Snow Wet and the Central Dwarfs - Photo Gallery

I had to scrape ice off my windscreen before I set off but there didn't seem to be any ice on the roads; as I got to the Lake District I could see plenty of snow on the hills. I had planned a walk from from Glenridding but the A592 was closed, and with not knowing the extent of the closure I thought that I would rather find an alternative walk than spend time following a diversion. I drove up past Thirlmere and parked at Stanah, it wasn't that cold but I suspected that I would find ice on the ridge so I took my ice axe with me.

I crossed the road and found a footpath, signposted to The Dam; there was a good track leading to Great How, and a small path on the right heading towards The Dam. The little path just took me around the back of a house and down to Bridge End Farm, at least it got me off the busy road. I followed a small tarmac road, past the caravan park and across the Thirlmere Dam; the Manchester Corporation Waterworks insignia dating from 1890 give a few clues about the history of the place. Raven Crag is an equally impressive natural structure, immediately beyond the dam, rising steeply above the forests.

I reached a small, but extravagant road junction; I turned left to walk along the road looking for the start of a path, and after not finding it after ten minutes it was time to check the map. The map of course showed I was going in the wrong direction; after walking back to the junction, I found the path and signpost to Castle Crag, just a minute beyond the junction. The path is steep immediately, and the path is just an eroded trodden way up between the trees; forest paths rarely do any favours for the walker.

When I reached a proper track I went straight across it, the way ahead isn't immediately obvious at first but I soon reached a deer-proof gate, an unusual feature in the Lake District. The path is more obvious, but only because it is severely eroded; after I reached the deer-fence protecting the higher end of the immature forest, there was another track to cross and another obscured path to find. There is no let up in the gradient, and I had reached snow at that level; there are intriguingly interesting views through the impressively tall trees.

Eventually, the gradient eased and the snow was lying deeper on the level ground; the path was hidden, but it wasn't difficult to find the way across to the obvious signpost, pointing to Raven Crag. I followed the small path into the dark forest, the trees were too dense for much snow to get through; what looks like a hummock is actually the way to the summit. At the top of the small rise I got out of the trees, and after crossing a mall snow-covered, heathery ridge I walked across duck boards to the small summit. My footprints were the only ones in the snow apart from the animal tracks; at first I thought it must be deer but the marks were actually paw prints, bigger than those of a cat or fox but it was clearly a solitary animal.

I walked back down to the signpost, a broad track goes both ways; I made half an attempt to find the old fort of Castle Crag but I decided I wasn't going to find it in the snow. I walked back to the track and followed it in the direction of Armboth Fell; the paw prints were also going in the same direction, it could have been a dog but there was no sign of anybody having walked with it. Eventually the good track bears left to continue on my way to Armboth Fell I went through another tall gate in the deer fence.

In the absence of any obvious landmarks, and with the ground covered by snow there was no sign of the faint trodden path. In fact the ground was so wet that the snow wasn't really frozen, sometimes I could see the wet pools and sometimes I couldn't. I was wandering in what I thought was generally the right direction, but the summit I could see had a fence coming down from it; it was probably High Seat and I could have been wearing my legs out plodding through deep wet snow across the shoulder of High Tove - nowhere near Armboth Fell.

I climbed up to the crest of the ridge to see where I was and it confirmed my opinion that I was nowhere near Armboth Fell; having gone to so much effort already I decided against doubling the amount of wet snow I had to get through to reach the summit of High Tove. My worries about what lay under the snow were realised on a couple of occasions; I stepped into a couple of swampy areas upto my knee, it's difficult to haul yourself out when there is nothing to hold on to.

It was a lot of effort to get to a small summit like High Tove and I was wondering whether it would be practical or safe to get across the peat bogs on the way to High Seat. I found a set of man-prints in the snow heading towards High Tove; as well as making the walking easier by walking in the footprints, I would see if they disappeared into the bog. Somebody obviously knows his away across this ridge and he, and I, successfully got through the man-eating mud without being swallowed.

As I started to gain height on the way to High Seat, the snow improved in quality and I didn't feel in danger of stepping into a wet hole any more. After passing the summit of High Seat there were a few more sets of footprints, following the fence in the direction of Bleaberry Fell. The snow was certainly better on this side of the hill, but the swampy bottom in the col was very wet and I dashed across the wet snow as quickly, and as lightly, as possible, without making use of the risky wet footholes in the snow.

After that, the going did get easier, and after a straightforward climb I reached the summit plateau of Bleaberry Fell. The effort of getting there was well rewarded with views of snow-covered hills illuminated by the afternoon sunshine. The steep descent from Bleaberry Fell was slightly awkward at times where the rocks were half-covered by slippery wet snow. About half-way down, the snow disappeared and it was just the usual swampy walk towards Walla Crag; the ground was very wet but it was firm enough to hold my weight. On the rocky summit platform of Walla Crag, and on the wet path descending towards Castlerigg, I saw other people for the first time all day.

The path down from the summit leads to the footbridge across Brockle Beck and on to a tarmac road; after walking down the road for a short time, I turned right onto a rough path. After walking along the wet track, between a wall and a single strand of barbed wire posing as a fence (its only purpose must be to antagonise walkers), I passed through a gate into a churned-up muddy field. There is a very obvious signpost, pointing the way to Castlerigg Stone Circle, but the muddy field bears no resemblance to a path. Through another gate, a rough track leads to the road, where I turned right and walked downhill. On the other side of the road, footpaths leave the road on the tracks leading to CastleRigg Stone Circle through the grounds of High Nest and Low Nest.

Just past Low Nest, a gate in the stone wall leads to a not very obvious footpath across a sheep field, and and crosses the wall at a stone step-stile. There is another field to cross, to a gate in the corner, where a more obvious path takes you across to the caravan park at Dale Bottom. Beyond the caravans, a small road winds its way to Shaw Bank; at the end of the road I turned right on a track and walked past farm buildings before taking a green path that bears left uphill. I was carefully consulting my map to make sure I found the right path; I didn't want to end up climbing High Rigg, I had worked out a route back towards Stanah without having to gain too much height.

I was following a fairly obvious green track up by the side of the wall, making sure not to turn off too soon. It did involve more climbing than I expected but it felt like the right way to go; I was beginning to wonder when I reached a ladder-stile in at a wall corner. I checked the map again because the pattern of walls was not what I was expecting; I carried on a short way to reach the summit of a vaguer path from where I was able to work out where I had got to. I had ended up climbing to the ridge of High Rigg, near Yew Crag; it's amazing how often I deliberately try to avoid doing something but end up doing it anyway!

I had given myself half of the undulating ridge to walk back towards the road, as well as using more energy than I had planned, it was was getting gloomy on the steep, wet descent; I got back to the car just as it got dark.

© Andy Wallace 24th January 2009