Walk Summary
Half a day's walk with decent climbs over Barrow, Stile End and Outerside with superb views of the surrounding fells. Easy return down the Coledale valley with a marvellous view of Skiddaw at the end. Good walk to do if the weather looks changeable (optional descents into the Coledale valley).
Click on the above map for an interactive map of the route. The Trails Map (dropdown, top right) is the best free map for displaying footpaths and topography. Expand to full screen (cross arrows, top right) to see route detail. Ordnance Survey maps can be used with a small subscription to Plotaroute.
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Map/Directions PDF - PDF file with a map and directions.
Date: 01/03/2024
Length: 6.297 miles
Height Gain: 587 m
Terrain: Stone tracks, grassy tracks, boggy tracks, stone tracks, lightly used roads.
Navigation: Map, compass and gps required. Signage is good. The tracks reasonably obvious.
Start: Braithwaite (Force Crag Mine) Carpark (free)
Route: Braithwaite Carpark, Braithwaite Lodge, Barrow, Stile End Outerside, Braithwaite
Map: OL4 The English Lakes North Western Area
Weather: Grey, misty on high tops
Walkers: Nun
Captain's Log
Bad Or Good Weather?
My expectation for the day was to sit in an armchair and watch the rain drift across the valley between my holiday let and Skiddaw. I got up to find Skiddaw clear of cloud with even blue patches of sky, here and there. I turned on the BBC weather forecast and it hadn't changed since yesterday evening; there was supposed to be rain and snow all day. I had a cup of tea and a slice of toast and still the weather looked fine. Despite the projections of the Met Office's gloomsters, I intended doing some sort of outing. I decided to do a walk directly from the holiday let, and traverse nearby Barrow, Stile End and Outerside, before returning down the Coledale valley. If the weather turned while I was up high then I could always drop down into the valley and escape the worst.
A Braithwaite Start
Looking Back To Skiddaw
Pensioner Pacers
Barrow
An elderly couple had been stepping on my coat tails up to Braithwaite Lodge and so I decided to stop to take a photo and let them pass. After I'd taken the photo, I turned around and was surprised to find them about a 100 yards ahead of me. Crikey, they weren't hanging about. They'd looked to be in their mid 70s when they passed me. I wasn't having that, and so I set off with a determination to catch them up. No matter how fast I climbed, I didn't seem to make much progress in reaching them. It was only when I was 20 yards from the summit that I caught the woman up and she stopped for a chat. I enquired about their fast pace and she said that they always walked at that speed. They were from Blackburn and would be heading home once they'd finished the walk. They'd also been walking in Borrowdale and seen some of those wonderful waterfalls that I'd seen yesterday (see Leap Day On High Raise). Her husband had gone on ahead to the top and it would have been ungentlemanly of me to overtake her at this point and beat her to the summit of Barrow. I'm not much of a gentleman though and that's exactly what I did. I gave her my best smile as she arrived at the summit a few seconds after me.
Stile End (Foreground), Outerside (Left) And Grisedale Pike (Background)
Stile End And Outerside
The weather was still holding up, although mist was accumulating now over the higher fells. Stile End and Outerside, my next targets, were clear of mist. I dawdled at Barrow's summit to take some photos. By the time I was ready to set off again the Pensioner Pacers were already halfway down to the col between Barrow and Stile End. They were too far ahead for me to catch them up and so I descended to the col at a more leisurely pace. They had taken the track down into the valley on their return to Braithwaite, but I continued upwards to Stile End. It didn't provide a difficult ascent and I was soon at its summit with a good view back down the valley to Braithwaite. I tried to spot the Pensioner Pacers but couldn't see them. They'd probably be halfway back to Blackburn by now.
The section between Stile End and Outerside is normally boggy and today was no exception. A light snow hid some of the deeper bogs and I was glad to get on to the rocky track that leads to the summit of Outerside. The path was drier, but the heather on either side of the narrow track was covered in snow. Despite wearing gaiters, the heather brushed against my trousers above my knee and they soon got wet. The wind got stronger the higher I got and it was blowing hard when I reached the snowy summit. Mist had now covered all of the surrounding high peaks and it was looking grey and threatening. This was the highest point for the day and it was all downhill from here. It looked like I'd timed the walk about right.
Looking Towards Causey Pike
Snowy Outerside Summit
Force Crag Mine
Coledale Valley
The snowy ground made the descent into the valley a slippery affair. Force Crag Mine added to the gloomy bleakness in the bottom of the valley. For a few moments I considered maintaining my height and contouring beneath Eel Crag in order to go to Force Crag. I could see what might be a bit of a path that I could use. There didn't seem to be a decent path to get me to the start of the path though, and given the increasing gloominess, I soon gave up on the idea and continued downwards into the valley.
After descending to an easier gradient I picked out a track that contoured back along the valley on the flank of Outerside. I made my way across to it and started my return journey. I wasn't sure whether it was a footpath or just a sheep trail since I didn't see any boot prints on it. It did the job though and I made quick progress down the valley. Outerside passed above me, then Stile End and then eventually Barrow came into view. It hadn't seemed to take me long to make my way down the valley. As I followed the stone track towards Braithwaite, the gloom became gloomier and I thought that I might get a soaking just before getting back to the holiday let. It didn't happen though and I remained dry.
The walk had been a welcome and unexpected leg stretcher. I'd beaten the rain and snow (that came in the afternoon). There had been fine views for a relatively low level route. No doubt the Pensioner Pacers were now back in Blackburn and doing some fartlekking on their running machine.
Return Down The Coledale Valley