fell and struggled over the wall and barbed wire to get to the cairn when I saw the gate ten yards further along the wall.

After another long walk alongside the wall I came to an unexpected climb steeply up to a broad flat summit that was obviously Caw Fell this time. I walked over to the cairn a short distance over the flat plateau on the right and then doubled back to the summit cairn on the other side of the wall.

The path to Haycock is still alongside the wall but with the gem of Little Gowder Crag on the way, you can bypass the rock but who would want to miss this delicious little scramble.

For the first time in several attempts I have a view from the summit of Haycock which is itself a marvellous rocky crown on a plain green hill. The walk to Scoat Fell is easy downhill at first and then tedious uphill, beginning to hurt on the long haul upto the summit. All of the way to Scoat Fell I could see Steeple beckoning to me.

The ridge from Scoat Fell to Steeple is always exhilarating especially in good visibility but instead of climbing the eroded path you should try climbing straight up the rocky nose of Steeple. Nice. The summit of Steeple is one of my favourite places rain or shine.

I have been walking for eight hours in overcast conditions but all of a sudden there is blue sky. The walk along the ridge of Long Crag is a real delight after so much grass, views of rock all around with a real airy feel to the ridge.

Down towards Ennerdale and everything is quiet, no people or roads or noise and not that many sheep either, a wonderful remote place.

Here's an energy saving tip, don't cross a stream without checking the map, it usually ends up with me walking through marshy ground, searching for a safe way down the mountain and then having to retrace my steps back uphill. So it was, and after having crossed back over Low Beck I found the stile over the fence.

There was still a long walk down to the valley, through the woods to a footbridge just after a very attractive waterfall. The signpost to the Forest Road seemed clear enough but it was still a leg scratching struggle through forest debris until I reached it.

What a long walk back but what great surroundings, as pleasant a walk out as you could wish for. Oops, and then you get to Anglers Crag, the last thing tired legs need is to have to clamber around the steep rocky path with the ground falling sharply away to Ennerdale Water.

19 miles in 11 hours is a long day.

Andy Wallace 19th July 2003