KYQ4: Causey Pike to Grasmoor

Three Wet Men on Grasmoor

Monday, 20 November 2023

Ascent: 1534 metres

Distance: 23 kilometres

Time: 7 hours 11 minutes

Causey Pike 637m 1hr 11mins

Scar Crags. 672m 1hr 38mins

Sail. 773m 2hrs 17mins

Eel Crag 839m 2hrs 37mins

Wandope 772m 2hrs 55mins

Whiteless Pike 660m 3hrs 15mins

Grasmoor. 852m 4hrs 3mins

Outerside. 568m 5hrs 33mins

Barrow. 455m 6hrs 13mins

After drying out from the previous day's walk we frequented the chippy in the Market Square for a fish supper in the upstairs cafe. Keswick Youth Hostel provided a comfortable night and we talked to other walkers including a man and woman from Doncaster who were hoping to finish the 214 Wainwright Hills on Haystacks, Wainwright's favourite, on Tuesday, The forecast was pretty depressing for Monday and we deliberated on whether to tackle the 9 Wainwright Hills that I had planned in the Derwent Fells. I phoned Mark in Ambleside and he seemed ok with the proposal so we agreed to meet at 9:30 a.m. at Stair in Newlands. There is a reasonable-sized parking area at Uzzicar and we doubted that too many folks would be going walking. Newlands is one of my favourite places in the Lakes, the location of my primary school holiday to the Newlands Activity Centre at Stair. There were two camper vans at the park and Mark was waiting for us as we arrived.

The path up Causey Pike is unrelenting but not too steep to prevent a steady pace. The rain was set for the day so for the second day running it was a full set of waterproofs. I dispensed with Goretex trail shoes and decided on my running shoes, they had better traction on wet and slippy siltstone rock and there would be plenty of that today. The final climb to Causey Pike is a scramble, I realised that it was a brave shout by our teacher to escort 30 or so 10 and 11-year-olds up there back in the day. It was a reasonably level ridge walk across to Scar Crags before the steep drop and then the zig-zag motorway that is a scar on the path up Sail. It made me think the names of these two hills should be reversed. I was struggling with wet gloves, every time I took them off. to look at the map on my phone, I struggled to get them back on and it was costing me time. The others seemed to have less trouble with mitts or unlined gloves.

The next hill was Crag Hill, formerly known as Eel Crags and termed as such in Wainwright's Guide. It is the highest hill in the Derwent Fells and the summit is set back from the main path. We had a bit of a blether as Keith made sure we had identified the correct top using his summit app. This was the place where we needed to decide whether to complete the full round or to plead our age and return to Newlands. We were all too thrawn to throw in the towel so we continued to Wandope and Whiteless Pike which involved 200 metres of descent. It was 1 p.m. and the rain had relented so we stopped at Saddle Gate, the lowest point in the ridge to have some lunch and have a chat, the constant rain with hoods up had prevented much talk on the walk so far. It also allowed Keith the chance to check the possibility of taking in Whiteside and Grisedale Pike and to arrange for me to pick him up in Braithwaite. He had already climbed Outerside and Barrow a couple of weeks ago. Mark, who is on his 22nd (yes, twenty-second round of Wainwrights) was able to brief Keith on the best routes over to Whiteside and back to Braithwaite over Hopegill Head and Grisedale Pike.

We had taken over 15 minutes for our break before we set off for Grasmoor, the furthest and highest point of the walk. It was easy going and after a short break at the summit, we began the return walk. Keith headed for Coledale Hause whilst we returned to Eel Crag, it was still in the cloud as was Sail. We did get the odd moment of visibility as we descended down the motorway from Sail and began the walk to Outerside. Mark took us up the steep south flank, a 70-metre climb through the heathers. It was going dark as we began the trek to Barrow over rough and boggy ground. We made the summit as darkness descended. Instead of taking a more direct route down, we took a grassy and slippy grass path towards Braithwaite Lodge and then doubled back to the car park at Uzzicar. It had stopped raining and we contacted Keith, he had messaged that he was about to arrive at the Whinlatter Pass car park where we could collect him. Mark was returning home to Ambleside.

We went to Booths, the Waitrose for those with short vowels, to buy food before returning to the homely warmth of the Keswick Youth Hostel. We had survived two days of rain, low clouds, and no visibility but it had been strangely satisfying; a reminder of all those wet days when climbing Munros on weekend days when there was no option to peruse Met Office forecasts to choose good days for walking. My Goretex jacket had also wetted out on both days so I have an excuse to buy a new one or attempt another reproofing. We looked at the forecast for the next day and discovered that my suggestion for the Helvellyn Ridge would be in the cloud all morning. I suggested a couple of local smaller Wainwrights that would enable us to drive home or in my case to visit my home town for the first time since COVID.