Carrock Fell

We started the gradual ascent up Carrock Fell on its north-eastern side. The wind was behind us and actually assisted us going up the hill. The sky was dull and grey and I wondered if we might catch a shower today. As we got higher it got windier and noticeably colder. Patches of snow started appearing as we approached Carrock's rocky summit. The top is the location of an Iron Age hill fort. It was quite a flat area, but does have drops at its edges making it a good, natural defence. I looked across towards the snowy Blencathra and Skiddaw; they were almost obscured by cloud and it looked rather grim. We dropped down from Carrock's ramparts and started making our way westwards across the flat fell on a boggy track. As we progressed we ticked off Round Knott and Miton Hill that were really small undulations on the fell top. Our travel westwards terminated with the higher top of Drygill Head. It may have been higher but it was fairly flat too and there was little evidence that people visited it. The summit was the point at which we now diverted our attention southwards.

Lingy Hut

Turning southwards meant that we were now blasted by the wind from our left and we quickly gained an appreciation of its strength. Most of the way to the Lingy Hut was downhill and it wasn't long before we got there. The wind buffeted us through the door and I was disappointed that my dramatic entrance wasn't witnessed by anybody inside. We closed the door behind us and sat down to have a much needed break. The bothy is exposed on the hillside and the door rattled continually making us think that somebody else was going to make a dramatic entrance. We were in fact lucky to have a door since I'd seen a recent Facebook post where somebody had vandalised it. We had a coffee and a biscuit and I could see in the faces of the Kapitan and the Cabin Boy that they weren't looking forward to facing the Helm wind again. There was nothing for it though, as much as we'd like too, we couldn't stay in the hut all day. We battened down our coats, opened the door and stumbled out into the maelstrom.

Bog Trot

We continued our way southwards on a very boggy path that still claimed to be part of the Cumbrian Way. When the Cumbrian Way headed eastwards , we continued southwards over heathery fell to Coomb Height. A small cairn marked its summit. It was an exposed place and the landscape looked bleak around us. A track took us westwards from its summit. Eventually, we had to turn away from the easier walking of the track, and head across the heather and snow to our next summit. Little Lingy Hill wasn't much of a summit though, more of a hillock in the fells. We plodded once again over the heather to a summit that is labelled with 'Pile of Stones' on the OS map, which is actually called Miller Moss. It had actually a well built cairn at its summit and some stones to sit on. Since there wasn't any chance of better shelter later on, we turned our backs to the wind and sat down on the stones to eat our lunch. It turned out to be a very cold location. I was glad when we set off again so that I could get warmth into my legs. There was a vague track that took us eastwards to Great Lingy Hill. There wasn't much greatness about the token cairn at its flat, heathery summit. We continued onwards into the headwind and we tacked our way to the summit of Hare Stones. From the name, I was expecting some large boulders here, but all I found was heather. After a careful search of the heather, I found a tiny cairn comprised of a few stones. The Explorer hills were coming thick and fast now. We all looked up to High Pike towering before us. 'What on earth will the wind be like up there?' I thought. We started off towards it.

High Pike

We followed two other walkers up to the summit of High Pike. When they were near the top, the woman stopped and braced herself against the wind and for one moment, I thought she might be blown away. A few seconds later, she seemed to compose herself and stumble onwards. They took what shelter they could on the leeward side of the massive summit cairn. I stopped nearby to try and take a photo. My walking sticks started blowing along the ground away from me. I picked them up and made my way to the summit. I waved to the man and woman sat at the cairn, but they pointed beyond me with a look of alarm. I looked in that direction but couldn't see anything. I turned around to see the man get up and jog across to me. I stuck my hand out to shake his hand, but he continued running beyond me. He picked up my camera lens cap that had blown off my camera. I thanked him, but the wind was too loud for him to hear me. I regrouped with the Kapitan and the Cabin Boy behind some stones so that I could peruse the map for our route down. I looked at the Cabin Boy and I had the idea that she'd prefer to be anywhere but here. 

Return

It was a good path off the summit and we lost height quickly. We didn't lose that wind though. The track went through an old mining area and then turned eastwards. Our last Explorer hill was West Fell and this turned out to be another flat summit. There was no cairn to indicate the top and so we relied on the gps to get there. We continued eastwards and gradually started losing height. Although the wind remained strong, it lost its violence that had accompanied it at the higher levels. Carrock fell loomed large on our right and we could see the track that we'd used this morning snaking up to its summit. Our descent path was quite easy walking. I felt like we'd deserved it after all the bog trotting, snow trudging and heather wading that we'd had to do today. At last we reached tarmac and headed back to the car. The road traversed Carrock Beck through a ford and I was surprised by the depth of the water in it. I don't think I'd risk sailing my car through it. Fortunately, a footbridge had been provided for pedestrians. At last we got back to the car. There was still a strong, cold wind even at this lower level.

I rather like windy walks. I think it enhances the feeling of being out in the elements. I don't think the Cabin Boy was that keen though and the Kapitan just puts up with these outings with a comatose resignation. The walk provided a real feeling of remoteness that is sometimes missing in the Lakes. The landscape may be rounded, but it is still aesthetically pleasing.