Walk Summary
Extensive views from the flanks of Great Borne. High fell walking over Starling Dodd to Red Pike. Excellent vista of Pillar and Steeple. Steep descent down to High Gillerthwaite and a walk beside Ennerdale Water with an excellent view of Crag Fell and Anglers' Crag.
Date: 17/11/2021
Length: 8.33 miles
Height Gain: 733 m
Terrain: Boggy paths, very steep grass paths, steep stony paths, remote fells, high trackless fells, forestry track, lightly used road
Navigation: Featureless fells. Requires map and compass. Difficult points indicated on map
Start: Bowness Knot Car Park
Route: Bowness Knot Car Park, Herdus, Great Borne, Starling Dodd, Red Pike, Gillerthwaite, Ennerdale Water
Map: OL4 The English Lakes North Western Area
Weather: Misty, cloudy, windy
Walkers: Nun
Gallery
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Ennerdale Water From Herdus
Captain's Log
Steep Start
The weather forecast was for occasional showers and so my original plan was to walk around the Ennerdale Lake. When I got to the Ennerdale Bowness Knot car park, the weather looked okay and so I decided to do something a bit more ambitious.
The first objective of the day was Great Borne. It involved walking back down the road on which I had arrived, and then heading off uphill under the looming flanks of Herdus. The path double backed to go up a leg burning path on to the edge of Herdus. There was a stunning view down on to Ennerdale Water and across to Angler's Crag. It was misty and blowing a gale as I hunkered down in the shelter on Great Borne. Maybe I should have stuck to a walk around the lake instead.
Red Pike
Dropping down from Great Borne the mist disappeared and the wind dropped. I had good views over to Hen Comb and Blake Fell, where I was yesterday. Starling Dodd lies between Great Borne and Red Pike. Sometimes it seems a bit unfair to go uphill only to come down again. It wasn't long though before I was plodding up to Red Pike's summit. The mist and strong wind returned as I got higher. I'd forgot what the summit of Red Pike looked like (although it does have a reddish hue) and it was only when I got the map out and sussed the path going down to The Saddle, that I was happy that I'd reached the top.
My plan was to drop down into the Ennerdale valley to High Gillerthwaite, but I was ahead of schedule and so decided to extend the walk a little bit by carrying on the ridge to High Stile.
Great Borne Summit
Pillar And Steeple
High Gillertwaite
Once I'd reached High Stile I'd half a mind to continue along the ridge over High Crag and drop down to the Ennerdale valley at Seat. Visibility was down to about 50 metres and the wind battered me. It would be a very long day if I went down by Seat, and so I started my return to Red Pike. I met two couples making their way from Red Pike to High Stile. We had a brief conversation. They were disappointed with the mist but looked grimly determined to continue along the ridge.
I started the descent from Red Pike and was initially surprised at the steepness of the path. It soon flattened out to tufty grass and for a while I lost the path (if indeed there is one in this area). I'd now dropped below the mist and I could see two people down below making their way up towards me. I presumed they would be on the path and so headed towards them. There was a superb view over to Pillar and Steeple. Pillar Rock was clearly visible. My knees knew they'd done a workout when I reached the forestry road at High Gillerthwaite.
Return To Bowness Knott
It is a well made forestry road back to Bowness Knot. I was glad that I'd not decided to extend my walk over to Seat. I I had, it would have been a very long way back down the Ennerdale valley on a hard surface. I was surprised at the amount of traffic driving along the forestry road. I made way for cars, landrovers and vans. At one point I made way for a skip lorry. The driver stopped beside me, rolled down the window and asked me if there was a hostel down here. He said that when the tarmac disappeared, he had feared that he'd taken a wrong turning. I reassured him that there was a hostel another mile further down the track. He looked relieved.
A lot of the time the views over Ennerdale Water were blocked by trees, but there were occasional gaps where I got impressive views across the lake to Crag Fell and Angler's Crag.
It had been a walk with great views, although I wished it had been less misty on the tops. My legs felt they'd had a great workout..
Crag Fell Across Ennerdale Water