Carrock Fell

We were still only halfway up Carrock Fell, but the second half was a breeze compared with the first.  An ancient fort had been built around the summit and remnants were still visible. I was surprised how much still remained and the large area it covered. A woman had commandeered the stone shelter at the summit and so we hunkered down on the leeside, to take a break. Even though the sun was out, it was a bitter wind. It was an amazing view from the summit, with most of the northern fells within view.

After the break we set off to our next Wainwright, High Pike. We could see its top in the far distance and the path we needed to take across the fells to get to it. The path turned out to be reasonably flat, and the boggy bits were easily avoided. It didn't seem long before we were climbing the gradual slope up to High Pike's summit.

High Pike And Mo's Fail

The summit of High Pike is fairly flat, and we walked 50 metres beyond the summit to get a view of the landscape beyond. We were on the edge of the northern fells, and it was amazing how far we could see. As we gazed at this amazing vista, Mo asked, 'Is that the Isle Of Man Over There?' Now Mo has been walking in the Lakes for a number of years now, and whenever the Isle Of Man is visible, I've always pointed it out to him for his benefit. Therefore, I was quite perplexed as to why he thought Scotland was the Isle Of Man. For one thing, it was the sheer size of the Scottish landmass that we were looking at. More significantly this landmass was quite clearly joined to the same one on which we stood. 'If that is the Isle Of Man, I think we may have gone a little off track,' I suggested to Mo.

Lingy Hut And The Mines

From High Pike we headed off on the Cumbria Way towards Great Lingy Hill. South of the summit is a mountain bothy called Lingy Hut. It used to be an old shooting hut. It's quite spacious and clean inside. Looking at the visitor's book, it is well frequented too. We followed a path from the hut down to Grains Gill Beck. The remains of a mining site is situated near the valley bottom. There is evidence that mining has taken place here since the 16th century and has proceeded, on and off, until the latest venture closed in 1981. Several mine shafts burrow through the hill and the remnants of buildings are clearly visible. Lead, and the minerals for arsenic and tungsten, were mined here. A study from Leeds University finds that there is local contamination of water from the mineral residues, and so I wouldn't be filling your water bottles in its vicinity.

Tarmac Trod

We joined the mine road that follows the valley eastwards to Mosedale. The 3 mile route from here back to the car is all tarmac. An alternative day out for those averse to tarmac walking would be to leave one car near to the mines (assuming you have two cars in the group); there is some limited offroad parking near to the end of the road. Apart from the odd pothole, the tarmac is in reasonable condition (Sep 2022). We had only one car and so had to walk back to Stones End farm. Despite the tarmac, the valley is a very pleasant walk. There are views across the River Caldew, to Bowscale Fell, that reminded me a little of Scotland. On our left, the south flank of Carrock Fell was covered in gorse. I wondered if there had ever been gorse around when the fort was in use on Carrock's summit. It would be a great defence mechanism; I for one, would be dragging my feet to breach that kind of defence. Well, not unless I had some long-handled shears and some welders gloves.  Wainwright talks of a path that leads from the valley to Carrock's summit along this flank, but it looks as though it has been overgrown with the green and yellow, prickly stuff now. Near Mosedale, the Swallows Guest House was truly living up to its name with dozens of swallows swooping above the gorse and hoovering up those insects. From Mosedale we headed north along the road, back to the car. The east side of Carrock fell has steep cliffs; I could see now that the path we had taken this morming was the only feasible way up Carrock from this side, although Calse and Mo might question that.

Back at the car, a school party was just preparing to leave in a minibus. The teacher made an audible count of the kids. This seemed like a good idea and so I did the same with my troops. It had been a cracking walk, and we'd enjoyed great weather. If Calse's sore throat had persisted into the evening, it didn't seem to have affected her ability to consume Prosecco.