Walk Summary
Interesting walk including two Wainwrights: Carrock Fell and High Pike. Peruse an ancient hill fort, and some old mine workings. Visit the mountain bothy, Lingy Hut. It does include 3 miles of tarmac walking (although this could be eliminated if two cars are used).
Date: 16/09/2022
Length: 7.96 miles
Height Gain: 511 m
Terrain: Boggy paths. stone paths, steep/slippery path near Further Gill Sike (awkward, rather than dangerous), grassy paths, 3 miles of tarmac walking (although this could be avoided if two cars are used).
Navigation: Map/compass and gps required. The paths are mostly well defined. The path between Carrock Fell and High Pike can be a little sketchy at times.
Start: Offroad parking opposite Stone Ends farm
Route: Offroad Parking Opposite Stone Ends Farm, Further Gill Sike, Carrock Fell, High Pike, Lingy Hut, Grains Gill Mines, Mosedale
Map: OL5 The English Lakes North Eastern Area
Weather: Sunny, cold wind.
Walkers: Nun, Calse and Mo
Gallery
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Pig Of A Path Up To Carrock Fell
Captain's Log
Malingerers
I sounded two renditions of the reveille on my bugle this morning before any troops surfaced. Calse reported sick saying that she had a sore throat. She did sound a bit like Barry White when she spoke. I said that she should go back to bed, and we'd reassess matters at 9 a.m. She reappeared at 9 a.m. and the mystery symptoms had disappeared. It was clearly a case of malingering. Rather than waste any more time this morning raising the issue with her, I made a record of the occurrence in the Captain's Log and intended to raise it at her annual appraisal.
Our mission today was to climb our last two Wainwrights in the Northern Fells: Carrock Fell and High Pike. We parked at the roadside half a mile out of Mosedale, opposite Stone Ends farm. The path up the east face of Carrock fell appeared to avoid the main crag and seemed a reasonable gradient.
Forty minutes later, my assessment of the path was quite different: it declared it a pig of a path. The easy initial gradient had quickly got quite steep, and the surface was covered with little stones that made it very slippery. Once we were on easier ground. I called a halt to regroup and assess the condition of my platoon. Mo had slipped down and had scratched his leg and hurt his wrist. Calse had also slipped down and had been breathing so heavily that the mysterious sore throat had reappeared. She suddenly made a face similar to a baby Kestrel demanding food from the mother. I enquired whether she was having a cardiac arrest, but she said she was just clearing her ears after the quick gain in height. We had taken a battering on the ascent, but after this inspection, I assessed that my troops were fit enough to continue.
Carrock Fell
We were still only halfway up Carrock Fell, but the second half was a breeze compared with the first. An ancient fort had been built around the summit and remnants were still visible. I was surprised how much still remained and the large area it covered. A woman had commandeered the stone shelter at the summit and so we hunkered down on the leeside, to take a break. Even though the sun was out, it was a bitter wind. It was an amazing view from the summit, with most of the northern fells within view.
After the break we set off to our next Wainwright, High Pike. We could see its top in the far distance and the path we needed to take across the fells to get to it. The path turned out to be reasonably flat, and the boggy bits were easily avoided. It didn't seem long before we were climbing the gradual slope up to High Pike's summit.
Carrock Fell's Summit Cairn
High Pike's Trig And Memorial Seat
High Pike And Mo's Fail
The summit of High Pike is fairly flat, and we walked 50 metres beyond the summit to get a view of the landscape beyond. We were on the edge of the northern fells, and it was amazing how far we could see. As we gazed at this amazing vista, Mo asked, 'Is that the Isle Of Man Over There?' Now Mo has been walking in the Lakes for a number of years now, and whenever the Isle Of Man is visible, I've always pointed it out to him for his benefit. Therefore, I was quite perplexed as to why he thought Scotland was the Isle Of Man. For one thing, it was the sheer size of the Scottish landmass that we were looking at. More significantly this landmass was quite clearly joined to the same one on which we stood. 'If that is the Isle Of Man, I think we may have gone a little off track,' I suggested to Mo.
Lingy Hut And The Mines
From High Pike we headed off on the Cumbria Way towards Great Lingy Hill. South of the summit is a mountain bothy called Lingy Hut. It used to be an old shooting hut. It's quite spacious and clean inside. Looking at the visitor's book, it is well frequented too. We followed a path from the hut down to Grains Gill Beck. The remains of a mining site is situated near the valley bottom. There is evidence that mining has taken place here since the 16th century and has proceeded, on and off, until the latest venture closed in 1981. Several mine shafts burrow through the hill and the remnants of buildings are clearly visible. Lead, and the minerals for arsenic and tungsten, were mined here. A study from Leeds University finds that there is local contamination of water from the mineral residues, and so I wouldn't be filling your water bottles in its vicinity.
Lingy Hut
River Caldew
Tarmac Trod
We joined the mine road that follows the valley eastwards to Mosedale. The 3 mile route from here back to the car is all tarmac. An alternative day out for those averse to tarmac walking would be to leave one car near to the mines (assuming you have two cars in the group); there is some limited offroad parking near to the end of the road. Apart from the odd pothole, the tarmac is in reasonable condition (Sep 2022). We had only one car and so had to walk back to Stones End farm. Despite the tarmac, the valley is a very pleasant walk. There are views across the River Caldew, to Bowscale Fell, that reminded me a little of Scotland. On our left, the south flank of Carrock Fell was covered in gorse. I wondered if there had ever been gorse around when the fort was in use on Carrock's summit. It would be a great defence mechanism; I for one, would be dragging my feet to breach that kind of defence. Well, not unless I had some long-handled shears and some welders gloves. Wainwright talks of a path that leads from the valley to Carrock's summit along this flank, but it looks as though it has been overgrown with the green and yellow, prickly stuff now. Near Mosedale, the Swallows Guest House was truly living up to its name with dozens of swallows swooping above the gorse and hoovering up those insects. From Mosedale we headed north along the road, back to the car. The east side of Carrock fell has steep cliffs; I could see now that the path we had taken this morming was the only feasible way up Carrock from this side, although Calse and Mo might question that.
Back at the car, a school party was just preparing to leave in a minibus. The teacher made an audible count of the kids. This seemed like a good idea and so I did the same with my troops. It had been a cracking walk, and we'd enjoyed great weather. If Calse's sore throat had persisted into the evening, it didn't seem to have affected her ability to consume Prosecco.