Take a Seat to Fairfield - Photo Gallery

Footpaths can be good, but sometimes I want to climb a hill and find my own way up it; you can miss out the best part of the hill if you are a dedicated path-dweller. One hill that gets bypassed is Seat Sandal, I have looked at it several times as I have driven past it and decided that today I would climb it my way. I parked at Dunmail Raise, by the side of the AA Box outside the Achille Ratte climbing hut and started to climb uphill. The steepness was within acceptable limits, the only problem being the softness of the newly thawed ground, which becomes very fragile and slippery on a steep gradient.

After the initial grassy slope I had to pick a way up the hill, I really thought this would be a fairly unique way up Seat Sandal but a group of walkers were close to me; they chose a diagonal and less steep route and I lost sight of them as I took a more direct line uphill. With the ground being so fragile I chose to use a shallow, bouldery gully to gain height; the mossy boulders gave a much more reliable foothold. Of course, the skyline I could see from the road was nowhere near the summit, after the initial grassy steepness there was more bouldery terrain and then a good long walk to the summit ridge.

By the time I had made the strenuous climb to the summit of Seat Sandal, the sun had come out and Fairfield looked impressively menacing, as inly Fairfield can, on the other side of Grisedale Hause. A tricky little descent on steep, soft ground got me down to the hause; the big steep climb of Fairfield was made a bit more interesting by the banks of snow that were soft enough to give way u deep enough to give a good foothold. Good old Fairfield! As I reached the summit plateau the nice day was blown away in the wind; it was immediately freezing and the wind was beating me up.

The descent towards on Cofa Pike in the soft snow wasn't easy to descend, but it was manageable without having to resort to wearing crampons. Cofa Pike was interesting in the strong wind; it was very windy on the narrow ridge and the steep descent to Deepdale Hause always needs your full attention, but the wind and soft snow made it a bit more demanding.

I had planned to descend to Grisedale Tarn from the hause but I had already decided I wasn't going to go ahead with my plan to walk the Eastern ridges of Dollywaggon Pike and Nethermost Pike. The path I was descending crossed a couple of steep snow-filled gullies that I decided I wasn't going to attempt to cross, even with the use of my ice-axe; I walked down the grass to find an easier crossing and the footsteps in the snow told me that somebody else had made the same sensible decision. The wind had died down a bit as I reached level ground and I made my way across the wet ground, I had wandered off what passes for a path because it was saturated with melt water.

As I walked across the wet valley floor before crossing the outflow from Grisedale Tarn, I almost stood on something – it was a wallet loaded with cash and credit cards; something to sort out later, but for now I was heading for Dollywaggon Pike. The reconstructed path makes the climb a bit easier than it used to be, although where the snow had collected there were some very deep foot holes. Almost at the crest of the path there is an old metal gatepost, a reliable navigation aid because turning right here is how you get to the summit of Dollywagon Pike. Did I mention the poor visibility? It was very murky it addition to being windy; to find your way to the summit you have to keep fairly close to the edge, but not too close in this wind and especially with the large cornice just a foot away.

After reaching the summit of Dollywaggon Pike, I carried on to the next cairn that seems to be a bit higher anyway; I had intended carrying on down the ridge but it looked a bit daunting, even for me. I walked back to the path and turned right, a generally level path that climbed a little across the shoulder of High Crag and descended to the col near Nethermost Crags where another impressive cornice had formed. The path then climbs up towards the shoulder of nethermost Pike; as the path levels out, a cairn followed by another very large cairn, indicates the place to head towards the summit of Nethermost Pike. It was indeed a leap of faith in the mist, wind and blanket of snow covering the broad summit plateau; I do have faith in my compass and I did find the summit cairn, perched scarily close to the edge of a cornice barely discernible against the mist in the void beyond it.

I walked back to the path and turned left, back down to the col, across the shoulder of High Crag to reach the gatepost again. Rather than follow the path around to the left, I kept on straight ahead in another leap of faith and immediately found a faint path heading downwards. Now that the dreadful path down to Grisedale Pike has been repaired, this smaller path heading towards the top of Raise Beck is deteriorating rapidly, and will one day become just as bad as the other one was. I kept hold of my ice-axe on this steep descent, the soft ground gives way easily even where it isn't already eroded away to slippery stones and soft earth.

Raise Beck is always an interesting walk, and by the time I got near the bottom it was a nice day again, with a short walk back to the car.

© Andy Wallace 21st February 2009