Greystones, Broom Fell and Lord's Seat

The opposite to our outing 2 days previously. A good day leaving Staveley but darker foreboding clouds as we headed to north Lakes. The mist was down to just above Whinlatter Pass and the rain constant. We parked at Scawgill bridge thinking a warm cup of coffee back at the Whinlatter centre would be very inviting when another car pulled up. Out jumped a couple with their dog and together with an elderly lady, who must have been in her seventies, put on their waterproofs with no hesitation and headed off towards Spout Force. This really put us to shame so we kitted up and set off.

Our route was a direct ascent of Graystones following the wall between the wood and the quarry. Quite steep and initially difficult slippery slate scree which became easier as we reach the grassy fell. Just above the forest we entered the clouds and would not get a view for the rest of the walk until our descent. Crossing the stone wall near the top we located the summit of Graystones and then headed north west aiming for the corner of the forest boundary. Thick mist, no path, excellent for using compass navigation skills. It was very rewarding as the forest loomed ahead of us exactly were I expected it to be. (Elspeth was a little less convinced that we knew where we were). We took a break and then followed the line north of forest boundary over Widow Hause (not a name Elspeth cared for), and leaving the comfort of the wall, took a bearing north west and then west up to Broom Fell. Another glow of navigational satisfaction when the summit of Broom Fell appeared from the mist directly ahead.
Next top was Lord's Seat, so compass in hand again, off we set through bog and mud. This leg seemed to take much longer, long enough for slight doubts to arise that I had become too confident with the compass, until the short steep climb to the summit of Lord's Seat revealed itself.
I thought once on Lord's Seat it would easy to find the path down keeping north of the forest, but we soon had to retrace our steps realising the main path would have taken us into Whinlatter Forest. The compass ruled once again and eventually took us along, what looked like a big path on the map, but turned out to be a narrow indistinct path which was heading in the right direction. This took down, at last out of the mist, and we were now able to see our route via Darling How back to the road.
The mist lifted as we descended and we were able to look across Aiken Beck and follow our route along the tops. we had a couple of streams to cross on the descent but soon reached the forest road and then the main road and back to the car.

Time 3 hours 45 minutes
Grade Excellent

Memories

• Navigation

Completed 76 To go 138

Hartsop above How

The weather was not promising at all, driving out of Staveley through Troutbeck towards the Kirkstone pass. The mist was down almost to valley level, the normal beautiful views from the road between Staveley and Troutbeck were today non existent. What a pleasant surprise as we reached the Kirkstone Inn, we left the cloud behind us and we could see down to Brothers water and beyond. The higher fells still in cloud with snow patches on their steeper slopes but our target for the day was clear. We aimed to park at the car park west of Hartsop off the main road, but this was being upgraded by the national park authorities so luckily we were lable to find a spot by the phone box at Bridgend, right at the start of the walk.

Through the gate we followed the farm track a few hundred yards then took the sign to the left heading for a style in the wall and into the woods. The path climbed steadily and soon we left the wood, gained the open fell and continued up the broad ridge. The higher summits were now just clear. The pointed Gavel pike guarding the summit of St Sunday Crag, further up Deepdale, the dome of Cofa Pike and at the head the broad summit of the Fairfield plateau. Across the valley Hartsopp Dodd looked as steep as is felt when we climbed it last year, patches of snow lay on Caudale Moore and across to High Street we could work out some routes we could follow when tackling these tops.

Route finding up Hartsopp above How was easy, straight up the ridge. We were sheltered from the wind until we gained the first knoll when a biting gusty wind hit us. However it was never too strong to annoy us, the only real difficulty was to decide where the summit was so we tramped along the whole rdige above Gill Crag until the ground the descended before rising to Hart Crag. Retracing our steps from the top we found a lovely sheltered spot for lunch before descending by the same route back to the car.

Grade Excellent

Memories

• A clear dry walk after very low mist and rain leaving Staveley


• Contemplating future plans

Completed 73 To Go 141