Glaramara by Compass - No photos today
Today is a typical, grey and damp November day as I park the car at Seathwaite. I walk back down the road, past the Mountain View terrace of houses and take the Public Footpath through the gate on the right hand side of the road. Across the field over the footbridge and the path is waymarked as being straight up, pathless until you reach the path that contours the fell. Follow the path to the right, through the hole in one wall onto the next wall with a kissing gate.
Don’t follow the more obvious path straight ahead but turn half left up the fellside following a grassy “path” between the boulders, at time it is steep enough to require the use of all four limbs. Taking the line of least resistance (i.e. boulders) you eventually reach a marshy mini-plateau where a thin path can be traced through the grass upwards until Tarn at Leaves comes into view.
On the left is Bessyboot, which must be climbed, in view is Rosthwaite Cam which I really wanted to visit, but which is shrouded in mist by the time I get to the other side of the tarn.
Follow a path that eventually fizzles out, now is the time to do some serious map and compass work. I need to go west but I don’t want to get into trouble by falling into Combe Gill, this is dangerous country in mist according to Wainwright and it could be if I’m not careful.
I started off in the right direction but the path I am following starts to go northwards, I have to ignore my inclination to follow the path and I have to trust my compass. Over pathless, wet grass after about half an hour I eventually come across some cairns that I assume are around the top of Combe Door or Combe Head.
Continue west/south-west for about another half an hour I climb up to higher ground and there is a north-south path that I don’t recognise. I am sure that I am on the Glaramara ridge but I don’t recognise it, just to be on the safe side I walk northwards in anticipation of reaching Glaramara summit – which is what happens and I am glad that I trusted my compass.
Then it starts to rain, not the hard horizontal stuff but the all-enveloping misty type which defeats all known waterproofing. It’s easy now to follow the ridge to Allen Crags, then down towards Esk Hause but turn right towards Sprinkling Tarn and then cross Ruddy Gill just as it turns into Grains Gill.
The long path alongside Grains Gill isn’t quite as enjoyable in the increasingly gloomy conditions, the short amount of daylight being the worst part of walking at this time of year, and it is dark by the time I get back to Seathwaite.
Andy Wallace 24th November 2001