Buckbarrow

I’ve always ascended Buckbarrow by using a path over to the left of Gill Beck. This is a bit rough in places and so I decided to give the track a go that goes straight up on the right of the beck. Looking at accounts on the web, most people seem to use this path and I have to admit, it was a better one. It does go straight up though and so was a steep climb. As we escaped the stone walls and trees, a strong wind started hitting us from the east. It became stronger the higher we got and it wasn’t long before we had to put our jackets on. By the time we approached Buckbarrow’s summit cairn, we were having problems just standing up, such was the strength of the wind. A benefit of the strong wind was that it had dried out a lot of the fell. I’d been expecting it to be much boggier after the recent rain. Buckbarrow’s summit stands away from the crags that face the Wasdale valley. It was still a good view from its top though. The profile of Seascale, the nuclear power plant, seemed within touching distance on the coast. That was Buckbarrow ticked and so we battled with the wind to make progress towards Seatallan, our next summit. 

Seatallan

It was a long, gradual haul from Buckbarrow to Seatallan’s summit. The path was straight and the surrounding area featureless. It was a time for hunkering down and spending half an hour in your own headspace. The Cabin Boy and the Kapitan had wandered off ahead. The strong wind hit us from the side and so didn’t really give any assistance on the ascent. Eventually the path levelled out and I could see the Cabin Boy and Kapitan near the summit trig. It was too windy to talk as I approached them and it was far too windy to have a break. I carried out a circular tour of the stone shelter to see if I could find the painted memorial stone that I’d once found there (see Seatallan Ahoy!). I couldn’t find it though. 

The next stop on our itinerary was Greendale Tarn in the east. There is a direct path over to the east, that falls steeply off the summit plateau to the tarn. It is a difficult path to climb, never mind descend, and so I decided to opt for a more gradual track that went down gradually to the south, before doubling back to the tarn. It was a longer route, but made for far easier walking. Even so, I still managed to slip down on one wet section. As we made our way along the western side of the tarn we finally escaped that tremendous wind. It was trackless and a bit boggy above the tarn, but it didn’t present any difficulties. Our intention now was to climb Middle Fell using its north ridge path, but given we were temporarily sheltered from the wind we took the opportunity to stop for our lunch break. 

Middle Fell

As soon as we reached Middle Fell’s north ridge, we were blasted by that easterly again. At least the sun was out and it was a warm wind. We’d already gained most of Middle Fell’s height and the track up to its summit didn’t take us long. It was so windy that it was difficult to take a steady summit shot with my camera. Despite the tremendous views down into the Wasdale valley, we didn’t linger and started making our way down the southwest path. Ten minutes after starting the descent, we took our jackets off since we were sheltered from the wind again. We met several people making their way up the path. Given the tranquil conditions now, they must have been baffled by out wind battered faces. It was a steep and impressive descent down Middle Fell. It offered a great view to the southern end of Wast Water and also the huge crags that support Buckbarrow. It followed Greendale Gill whose water is sourced from Greendale Tarn that we’d visited earlier. A fern corridor brought us to the valley floor and over to the small collection of buildings at Greendale. 

Return

A pleasant track through Roan Wood delivered us to more open ground. The next section had a farm track but most of it was filled with water. We tried making progress on the land next to the track, but this was far too boggy and marshy. The farm track was the least worst option and so we made our way along it, the best that we could. Unfortunately a dozen or so cows were also making use of the track and I could see the look of panic in the Cabin Boy’s eyes. It was either drowning in a bog or making friends with the cows. We opted for the latter and survived to tell the tale. The Cabin Boy gave a sigh of relief as we hopped over a stile and had a fence between us and the cows. The rest of the footpath back to Nether Wasdale was much drier and made for pleasant walking. In fact, we’d already walked some of it on our outward journey this morning. 

Buckbarrow, Seatallan and Middle Fell are an obvious mountain trio to include on a walk from the Wasdale valley. They each have their unique character and offer exceptional views of the peaks around Wasdale valley. It can get windy around there though.