Gruffalo

There's a lot of paraphernalia around the Visitor Centre. There's a Go Ape course, kid's playgrounds, information boards, and various sculptures. It's all a bit sensory overwhelming when you are just expecting a quiet walk. I could hear birds singing but couldn't spot any with all the distractions around. The closest I got to a bird was a metal sculpture that was a dead ringer for the Iron Chicken on the Clangers. I came across  a couple of wooden wizards, a wooden squirrel and what looked like a timber monkey sleeping on its side. It all seemed a little bizarre. After ten minutes of walking aimlessly upwards I came across a picnic area with half a dozen picnic tables. The trees had been cleared here and there was a good view over to Keswick and beyond. Well, it would have been a good view if it hadn't been so grey and spitting with rain. The picnic area seemed to be a junction for various trails and forestry roads (it is just left of the Comb Plantation labelling on the OL4 map). Behind a jumble of timber there was a large statue of the Gruffalo. I didn't know what a Gruffalo was before today, but this morning  it reminded me of a monster from a 1980's horror flick. I wasn't sure what to make of it. Due to the congregation of paths and the appearance of the Gruffalo, I named this spot   Gruffalo Junction.

Whinlatter Top And Brown How

My objective of the day was to summit the Wainwright, Whinlatter (or Brown How). Accessing the open fell was much easier than I thought it might be, and I patted myself on the back for not buying those extortionately priced maps at the Visitor Centre. I simply followed the forestry road that went eastwards, and gradually upwards, from Gruffalo Junction. This brought me to a gate that led to open fell. A brief, steep climb alongside the forestry fence and I was up on the broad ridge of the fell. I started following an obvious path eastwards along the top of the fell.

There was a good view of Grisedale Pike over to my left. Mist rushed across its summit. The further I got from the forestry, the stronger the crosswind blew. It started to rain again in the horizontal fashion familiar to Lakeland walkers.

There appears to be some dispute as to which is higher: Whinlatter Top or Brown How. From the cairn at Whinlatter Top, Brown How looks clearly higher. When I got to the stone shelter at Brown How and looked back, Whinlatter Top looked clearly higher. The OS map places Whinlatter Top higher by 8 metres. Wainwright dedicates a whole page to the subject. He also suggested that the well made stone shelter at Brown How was, '...an extravagance in a place so seldom visited'. Well, I didn't consider it an extravagance today. It was a blessing to get some protection from the gale that was blowing across the fell. It is on the small side though, with room for only about 3 people. If you bring your kids up here then you'll have to get them to play 'shortest straw' to determine which ones have to stand in the wind and rain.

On the return journey, I branched out to the left after Whinlatter Top and dropped mercifully out of the wind. The path contoured along the hillside towards the head of the valley to the left. Conditions improved so much that even some Meadow Pippits raised their heads without fear of being blown to Galloway. I finally reached the end of the open fell and the boundary of the forestry plantation. In my ideal world there would have been a gate or stile at this point to take me on a good track back through the forest to the Visitor Centre. Fortuna had different ideas though and there was just impenetrable, thick forest. I followed the fence northwards, uphill for a while, until I noticed a stone track on the other side of the fence. The fence was unbarbed and it was easy to cross over to the track.

The Northern Loop

The stone track was well made and I followed it into the forest. It was called the Northern Loop. I know this because every so often there would be a post indicating that it was the Northern Loop and some sort of measurement number. It had the hallmarks of being a mountain bike, rather than a walking trail, but due to the confined wood it was easy to hear any approaching cyclist. In fact, only one passed me during the descent of the trail. I have to admit, it was rather dark and gloomy. It was a bit of a moss wonderland though. The Northern Loop gradually zig-zagged downhill until it eventually dropped me off near to Grufallo Junction. I sat down at a picnic table to have some lunch, but as soon as I unpacked, the heaven's opened and I rushed down to take shelter in the Visitor's Centre shop. I loped around the shop pretending to be interested in things, with a weather eye on the window and the rain outside. As I perused some impossibly priced Herdy item, I heard a voice at my side, 'Can I help you?'. My friend, the shop assistant was back and it was time to move on.

Walking near Whinlatter's Visitor Centre can be an hallucinatory experience with all the contrived gimmicks to entertain the public, but once you reach Whinlatter's fell there's no denying the great views.