Whin Win Situation - Photo Gallery of Wastwater Screes and Whin Rigg & Illgill Head
In spite of the dreadful weather forecast, when I arrive at Wasdale it is warm and sunny. From the car park at Brackenclose I set off along the lakeshore towards the Screes footpath, through the gate that bears the cautionary notice.
The fell side falls steeply to the lakeshore and indeed for a long way below the water line. The path doesn’t have many undulations and there are excellent views across the lake and up and down the valley. The walk takes a lot longer that you might expect, there a couple of sections where you cross bouldery scree and certainly the first time I did it I thought that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.
Then you get to the interesting part, scrambling around room sized boulders, some of the boulders move as you step onto them and some will slide if you are a bit heavy footed. This time I found the correct way through the big stuff, passing a couple of cairns on the way, but away from this route it is much harder work. This is a wonderful place to stop and admire the rugged surroundings and the beautiful views of the lake and the valley.
Continue on, past the Pump House and onto a track, on reaching a gate bear left where Fell is signposted. Follow the path alongside a wall, the path overgrown with bracken and with wearing shorts it is cold and wet on my legs. When the path reaches Greathow Gill take the path on the left that goes steeply up the fell through the bracken, making sure to visit the crater like top of Greathow Gill.
All of the hard work is done for the day, a leisurely walk takes you to the top of Whin Rigg, a splendid viewpoint in itself but only the start of a viewpoint collectors dream. Following the path along the edge of the crags there are fantastic views of the blue lake down the steep gullies. There is a small airy ridge, Broken Rib that you can walk along and it takes you to an amazing position for viewing the shattered crags above the lakeshore screes. With today’s clear visibility this has to be the most fantastic viewpoint of all.
Walk over to Illgill Head, easy walking in sunshine with a wonderful breeze for company with a view of Wasdale and its mountains that begged to be photographed. Finally I paid a quick visit to Burnmoor Tarn just because I’ve not been there before, and then back to Wasdale on the old corpse road.
Andy Wallace 20th July 2002