Castlerigg Stone Circle

Half a dozen people were already mooching around the Castlerigg stone circle when we entered its snowy field. With the virtue of patience, I managed to get a few photos of the stones without somebody photobombing my shot. It certainly looked dramatic with Blencathra and Skiddaw wearing their white coats as the backdrop. The sun was out and it reflected harshly off the snow. I could have done with some sunglasses.

Our route to High Rigg was via a field hop to the A591 and from there another field hop to the fell. After about 20 yards into the first field I wondered if my route choice had been a good idea; it was incredibly muddy. The next field brought more waterlogged, marshy ground. The sun was melting the snow making the ground even wetter. We slid and stomped our way across the terrain. The Cabin Boy and the Kapitan didn't look too happy about the start. On reaching the A591 we immediately diverted off into the fields again. My foot sank so low in one bog, I thought that I might extract it minus a boot. I was happy and relieved to reach firm ground on the old road leading up to St John's In The Vale church. Hopefully things would get better now.

High Rigg

And things did get better. It wasn't as muddy or boggy on the fell. The snow was still melting though and it was still wet, but nothing as atrocious as those fields on our approach. The fell from the church in the north, to Legburthwaite in the south, looked like a meringue topping with numerous peaks and troughs. There were four Explorer hills and a Lakeland Tarn on this fell and we started to tick them off as we made our way south. There is a plethora of tracks on the fell and my gps was handy to confirm that we had indeed claimed a valid tick. There were plenty of people making the south to north route across the fell. At one point we came across a group of Irish people. 'Have I seen you before?' The enquiry was from an elderly lady in the group who had a pair of digital binoculars hanging around her neck. 'Was it on Blencathra?' she asked. I told her that I had been on Blencathra last Sunday (see Blencathra Traverse East To South). 'No, we were up there on Thursday.' With that announcement she continued to follow her group, leaving me with the uneasy feeling that there is somebody who looks identical to me walking around the Lake District. Grey cloud approached from the south and the day felt a little less cheery as we descended down the southern end of the fell to our turnaround point near Legburthwaite.

St John's In The Vale

We headed back along the St John's In The Vale valley on the path that hugs the bottom of High Rigg fell on its east side. At Low Bridge End farm a Border Collie stood sentinel in their garden. He had a curious fur pattern on his chest that looked like a white cross. He didn't bark or run up to us; he just sat and watched us walk along the path. 

At our lunch spot, the rain started and we put on our waterproofs. It had arrived earlier than the weather forecaster's prediction As we walked, we met the same familiar faces of the walkers that we'd met doing the south to north route over the fell, in the morning. The Irish group approached and I was disappointed to find that the lady who claimed to recognise me earlier on in the day, walked by me now as if I was a ghost.

Tewet Tarn

We walked past the small and pretty St John's In The Vale church and started tramping across the fell to the north. We headed directly to another Explorer hill, Low Rigg, but found our way blocked by a high stone wall. We were only about 50 yards from its summit and so it was a bit frustrating. I decided to count it as a tick since we were so close. We descended from the peak and crossed the stone wall using a stile. There was the option of now doing and out-and-back up to the summit, but since it was raining, I decided to leave the top for another day. 

I was hoping that the field hopping we needed to do now would be drier than our morning experience. Thankfully it was a lot drier. Tewet Tarn appeared and it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. If mist hadn't covered Skiddaw and Blencathra, it would have been a pretty location too. We finally reached tarmac and started making our way back to the Castlerigg stone circle. We came across some impressive Highland cattle in one of the fields munching away on some feed that the farmer had provided. Despite the mud, they looked quite content.

We had just got our gear off and got into the car when the rain started in earnest. We'd got back just in time. 

I was an impressive start to the walk with a wander around the Castlerigg stone circle. The thought of bog trotting across those fields to High Rigg would probably deter me from doing the route again from this start point. Maybe I'd do it again after a long dry summer...if we ever get one again.