Gentian Blencathra Trip (10th-12th March 2023)

Only a week after my previous visit, I headed back to the Lake District for another weekend, this time with the Gentian Mountainering and Hill Walking Club. Coincidentally, all my previous weekend meets have been in Wales, so this was my first time with them in the Lakes. Using up another left over day of 2022 annual leave, I again took the Friday off work to enjoy an extra day in the hills. Thursday had been a snowy day in northern England, so I had been worried that the evening drive up to Ruth’s house could be difficult, but it turned out that the roads were totally clear, with nothing worse than sleet falling.

I had advertised my intention to walk on the Friday to the other trip participants, and was pleased that Mike had accepted the invitation. We had arranged to meet in Staveley, with a view to then popping up the valley to Kentmere village for a walk around the horseshoe. He texted me when he arrived at Wilf’s cafe, having got an early start and driven up from Coventry, and I headed across from Ruth’s, via Asda to refuel, while he had his breakfast. Heading up the valley, we found that the farmer had helpfully ploughed the lane all the way, so there was no difficulty reaching the small car parking area by the Kentmere Institute.

It was a perfect, blue-sky day with a good covering of snow at all levels. As we got our boots on, we decided that it was not worth carrying an ice axe or crampons as we would not be crossing any really steep ground and the snow would be fresh and soft. Soon we were heading up the Garburn Pass track, which provides an easy route to the ridge. Continuing gently up to Yoke, we found that in many places the wind had already scoured the path entirely of snow, and progress was consequently fairly easy, except through the occasional deep drift.

The ridge from Yoke to Thornthwaite Crag, via Ill Bell and Froswick, is one of my favourites in the Lake District, and did not disappoint. The light covering of snow nicely accentuated the crags, and with excellent visibility we could see clearly as far as the Coniston Fells, Langdale, Scafell Pike, Fairfield and Helvellyn to the west. We had first lunch in the disappointingly-ineffective shelter of Thornthwaite Beacon, not lingering on before getting moving again to warm up.

The next section of the walk, over the shoulder of High Street to Mardale Ill Bell, had the deepest snow covering of the day, with at least six inches most of the way and deeper drifts in places. As always, the views back to Ill Bell and its neighbours were magnificent. Crossing Nan Bield Pass to Harter Fell, we gained spectacular vistas north over Small Water and Haweswater, and paused in a relatively sheltered spot for second lunch.

I had expected more deep snow on the long, gentle ridge to Kentmere Pike and Shipman Knotts, but that proved not to be the case, with the stony path blown totally clear most of the way. Nevertheless, it felt like quite a long way down the ridge, particularly as we ended up taking a rougher line than intended down to the bridleway at Stile End. From there, it was just a couple of kilometres along the lanes back to Kentmere village. A perfect winter day in the sunshine!

I dropped Mike back to his car in Staveley, then continued via Ambleside and Dunmail Raise to our accommodation for the weekend, the Blencathra Centre, above Threlkeld. Most of the others had already arrived. It was quite a luxurious bunkhouse, with small en-suite bedrooms and a comfortable lounge-dining area with panoramic views over the Vale of Keswick, Once I’d said my hellos and taken a few minutes to settle in and make my bed, a few of us set off down to Threlkeld for a hearty pub dinner at the Horse and Farrier. Once back at the bunkhouse, we had time for a glass of wine and some more chat before bed.

On Saturday, I offered to lead a walk around the horseshoe to Blencathra from Mungrisdale village. I was surprised that Mike was the only one to sign up, with many preferring to walk directly from the bunkhouse even though Howard’s route (also up Blencathra) was longer, and a few others heading to Skiddaw. Nevertheless, the two of us set out again, and I drove us the 15 minutes or so to our start point. We were not sure to what extent the partially-thawed snow at lower levels would have re-frozen into hard ice overnight, so opted to wear winter boots and carry crampons, although not ice axes. It turned out the snow remained soft at all levels and no winter gear was necessary.

Our route started over Souther Fell, which always offers excellent views of Bannerdale Crags and Blencathra to the west – views in fact of our route for the rest of the day! I thought Souther Fell was a quiet hill but we found at least a couple of dozen others making their way along the ridge, so perhaps it has become a popular route. Deservedly so, in my opinion!

A gentle descent was followed by a long, gentle ascent over Scales Fell to the summit of Blencathra. This offered great views of Sharp Edge and Scales Tarn to the right, and improving views over the very snowy Dodds, less snowy Central Fells, and beyond, to the left. There was only the odd sunny spell, the weather being mostly overcast, but the air clarity was still excellent.

Turning north, we continued over Atkinson Pike then descended (with great views back to the snowy side of Sharp Edge) and reascended over easy ground to Bannerdale Crags, where we paused for lunch. The ridge onward to Bowscale Fell gave easy walking with a light covering of snow, before the final descent into Mosedale via the attractive Bowscale Tarn. That just left a couple of miles of easy track and road walking back to the car.

We were the first back to the bunkhouse, so I was able to enjoy a couple of cups of tea and a shower before the others began to return. We enjoyed discussing our excellent, snowy days on the hill over the preparation and eating of dinner – spag bol for the carnivores. In common with the others, I got a fairly early night, but did not sleep well – not sure why!

On Sunday, I again offered to lead a walk, this time up the Ullock Pike ridge southwest of Skiddaw, but did not get any takers. So instead I joined Howard’s walk from Mosedale village over Carrock Fell and High Pike, in the northeastern corner of the Northern Fells, behind Blencathra. Mike, Marie, Simon and Jayne also came along, but unfortunately Jayne left her boots behind so she and Simon had to return to collect those and ended up doing a similar route separately, a little later.

Almost all the snow had melted with a rise in temperatures and some heavy rain overnight, so the ground around Bowscale Tarn (looking up the valley) had changed from white to brown. Howard led us up a small and attractive path that I didn’t know existed, directly up the end of Carrock Fell from the southeast. In the past I have always used the one marked on the map on the northeastern side. Winding through the heather and past a few sheepfolds, we soon reached the old fort at the summit.

The winds were pretty ferocious in the immediate vicinity of the cairn, so we didn’t stop there, dropping down to the west and continuing along the flat ridge over Milton Hill. We had seen a couple of race marshals near the summit, and were soon being overtaken by the leaders in the Carrock Fell Race, and thereafter by progressively slower fellrunners further back in the sizeable field! I did not envy them racing in shorts and singlets in the strong, cold wind while I was comfortable in base layer, micro-fleece and two jackets!

When we reached the junction with the Cumbria Way, the others opted to skip the small detour to High Pike and head south directly. I thought I’d have a quick yomp up to the summit and back, and catch them back up on the descent. It proved a good decision as the mist lifted off the top as I ascended to leave good views in all directions, with even Blencathra and Skiddaw clearing for a bit.

I found the others having lunch in the ‘Lingy Hut’, a small MBA bothy on the side of Great Lingy Hill, offering welcome respite from the wind. Once we’d eaten, we continued down the Cumbria Way into Mosedale, past the old tungsten mines and down the lane to return to the cars. A little light rain fell in the final half hour, later than had been forecast, but wasn’t enough to make us significantly wet.

Having said my farewells, I drove an hour and a quarter or so to High Bentham to visit my parents for dinner and a chat. After that, the drive south was very wet but not delayed, and I was home by around 9:15pm.

Maps of my routes can be found at these links:
– Kentmere Round
– Blencathra
– Carrock Fell
More photos are available on Google Photos here.

To sum up, another fantastic weekend in the hills with some welcome late-winter snow conditions. I look forward to the next Gentian meet, in the Brecon Beacons next month.