Kirk Fell to Yewbarrow - Photo Gallery
Today's walk is one of the few that I really want to do in dry weather and I have a Plan B in case the weather is too wet. I parked the car at Overbeck Bridge because that is where I plan to finish the walk. The start of the walk is at Wasdale head which is a couple of miles up the road, I prefer to walk on tarmac at the start of the day rather than at the end.
I always enjoy the walk along the shore of Wastwater, it is dry and bright and the prospect of the hills at the head of Wasdale is always pleasing. I called in the Barn Door Shop at Wasdale Head to say hello to Guy who was surrounded by young women as usual. They were all after his free advice about which route to take, given willingly after he had finished selling stuff to them.
I was wearing shorts, tee shirt and sun hat as I walked along the track leading to Mosedale and Black Sail Pass. At the second gate you can follow the path round to the left up the valley but today is a Kirk Fell day, straight ahead the way is straight up, very steep and very green.
Kirk Fell by this direct route is forever steep although there are some signs of wear in the path with footmarks beginning to appear making it slightly easier to get up the slope. Unusually there are other walkers on here as well, it is very helpful of them to give some scale to my photographs.
As your legs are beginning to wonder what you are trying to do to them you come to the only bare rock on the green fellside, a natural resting place but not your first resting place. The fell gets steeper again but it doesn't seem quite as hard as in previous years, partly because I am fitter and partly because of the footsteps beginning to appear in the grass.
It seems to last forever but eventually you approach the crest of the rise, there is a brief respite from the steepness but all thoughts of being nearly there quickly disappear. It gets steeper, still on grass for now but soon a ribbon of loose stones fills the vague path and very quickly everything ahead is scree.
The path as such has become very eroded, trying to get up the loose stones over steep ground requires the use of all four limbs. I have given up using that path, it is much more comfortable to walk up over larger rocks. As long as you are confident hopping from rock to rock on a forty degree slope with no guarantee that the rocky scree is completely stable it is more comfortable than the path.
It isn't all bad, I quite like the strenuous climb over rock with a view of Great Gable beyond the forty degree horizon. At the top of the bouldery scree slope there is a more reasonable path but still steep until you reach the crest of the slope and arrive at the lawn. In the middle of all of the scree is a small patch of grass, just like a lawn and a welcome pleasant resting place with a splendid view of Wasdale Head looking immediately below.
The breeze was stronger now and cool enough to have to put my jacket on but I was still wearing shorts. There is still some work to do but the walking is relatively easy across the stony top of Kirk Fell to its summit. Finally at Kirk Fell summit, it has taken me less than two hours, I must be getting fitter. Kirk Fell has a big flat top but navigating is just a matter of keeping close to the fence.
The fence runs from Beck Head to Black Sail Pass, just make sure you go in the right direction, easy enough on a bright day like today. Follow the fence in the direction of Pillar, an easy walk to begin with until you seem to drop off the end of the hill. The start of the descent is a six foot rock step, long legs are recommended but there are good holds if you have a head for heights. The rest of the descent is steep but interesting and leads you eventually to the cross roads of footpaths at Black Sail Pass.
The path towards Pillar is obvious, carry on across te top of the pass and head towards Pillar. It is an easy walk to begin with and shortly after things get a bit steeper you will come to the cairn that marks the start of the High Level Route. Today I'm heading straight up the ridge, ignore any paths going off to the left and keep following the path along the crest of the ridge.
At the top of the ridge there is another large wide plateau, Pillar is obviously a big hill, it must be to have such a large flat area and then you have more climbing to do. Carry on following the fence before you start the climbing again, I was beginning to get rained on and I could see the shower moving across Yewbarrow.
Then it became obvious that the weather was closing in, time to put my waterproof pants over my shorts, put on a pair of gloves and put my camera away. When I got to Pillar's summit a second pair of gloves became necessary, it was getting cold as well as wet. The interesting descent to Wind Gap was even more interesting as it became windy as well as cold and wet.
The walk towards Black Crag is easy over grass at first and then gets steeper and rockier and the summit of Black Crag is impressively rugged and rocky with a collection of cairns and a shelter that would be impressive on a bigger hill. Carry on down the other side of Black Crag in the direction of Red Pike over pathless grass until you come across a path, bear left towards Red Pike and don't worry about Scoat Fell today.
I was thinking it was getting warmer as I got close to to the ridge of Red Pike, maybe I should I get my camera out now when there was a brief snow flurry. Red Pike has a fine flat ridge with good views down to Mosedale on a clear day. This is one of those ridges where you can navigate along the cliff edge, keep close to it but don't fall off and you will reach a small depression and see the summit cairn ahead.
As I got close to Red Pike summit there was another brief snow flurry, I didn't hang around for long before heading back to the small depression, walk over grass before finding the path. Follow the path in the direction of Yewbarrow, it looks very insignificant from here.
Once you descend to Dore Head, Yewbarrow ahead looks impossible to climb, the steep scree path disappears half way up and the rest of the ascent looks, well just impossible. The obvious part of the path is steep and slippery until it disappears behind rocks, the scramble over rocks from here is very interesting. These days I try to make a proper scramble of things, doing it without the use of knees and elbows needs a bit of thought about the route and where the hand holds are.
It is a fine ascent and you eventually get to the substantial cairn at the north top of Yewbarrow. The top of Yewbarrow is an unlikely broad flat plateau, easy walking especially when it isn't wet and also it is surprisingly long until you get to the summit cairn at the southern edge of the ridge. The descent from here gives the best view of Bell Rib, one of the most interesting and attractve objects in the Lake District.
Feeling relaxed and contented you are suddenly confronted by a steep descent, stony and loose, sliding awkwardly is inevitable. There are rock outcrops, it is easier getting up this side of the hill than the downwards scramble. There is a strange little wall on a grassy ledge, cross over the top of the scree gully here to avoid a horrible descent. Not that you get an easy descent, you just avoid a horrible one.
Eventually you get to grass and then join the path coming down from the valley, you get to a wall with a splendid wall stile to cross over for the final steep descent on grass back to the car park.
Andy Wallace 19th June 2004