The Full Mosedale - Photo Gallery
The weather forecast is a bit ambiguous but I'm hoping for a dry start, steep grass is twice as hard in the wet. I parked at Overbeck Bridge by the side of Wastwater and at the foot of Yewbarrow's southern ridge and I realised that I had forgotten to bring my jacket, I was going to have to call in the Barn Door shop. As I set off along the road towards Wasdale Head it was warm enough for me to be in tee-shirt and shorts but there were plenty of other walkers around all dressed in full waterproof gear, the forecast must be worse than I thought.
As I got close to the Barn Door shop at Wasdale Head there was a heavy shower of rain that dashed any thoughts of managing without a jacket. I found a very nice windproof and showerproof jacket, just what I have been looking for, I could be accused of forgetting my jacket on purpose. It had of course stopped raining by the time I resumed my walk, I made my way between the Wasdale Head Inn and the Row Head cottages to join the Mosedale path for a short while.
My route today lies straight ahead; after going through a gate the main path bears left, there is another gate through which is the start of the direct path to Kirk Fell. There is no doubt about the route; up as far as the eye can see and the eye can't see how much up there is after that. This is a long climb so just take it steady, one foot in front of the other and don't look to see how much further there is to go, it's long way and it doesn't help to know how much. There is only one object in the way of the green path, an outcrop of rock that looks half way up but is nowhere near that far up.
The plain, steep grass is getting easier to climb than when I was first here; there are a few places where foot holes are appearing and just below the rock outcrop there are protective measures in place to stop erosion. The skyline you can see is only the half way point, you get a short respite before the gradient gets steeper although the foot holes and erosion are more evident here where the topsoil is thinner. The change from grass underfoot to stones is abrupt, suddenly you are heading on a stony path towards scree and no passes.
There are traces of vegetation that get you to a certain point but after that you have to go over the scree. If you follow the path the bigger stones have been moved and you are left on slippery gravel sized stones, two steps forward then one and three quarters back down. I find it easier to walk up the larger stones, most of them are stable but take care because stones this big will hurt if you dislodge them. After about thirty minutes of scree you get to a less steep section of path that soon leads to the Kirk Fell lawn, a small grass ledge that provides a wonderful resting place.
All that is left now is the rest of Kirk Fell, it isn't the highest of hills but it is very broad and you have more climbing to do over rough rather than steep ground. The wide summit plateau gives my favourite view of Great Gable, my favourite mountain although it isn't quite sunny enough to show it at its best. The summit arrives suddenly, a substantial cairn and a shelter cairn flanked by old metal fence posts. Follow the fence posts to the left, they are a reliable navigation aid in the worst of weather, following them to the right takes you to the descent to Beck Head.
Follow the fence posts over rough ground in the direction of Pillar, a cairn positioned at a bend in the line of the fence could cause confusion, follow the fence and ignore the position of the cairn. The line of fence posts follows the steep descent to Black Sail Pass, the descent starts with a two metre rock step but there are plenty of holds to get you down. The path is steep and rough but in an interesting way, there should be no mistake about the line of the path and no real difficulty as long as the rocks are dry. The final section of the path is looser with slippery gravel in places but not as steep and finally you get to the grassy col of Black Sail Pass.
The path towards Pillar is obvious, follow it for a while and then the purists will follow the fence to the summit of Looking Stead, grassy and unremarkable in itself but with an outstanding view of Pillar. Pillar is a large hill by Lake District standards and further away from a start point than most and there are no quick or easy ways to get back down again. Walk down from Looking Stead and rejoin the obvious path towards Pillar. A short distance after you start to climb the path begins to get more rugged and there is a cairn where another unlikely looking path seems to branch off to the right.
The unlikely looking path is the start of the High Level Route, follow it and you descend rough ground then another unlikely looking path looks to be heading to impassable steep ground. The path seems to descend but that isn't the real high level route, a less obvious and even more unlikely looking path goes up through rocks and vegetation. The lower path gets the job done but the High Level Route is a much more exhilarating and exciting route from which you can see the lower path a long way below.
The narrow path clings to the steep slope over boulders and some wet places and passes by an interesting cliff face before rejoining the lower path. Then there is a slight ascent to Robinson's Cairn, an excellent viewpoint looking down to the valley of Ennerdale and looking up to Pillar Rock. The path from here now takes you up into the rocks, there is a scree ascent where the bigger stones have been worn away to leave a gravel like path. This scree path takes you to the start of the Shamrock Traverse, an easy sloping path if you ignore the steep drop that you could see from below.
The only awkward parts of Shamrock Traverse are the wet slabs that are easy to bypass except for the one at the very top. I have seen people clinging onto the rock face as they nervously cross the wet slab, I always jump across the corner nearest the edge, just don't think about how far down it is if I miss. Then there is a rough scramble up a stony slab but on this occasion I noticed a rock gully on the left that got me to the top of the slab easily enough. From there Pillar Rock is ahead of you across a deep stony gully, I would dearly love to climb it but not while I am on my own. In fact I have hardly met anyone so far and certainly I would have Pillar Rock to myself.
Oh well I will have to settle for Pillar itself, the path upwards from here is very steep and eroded until you get to a broad ledge. The final climb to the summit of Pillar is round to the right of the the rockface ahead, alternatively there is a stony gully that takes you up through the rocks. It is an interesting scramble requiring a bit of thought about where to place your hands and feet and no thought at all about how far down it is. At the top of the gully I came out on the summit plateau where a group of walkers was pondering about the possibility of descending the High Level Route, after I described it they decided to descend a different way.
People at last, there were several on the top of Pillar and there were dozens on the path towards Black Crag. I have slogged up the path to Black Crag before but after last week's marathon in Scotland I know I can do this easily and it doesn't seem hard at all. The summit of Black Crag is a fine rocky place that would be a credit to any hill and full of people on this occasion. The path carries on towards Scoat Fell until it bends to the left on the way to Red Pike, I could have easily carried on to Scoat Fell but I am running out of time so it will have to wait for another day.
Red Pike lies ahead, I can see Scafell in the distance behind it looking just like a shadow, the slopes are parallel and the abrupt truncation is uncannily similar. The main path keeps you below the ridge but the views from Red Pike's ridge are too good to miss, I can't remember when I had such good visibility. The summit cairn is at the far end of the ridge and you have to retrace yours steps slightly to find the path down to Dore Head, not a difficult route but at this stage of a walk it starts to tug at your knees.
In theory you can descend to Mosedale from Dore Head but having climbed up from there I would never go down that way if I could avoid it, especially when I can make the enjoyable scramble up Stirrup Crag to Yewbarrow's ridge. The ridge of Yewbarrow is surprisingly broad and long, its flatness and breadth means that it retains water and there are boggy sections to get past. Having passed the summit you start to descend and eventually you get down towards Bell Rib, an extremely attractive feature especially with Wastwater and the Screes beyond it.
One day I will climb to the top of Bell Rib but for now the descent is down to the right just before you get to it. It is a steep and slippery descent, the way is already badly eroded and getting worse, you can avoid the worst of the gully by climbing down rocks towards a wall. At the wall you have to cross the gully and things begin to get a bit better until eventually you cross another wall by a good stile. Just get down the final grassy slope and the car is where I left it.
Andy Wallace 21st May 2005