Whinlattered - Photo Gallery

Should I pay £4 to leave my car for the day at the Whinlatter Visitor Centre car park or drive back down the road for a Kilometre to park free at Revelin Moss? I walked back up to the visitor centre and I suppose I should have checked my bearings at the Information Centre before setting off along the forest road, the red and blue routes. I passed a cleared viewpoint for Hospital Fell and supposedly the Helvellyn Range which was not visible and carried on along the road until I reached another viewpoint.

This viewpoint was for Grizedale Pike, presumably the sign writer didn't know the rest of the world spells it Grisedale. This was the end of the red and blue routes, the green route followed the forest road uphill from here and another, smaller forest road went off to the left on the level. This was my second opportunity to check my bearings, the height of the trees in the forest and the poor visibility of the high fells made it impossible to see exactly where I was.

I reached a large cleared area at the junction of a couple of the forest paths where a signpost gave it the name Tarbarrel Moss, I looked on the map in the area where I thought I was and couldn't see that name. To the left was impenetrable forest, to the right was a good wide path heading in the wrong direction and ahead was higher ground planted with younger forest with some signs of disturbed ground between the trees.

I always say if in doubt then climb, so I chose the straight ahead route between the pine trees and at first it wasn't too bad with a refreshing smell of pine as I brushed past the young needle filled branches. Then the trees closed in and there was no obvious way through but I was determined to keep going upwards. There was no room between the trees, I was squeezing through gaps not big enough to squeeze through and the trees were fighting back scratching me with their needles.

It didn't take long to realise that this was not a good way to climb a hill, I was now stuck deep in the middle of the trees with only a compass bearing to go off. The only thing that stopped me from trying to go back was the fact that it would be by compass bearing too and would be just as difficult, I thought I may as well carry on. In between the dense branches are occasional small clearings full of the debris of the previous harvest, in one such place I slipped and fell onto the remains of an upright branch. It was a good job it hit my head and not something sensitive.

Eventually I got to the edge of the trees and climbed up a rough slope to find a good footpath but I had no idea where I was or which hill it was I could see behind me. A couple of walkers happened to pass at that time and they were going to Lord's Seat, I was beginning to realise I was not where I wanted to be. I followed the path for a while to get my bearings and sure enough I was able to see Lord's Seat and Barf. The hill behind me was in fact Whinlatter, where I really should have been.

I decided I had to find the way to it, I managed to find it on a previous occasion so I was feeling very annoyed with myself as I walked back, through a heavy snow shower, along the path back to Tarbarrel Moss. It was at this stage I saw Tarbarrel Moss on the map, it seemed to be on the other side of the impenetrable trees so I was quite confused. I decided to walk back down to the Grisedale Pike viewpoint, I had a hunch that was where I made my big mistake.

From the viewing area I followed the other forest track and immediately there seemed to be a green path heading upwards through the trees. I followed the path but soon it fizzled out and I decided I wasn't going to barge through pine trees again. Back down to the track and it began to dawn on me where I was and that I would shortly reach a fence. Sure enough there was the fence at the forest boundary with a stile to climb over it and a path following the fence steeply uphill.

Within five minutes I had reached the ridge of Whinlatter but I had lost so much time that I was probably not going to finish my planned route, I told myself I had to get to Hopegill Head by three o'clock if I was going to climb it. A quick look around from the top of the ridge confirmed that Tarbarrel Moss should be on this side of the trees and there should be a direct route to Lord's Seat even if a fence has to be climbed to get there. Not that I was going to Lord's Seat, I just made a mental note for next time.

The snow had stopped just as I got to the ridge and Grisedale Pike became visible, looking intimidating, snow covered and probably out of reach after my stupid diversion. I could also see Skiddaw and Derwentwater in the gap between the trees and the clouds and Whinlatter itself looked very bleak and featureless. The walk along the ridge was easy enough, passing the summit of Whinlatter Top with its meagre cairn to the western top of Brown How with its much more summit looking cairn.

This was the start of what I expected to be the difficult bit of the walk, getting from here to Swinside, I could see a route but could I get to it? There is a faint path heading north west that gets you down towards the Aiken valley, the only trouble is the path disappears as you reach a high stone wall with trees on the other side. Additionally a fence has been built alongside the wall which seems to not invite you to climb over the wall even if you could.

There is a good view up the Aiken valley because one of the plantations has been felled and harvested. I did think about climbing the fence and going down the steep slope to the valley but I have walked over forestry debris before and it is very difficult and dangerous ground. I turned left then to follow the fence and wall looking for a crossing place and hopefully a path on the other side so I wouldn't have to walk most of the way back to the visitor centre. There it was, a slight erosion of the stones of the top of the wall, the stones had by chance fallen either side of the fence allowing me to get over it and the wall was easy to climb over.

There seemed to be a faint path through the trees following the wall and going downhill which was what I wanted. There was a tremendous number of blown down trees, they were simply snapped off half way down. After following the wall for a bit I decided I wasn't going downhill quickly enough so I just went straight down the hill, it wasn't too steep and the going not too rough between the mature trees. I got to a muddy forest track and after some thought I decided to head northwards just as a couple of mountain bikers passed me going in the opposite direction.

There was a clear pattern of tree damage, those in the middle were snapped off half way down, those at the edge were completely blown over. I followed the track hoping rather than expecting to find a path to take me back to the road but eventually I got to it. The pattern of forest tracks marked on the map doesn't seem to bear any resemblance to how they actually are and the harvesting of trees also plays havoc with navigation. Anyway I had ended up on the right of way that took me down the Aiken valley, past the farm buildings at Darling How and back to the road.

As I was walking down the path I could see Swinside across the valley and I picked my route, hoping to avoid the nightmarish steep green climb I made the last time I was there. At the road I turned left and walked for about a kilometre and made a sharp right turn on to the small road that took me back a kilometre in the direction I had come from. It took me down to cross Blaze Bridge and then up to the confusing Public Footpath signpost that also states “No Through Route”, this time I will make my own mind up about that.

I followed the No Through Route path uphill across a field to an intake wall that was easy enough to get over and walked alongside it until I reached a wall junction. The wall owner has obviously made several attempts at preventing his wall from becoming eroded and there is plenty of barbed wire protecting it. I had to follow the wall uphill for a while until I found a combination of step-stone and barbed wire where I was able to get over it.

Once across the wall I followed a faint path, a long green ascent to the ridge of Swinside followed by an even longer steep green ascent by the side of the ridge wall until the gradient eased. There is still a long walk along the ridge of Swinside and any hopes of reaching Hopegill Head had long gone. At the highest point on the ridge there is a wall junction where you have to cross to the opposite side of the ridge wall, I decided that my descent would be to follow the wall going downhill on the left at right angles to the ridge wall.

I decided I would get to the summit of Ladyside Pike before turning back but after a while it seemed a futile target so I turned back anyway and made my way to the downhill wall. The ground was steep but mossy and quite dry so it wasn't difficult, the only awkward bit was a swampy area at the bottom of the slope around a small stream. There was a little bit of a climb before I reached a forest road, I couldn't place it on the map as with all forest roads so I turned left to follow it and hoped for the best, at worst it would take me back to the road.

As it happened the forest road and track took me back to where my car was parked, the navigational high point of the day.

Andy Wallace 26th February 2005