Captain's Log

Gummer's How

The first good thing to say about Gummer’s How is that the hill is only 321m high. The second good thing is that its free carpark is situated at around 200m elevation and so you don’t really have to climb much to get to its summit. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t good and so we put on our waterproofs right at the start. They would remain on for the rest of the day. Due to the poor weather forecast I’d decided to do a lower level walk today that explored the hills along the east side of Lake Windermere.  Apart from Gummer’s How itself I’d not walked around the surrounding area before and so was looking forward to seeing somewhere new. Looking at the OS map it seemed to be a mixture of fells, fields, woods and forestry plantations. My chosen route did appear to undulate a bit, but nothing looked seriously hard.    

The Kapitan and the Cabin Boy were with me today. We’d last climbed Gummer’s How in April 2023 (see Not Quite Summer On Gummer) and on that occasion the Cabin Boy had been spooked by the Hardy Luing cattle that mooched around the hill’s approach path. Today, three of them munched away in the sparse woodland that surrounded the path, but the others were absent. It was only when we reached the crags leading up to the summit that we saw that most of them had congregated to the east. A couple of them gave us bemused stares as we started the climb, but there was no danger of them following. Having left the protection of the trees, we were met with the full force of the wind on the summit and it was hard to stand upright next to Gummer’s trig. It really was an excellent view from there with a wonderful panorama along Lake Windermere and then over to the higher Lakeland hills in the west. We didn’t linger in the strong wind and dropped down Gummer’s east flank to continue our journey. 

Fell And Field

Gummer’s How is situated in an area of open access land and we followed an obvious track towards its norther perimeter. I’d not been sure whether we’d be able to get access into the Birch Fell plantation, but there was a gap in the wall and an obvious track to follow. The track remained clear of the trees, but eventually became squeezed between them and a fence, as it gradually descended was to the east. It was obvious that not many people came this way, but those that had had cleared a walkable  route through the vegetation. Eventually, we reached an obvious public  footpath near Whinny Knott and headed south along it.

My intention had been to pick up a track that went by Heights and Duck Tarn, but we found the access gate locked with GOML signs. I therefore improvised a new route and we headed along the road to Lightwood and then followed a farm track southwards. We’d escaped the trees now and we got good views of the rolling hills to the east. A large cairn on a nearby hill grabbed our attention and we made a short diversionary climb to investigate. The OS map said it was a monument (known as Ravens Barrow), but there was no plaque to indicate what it was commemorating. The monument had a seating recess, but it would have taken a braver man than me to sit in there. The wooden lintel, supporting a mass of stone above it, was clearly bending under the strain.    

The next stage of the walk was a mixture of woodland trails, farm tracks and fields.  It was pleasant enough walking, but I wouldn’t class it as  epic. On Winster Fell we came across a ramshackle wooden seat and we sat down to have our lunch. It started raining even heavier when we set off again. 

Plantation

At Simpson Ground, we entered the forestry plantation  and made a short diversion to have a look at the Simpson Ground Reservoir. There was a dam at its eastern end and it held back quite a large area of water. The perimeter was surrounded by trees and so there wasn’t much of a view. A track and then a forestry road took us initially southwards and then westwards. At the point it started turning northwards, we saw four teenagers standing around next to a junction with a footpath. They were all carrying large backpacks and so I assumed they were out for a wildcam. When we were about 10 metres from them, they all turned around and started walking ahead of us. Obviously, they didn’t want to chat. Ten minutes later we caught up with them at another footpath junction. The girl in the group, threw the map down onto the ground. Despite the heavy rain, one of the lads was laid on the ground. I have to say, they didn’t look like one of the happiest backpacking troops I’d ever seen. They were silent and avoided eye contact as we walked past.

It was easy walking along the forestry road and we made quick progress to the tarmac of Sow How Lane. From there we picked up a woodland track that brought us back to the Gummer's How carpark. As we exited the trees a walker in the capark approached and asked me if Gummer How was over to the east. It seemed an odd question since the hill could be seen to the north. He’d got this information from a fingerpost near the road. I went to inspect this and sure enough the fingerpost appeared to be pointing in the ‘wrong’ direction. I figured that the route-designer’s  intention was for walkers to turn off onto the forestry track that we’d just descended, before then heading north towards Gummer’s How. I told the guy it was easier just to walk up the road (it isn't busy) for 100 metres or so before reaching the northwards bound path to Gummer's How. 

It had been a poor day weather wise, but the walk was as good as you could hope to get under such conditions. It had provided reasonably easy walking and the variety of terrain had made it an interesting day out.