Crinkle Crags

Tuesday, 29 June 2021

Ascent: 773 metres
Distance: 12 kilometres
Time: 3 hours 9 minutes

Pike O' Blisco 705m 45mins
Crinkle Crags 859m 1 hour 48mins
Cold Pike: 701m 2hrs 29mins


It was the fourth day of sunshine, almost a record during the 37 years we have been holidaying in the Lake District. We had planned to climb the two hills above the Wasdale screes from Eskdale Green. Gregor would tackle Lingmell as well as he approaches a finish to the 214 Wainwright hills and Aileen would walk up Mittledale where I would meet her on my way back from Whin Rigg and Illgill Head. It involved a drive over Wrynose and Hard Knott passes so the intention was to start early at 7:30am to beat the traffic and get the best of the weather, which was to be in the morning. At 8:10am. the others were still watching TV and eating breakfast so I announced the last call and with no response decided to go alone. I dropped the plan for Wastwater, we would do that another day, and decided to climb three hills including Crinkle Crags from below the Wrynose pass. It was a good decision, it was still cool and the visibility was amazing in the early morning.

I took a direct route up Pike O' Blisco over Black Crag, it was steep but dry underfoot and the sheep kept the grass at levels suitable for walking. Topping Pike O' Blisco from the south is a treat as the Lakeland Fells appear in all their green and rock rippled glory. The Great Langdale valley was a rich emerald finger of memories, and the Scafell range sketched a scalloped skyline of crags set against a blue sky. The surprise is that there were no others on the fells on what would be one of the very best summer days. I dropped down the stony path to Red Tarn, the grey rock suddenly changing to rich red  Blisco sandstone for a small area around the tarn.

The path from here to Crinkle Crags climbs at an easy gradient, with many steps to ease the climb past Great Knott. The gradient only increases on the final climb through some crags to the first cairn of Crinkle Crags at 834 metres. It was perfect fell walking with the Scafell Range urging me on as I dropped down again before scrambling up to the summit, Long Top. I had been there a few minutes when a young couple arrived, the first people I had seen all morning. The views were as good as I can ever remember during a dozen or so visits to Crinkle Crags. The promised cloud cover had not arrived so I briefly thought about carrying on to Bowfell but it would have added an extra hour and I had pangs of guilt about leaving the others behind.

I began the descent towards Cold Pike, a long traverse across a flattish and boggy grassland, it is an easy stroll. I met a man on his descent and we chatted for a while, he had driven up from Kirkham. leaving home at 6:30am. He told me that he savoured every extra day he could spend in the fells now that he was 76 years old. He looked lean and walked with a life practised stride, he intended to go over Crinkle Crags and Bowfell before returning to Langdale. It always pleases me when I hear others enthusing about the fells.

Cold Pike does not have the views of Pike O' Blisco or the mountain feel of Crinkle Crags so I continued on an easy descent to the path that runs up from the top of Wrynose Pass at Three Shires Stone. There were some path builders working on a section below Red Tarn Moss that had become boggy with the fairly heavy traffic of walkers. They told me that the John Muir Trust had leased some land near Helvellyn but seemed a bit dismissive about the work that was going on there.

As I arrived back at the top of the pass all the parking spots were occupied. I jogged down the pass to the car and then attempted the slow negotiation of the drive to Little Langdale as the day tourists were heading the other way on the narrow single track road. 

Gregor and Aileen had enjoyed a walk to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel after I left them without transport. They had a coffee outside on a perfect summer morning. I was slightly envious, this was where I had bought my first pint of beer as a 16-year-old having climbed the Langdale Pikes on a similar summer morning many moons ago. They seem to have forgiven me for my selfish exit whilst they were still having breakfast.

The day had become too hot for any further activity but Gregor managed a run to Tarn Crag and back as we spent some time in Grasmere in a long queue for ice cream desperate to swop our masks for a cone. We were aware that most other visitors had disposed of their masks in a contrarian 'do what I say not what I do' homage to the disgraced Matt Hancock.

Langdale Pikes from Pike O' Blisco


Crinkle Crags from Pike O' Blisco


Pike O' Blisco


Pike O' Blisco from Crinkle Crags path


Langdale Pikes from Crinkle Crags


Scafell and Scafell Pike from Crinkle Crags


Crinkle Crags


Great Langdale from Crinkle Crags


Scafell and Scafell Pike zoom


Crinkle Crags

Looking West from Cold Pike

Crinkle Crags from Cold Pike


Cold Pike and Langdale Pikes

Kentmere Wainwrights

Ascent of Shipman Knotts

The first outing in the Lake District hills for 2 years was a welcome treat. On the drive down from Keswick, the hills were obviously fizzing with visitors with cars parked along the roadside for all the popular routes to the hills. Gregor and I decided on an early start to secure a parking place at the head of Kentmere. Gregor would run the seven Wainwright hills that provide the skyline to Longsleddale but start from Kentmere, which involves a lot shorter drive than to Longsleddale. I had decided to climb the three Kentmere Wainwrights and to return via the Nan Bield Pass and the Kentmere Valley, a place that I had never visited before. 

Sunday 27 July 2021

Ascent:       672 metres
Distance:    14 kilometres
Time:          2 hours 52 minutes

Shipman Knotts       600m     45mins
Kentmere Pike        707m     1hr 10mins
Harter Fell               775m    1hr  31mins

We left Langdale at 8am, the journey was on quiet roads but the single track road from Stavely was slow going. We found a parking place just before Hallow Bank where the track to Longsleddale begins and the route up Shipman Knotts starts at the high point of this track. We agreed that we would aim to be back by noon. Gregor galloped off, glad to be back in the land of Herdwick sheep. 

It was a steep pull up to Shipman Knotts and although still cloudy it was a still and warm day. The fells were alive with walkers and runners and by the time I had arrived at Kentmere Pike and stopped for some fuel, I had passed 6 people on their descents and then a runner arrived and continued towards Harter Fell. I began to follow him on the downhill section, I was catching him and in the past, it would have prompted my race genes but as the uphill section began my walking gene kicked in as I watched him climb steadily to the untidy cairn. 

On the summit of Harter Fell, I briefly thought of heading east towards Branstree and Selside Pike but doubted that I could climb these two hills and still make it back in three hours. I would still have to return to climb Tarn Crag and the bog encircled Gray Crag and I thought they might be better climbed from Hawes Water at some future date. So with a noisy party approaching the summit and their dog chasing sheep on the fine grazings of Harter, I began the descent to Nan Bield on a steep path through the crags. There were good views to Small Water and Kidsty Pike so I stopped for some photos and a drink once clear of the madding crowd. At the shelter stone, there were three or four groups of walkers, I was tempted to head across to High Street but time would not allow this so I began the descent to Kentmere.

The path was too stony for easy running so I enjoyed the walk and the solitude of the valley. I met an elderly but fit lady who had an easy cadence and was walking from Kentmere to Patterdale. We chatted for a while about the joys of returning to the fells after the last year of lockdowns. The restrictions on exercise and access to the hills was one of the least sensible measures introduced by government and she echoed these sentiments, she regarded the hills as her gymnasium and source of well being.

I passed Kentmere reservoir and negotiated the lower paths and tracks to arrive back shortly after Gregor. He was doing an extra mile or so to achieve his weekly running target having already collected a couple of Strava crowns on his 24 kilometre round of 7 Wainrights in 2hrs 23 minutes. Happy days are here again.

Looking west from Harter Fell

High Street and the western fells

Hawes Water from Harter Fell

Small Water from Harter Fell

Descending Harter Fell to Nan Bield Pass

Kentmere Common and Nan Bield Pass

Ill Bell and Froswick

Kentmere Valley

Vintage Morris at the end of the walk.

Rum Cuillins

The approach from Mallaig

For several years I have been planning a trip to Rum to climb the two Corbetts on the splendid Cuillin ridge. I have been thwarted by ferries being fully booked, bad weather, Covid restrictions, and my intention to go on a day of good visibility. But with few Corbetts left to climb, I was running out of time. A fortnight earlier I had been prevented by the Saturday ferry being rescheduled because of a low tide. The forecast was ok, with white cloud and good visibility with a strong westerly breeze. The bunkhouse had restricted access because of Covid so the campsite was the only way to spend a night and see a bit of the island and then to have time to climb the two Corbetts which according to the guidebooks was a 12-hour walk. It took 50 minutes to get through to CalMac to make a ferry booking and the campsite had to be booked online by a company called pitchup. 

John had offered to come along although he had climbed the ridge about 4 years ago whilst I was in London for Easter. It was reassuring to have some company for what is a challenging walk over some fairly rough terrain with little likelihood of other walkers. We left on a Friday morning to catch the 12:30pm ferry. Parking in Mallaig was difficult with the long stay car park full and we had to take our luck parking on the edge of the space for coaches. We collected our tickets from the CalMac booking office and the ferry left about 20 minutes late. 

The ferry was comparatively empty with a couple of vehicles including an oil tanker and a few people travelling on to Canna. The Rum hills were partly in cloud and it was a duller day than the forecast had suggested. It is a ten-minute walk from the ferry jetty to the campsite. The site is well positioned next to the sea and close to the fairly new bothy that was empty apart from a group of men repairing the roof on Kinloch Castle. There is an open shelter on the campsite that came in use for cooking and the toilets are halfway back to the jetty. We set up the camp and went for a walk to Kinloch. The centre is a compound that contains the community hall, post office/shop and cafe. It was occupied by half a dozen children, some dogs and locals who seemed to have started the Friday evening drink session. We ordered some tea and cake and watched the comings and goings of the cars, bikes, children and dogs. The lively woman who served us disappeared as we were having our afternoon tea in a van that was called 'Bus' to catch the afternoon ferry to Mallaig, apparently for a night out, she was certainly dressed for it. She had not told those left in charge of the shop that she was going and they had no idea what to charge us.

We had a walk around the unoccupied red sandstone Kinloch Castle and its estate before retreating to the campsite and sitting on the grassy bank of the bay watching the tide come in. We cooked (or should I say boiled) some food: soup, couscous, and tea and retired at 8:30pm ready for a 7am start on the big walk tomorrow.

Saturday, 12 June 2021

Ascent:     1859 metres
Distance:  23 kilometres
Time:       10 hours 32mins

g     Hallival           723m      2hrs 5mins
c     Askival            802m      3hrs 20mins
c     Ainshval          781m      5hrs 32mins
Nameless Corrie     759m     6hrs 8mins
Sgurr nan Gillean    764m     6hrs 23mins

We were ready to start at 7:00am, having packed our sleeping bags etc. into larger rucksacks and left them in my tent. We headed to the castle, crossed the river, and headed along the reasonable track towards Coire Dubh. It was grey and cool with a steady breeze that kept the midges at bay. The incline was fairly gentle at first until we reached a strange piece of artwork telling the story of the Manx Shearwater that migrate from Argentina to Rum every year and nest in burrows high on the hills. Their chicks are favoured by the sea eagles that patrol the ridges of the Rum Cuillins. 

After crossing the burn by a water intake, the slopes steepened until we reached a rock-strewn plateau of Bealach Baic-mheal. As the slopes steepened again we entered the cloud and walked up grassland that was entrenched with hundreds of burrows. The shearwater birds are at sea during the day but there were signs of recent occupation and occasional piles of feathers where the birds had become prey. The final hundred metres of ascent to Hallival was a continuous scramble with the occasional chimney to haul ourselves up. 

There was nothing to see from the summit so we continued to descend steeply over tricky slabs of rock to the bealach before Askival, it was quite difficult and slow going. The initial climb to Askival was straightforward and a narrow path then went below the ridgeline to the left. Again we were walking through dozens of sheerwater burrows and from the feathers there had been recent kills. Like so many paths during the day, it eventually petered out and we were left with a final climb through rock bands requiring some stretching and a couple of laybacks to the summit. 

The rough stone-built trig point is the highest point on Rum. I had anticipated this moment on many occasions but visibility was minimal in the cloud and we were exposed to the strong breeze so continued for a while to find some shelter at the start of the next descent. The Met Office forecast had predicted sunshine and excellent visibility by 11 a.m. on Askival. It had been wrong on both counts and the strong breeze had the feel of rain about it. We were behind schedule but not by much and we had given ourselves a generous amount of time to complete the ridge.

I had downloaded a route on the OS maps online app and this included the route down, we veered south to avoid the crags and found an obvious descent route but we followed it too far, others must have made the same mistake and when we emerged from the cloud we were heading for the bealach below Beinn nan Stac. We had not lost too much height so turned 90° and made for Bealach an Oir. We had probably lost another 20 minutes so decided to give Trollabhal a miss, it was in the cloud and if the descent was the same as the last two descents we would lose more time. We contoured around under the crags and made the easy climb to Bealach an Fhuarain. 

The climb to Ainshval followed a narrow path for a short distance and then involved a steep climb up some large scree blocks until the final grassy but steep path leading to the summit. It was coming up to 1pm so we were well within the time to catch the evening ferry. We relaxed on the summit and had some lunch. My objectives for the day were done but the sense of achievement was dimmed by the conditions with no views available. The next part of the walk over the two tops of the Unnamed Corrie and Sgurr nan Gillean was fairly straightforward. 

John had previously made a difficult descent from Sgurr nan Gillean to the bothy at Dibidil and was a bit anxious about it. I had read that it is better to head due south to 600 metres and then head east, this way avoids the crags. It did, and we made a fairly quick descent reaching the bothy in about an hour. I had collected some stones in my shoe so entered the bothy to remove the debris and some outer clothing. The bothy was filled with building materials suggesting that the Mountain Bothy Association was about to start some refurbishment. We read the visitor book, studied the collection of empty whisky bottles, ate some food, and lingered for a while secure in the knowledge that we were well within time. Perhaps we should have climbed Trollabhal as well.  

It is a 9-kilometre walk back to Kinloch along a very boggy path with several river crossings and rain was imminent, it was time to move. The first river was the most difficult crossing it involved a jump over a gushing current onto a rock that sloped back to the water. If you slipped it would be a waist-deep dip but our shoes gripped sufficiently to keep us dry. Not that this proved much compensation the boggy path ahead ensured wet shoes and feet for the rest of the walk. There had been recent work on several parts of the path, usually in 50-metre sections, reconstructed with stone and gravel and trenches dug to save further erosion. These sections probably comprised no more than 750 metres over the entire length of the path. The path climbs to 200 metres and gives good views over the coast and towards Eigg. It took two and a half hours, much of it in the rain and which included time to put on all waterproofs. My trousers take about five minutes to put on over trail shoes by loosening zips, velcro, and poppers and then refastening them. It is time to replace them with something simpler, John recommended some OMM Kameilka pants. 

Arriving at the campsite, the breeze had blown itself out and we were welcomed by legions of midges. My midge net was somewhere in the bowels of a wet rucksack, so I dropped the tent and packed it whilst they feasted themselves. Although there was a shelter on the campsite, it too was a midge trap so we walked along to the jetty and killed an hour or so before the ferry arrived. The rain had stopped so we could remove waterproofs and sort out our gear. We made a brew of tea, emptied our sacks of food, and chatted to two cyclists and two walkers who had been to the Castle and Kilmory. The Calmac ferry back to Mallaig was an oasis of calm, with no vehicles onboard, only a handful of passengers and coffee and a bag of chips as a reward for the day. We were back at the car by 9:30 p.m. and home just after midnight. Only five Corbetts remaining.

Campsite and Bothy

Kinloch Castle

Kinloch village centre

Castle features

Highland Pony

Start of the walk along Coire Dubh path

Looking back to Loch Scresort

Shearwater tribute

On the slopes of Hallival

Climbing the slabs on Hallival

Askival summit

From Askival to Ainshval and Trollabhal

Askival from Bealach an Fhuarain

Ainshval

The Bealach between Ainshval and Trollabhal

Descending Sgurr nan Gillean to Dibidil

John at Dibidil Bothy

Leaving on the Calmac ferry