Great Bank

We left Irton Pike's summit and returned back through the forestry plantation. The OS map said that there was a cairn circle on the other side of the plantation and with a bit of searching we did find it in the long grass. There wasn't really that much to see since the long grass covered a lot of the stones. We continued along the footpath towards Whin Rigg. Great Bank was our next target and I planned to summit this with an approach from the north. I'd read reports from walkers that the terrain was a little challenging from this direction. Initially we found that the terrain wasn't too bad. There wasn't a track, but the grass was reasonably flat and short and the walking easy. It was only when we reached the unbarbed wire fence near Caddy Well Spring that things started to get difficult. The fence was easy enough to hurdle, but the Tree Troublers had nuked a plantation on the other side and this made the going underfoot a little awkward. The ferns were also high and this prevented us seeing what dangers lurked beneath their leaves. After hurdling another wire fence we climbed the last few crags to the summit of Great Bank. We had to descend a few metres to a cliff on the other side of the summit, to get a fine view over Miterdale Forest.

Whin Rigg

The return journey from Great Bank seemed just as awkward as our outward journey and we were grateful to get back on to firmer ground on the Whin Rigg path. The views also started opening up down into the Wasdale valley. Over Wast Water we could see the Wainwrights that we had summited yesterday: Buckbarrow, Seatallan and Middle Fell. The Whin Rigg summit had been commandeered by three seated women and so we didn't spend long with the formalities of taking the summit photo. 213 Wainwrights completed and just one more to go. We started heading over to Illgill Head. At the col between Whin Rigg and Illgill Head we ticked off the Whin Rigg tarns for our Lake District Tarns Venture. Ticks were accumulating today.

Illgill Head

On the way up to Illgill Head I dashed ahead to the summit so I could film Kapitan Mo and the Cabin Boy approaching their final Wainwright summit. As I waited at the summit cairn, a chill wind started blowing and some black clouds started bubbling towards me from the west. The weather prospects didn't look too promising. It started to spit with rain. I was thankful when the two summiteers finally arrived and celebrations could begin. I pinned Wainwright medals to their chests and saluted them. The Kapitan had brought a bottle of Champagne and 3 plastic tumblers and we celebrated their achievement by quaffing the bubbly stuff. We hoped that other walkers might arrive so that we could Tommy Top them, but unfortunately Illgill Head remained deserted whilst we were there.  All the while, I kept a weather eye on that formidable black cloud that was heading directly towards us. It looked like it was just going to drop down to earth and form a tornado.  There was a rumble of thunder and lightening lit the western sky. It was time to halt the celebrations and make a move. Kapitan Mo and the Cabin Boy had completed their Wainwrights Venture.

Miterdale

The rain hit us as we descended Illgill Head's eastern flank. Fortunately, the excitement of the thunder and lightening was happening further to the south and we were able to appreciate its display from afar. I had intended walking around Burnmoor Tarn on this walk, but given the conditions I decided to take a direct return journey down the Miterdale valley. Although we didn't have to avoid bolts of lightening, the rain was persistent and we were soon soaked. It was a soggy plod through the damp fields to the derelict house at Bakerstead. The farm dogs were barking in their sheds well before we reached the farm at Low Place. They continued barking a long time after we left the farmyard too. On the Landrover track leaving the farm a couple of runners jogged by. The last time we'd seen them was on the final climb to Illgill Head. It was odd that we'd got ahead of them. Maybe they'd ran around Burnmoor Tarn.

Return

As we joined the road back to the carpark, we had to step to the verge as a convoy of tractors rumbled by. There were more that 30 altogether, some of them modern and others that looked like they wouldn't pass their next MOT and probably failed their last. The event was to celebrate the birthday of an 82 year old farmer,  George Kilbridge from Broughton-in-Furness. Their route was around 40 miles and raised money for the charity Mind in Furness.

Despite the poor conditions in the afternoon, it had been a very memorable day. The Kapitan and the Cabin Boy had achieved their goal of summiting all the Wainwrights and we'd also bagged some Lake District Hills Explorer hills and tarns too. It had been a successful day.