Last updated 21:41, Tuesday, 10 June 2008

Peer down on to the rocky pinnacles and scarily steep gills over Wast Water with this dramatic walk from Vivienne Crow

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going up: On the path up to Whin Rigg

MAP: OS Explorer map OL6.

PARKING: Parking area near the bridge at the Miterdale road-end (GR NY146011).

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: None, although Eskdale Green Station on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is only just over a mile from the start of the walk.

REFRESHMENTS: Bowerhouse Inn, Eskdale Green.

DISTANCE: 8.4 miles

TOTAL ASCENT: 2,257ft

TIME: 4.5 - 5.5 hours

GRADE: Intermediate

OVERVIEW: At first sight, the broad, grassy ridge linking Whin Rigg with Illgill Head (1,998ft) looks pleasant, but uninspiring; cross to northern edge though and it’s quite a different story. Suddenly, you are literally stopped in your tracks as you peer down on to the shattered rock pinnacles and frighteningly steep gills that carve through the cliffs looming over Wast Water.

This walk ascends the ridge relatively easily from the forests of Miterdale and then, passing close to Burnmoor Tarn on the way, returns via a little-used path in this loneliest of Lakeland valleys.

THE WALK: From the parking area, cross the bridge over the River Mite (signpost reads: “Public Bridleway Wasdale Head 5 miles”). When the track forks, bear left and enter the forest via a gate near a wooden bench. About a quarter-of-a-mile into the forest, you will see a waymarked trail bearing left at a 45-degree angle to the main track. Ignore this, but about 50 yards after it, turn right along a narrow path heading steeply uphill through the trees.

Cross straight over the first track you reach. At the second track, head right for a few strides to pick up the continuation of the narrow bridleway heading off to the left. Carry on uphill, through the trees, crossing one more track on your way up.

You leave the forest via a small gate, which provides access to the open, grassy fellside (1.1 miles from the start). Straight ahead now are Buckbarrow and Seatallan. Turn right, along a faint grassy path heading gently uphill. As you climb the soggy fellside with a wall on your right, more fells slowly come into view, including Red Pike and Yewbarrow. As you cross one wall via a ladder stile and then approach a second, more tumbledown wall, the views SE begin to open out – with the isolated peak of Harter Fell prominent in the middle ground.

After the second wall, you cross the top of Greathall Gill (1.9 miles from the start). Don’t be tempted by the narrow path to the left here, which skirts the eastern rim of the gill.

The ascent becomes a little steeper now, but it’s mostly on grass. As you approach the top of the slope, take the narrower path heading up to the cairn-topped rocky outcrops to your left. This is the top of Whin Rigg (2.5 miles from the start). From here, the views suddenly become a lot more spectacular as you look up Wasdale to Great Gable and Kirk Fell. The western slopes of Scafell seem to be just a stone’s throw away now.

The main path along this broad, grassy ridge is just a few feet to the right, but for the best views of Wast Water, keep left beyond the summit rocks. You’ll swing back on to the main path before long, but as you make your way towards Illgill Head, there are numerous paths that head left again to skirt the top of the dark cliffs that drop steeply down to England’s deepest lake. It is fascinating to peer down on to Wast Water from the amazing cliffs on the northern side of the fell, but watch your footing if you venture near the edge.

From the cairn on top of Illgill Head (3.75 miles from the start), the scree and crag-covered slopes of some of the Lake District’s mightiest mountains draw you on in the general direction of Wasdale Head. At the eastern end of the summit is a shelter. From here, head straight down a cairned path, which descends the fell’s NE slopes.

About a third-of-a-mile beyond the shelter, soon after a tumbledown wall appears off to the left, take a faint path – just a sheep trod, in fact – off to the right (SE). Before long, Burnmoor Tarn appears. Slowly losing height all the while, head towards the SW end of the tarn. If you should miss the sheep trod, continue down to the bottom of the slope and take the first path off to the right, ignoring any turns to the left and staying tucked in close to the bottom of the slope. Eventually, the sheep trod joins up with this path and the two continue (S), contouring the fellside.

Eventually, the path swings W and fords three becks in quick succession. Approaching the third beck (5.8 miles from the start), you will see a clear path continuing around the fellside on the other side of it, but just above this is a grassy path heading uphill. After crossing the beck, you want the higher of the two paths (WSW). This provides some good views down Miterdale and out to the Irish Sea.

The path crosses a stile to the left of a gate (6.5 miles from the start). Less obvious on the ground now, the route continues in roughly the same direction, crossing a series of walls via stiles and gates. Gradually, the trees close in around you and you find yourself on a grassy track to the right of an old wall. This becomes stonier as it heads down through a gap in the trees and then swings left. As it does so, watch for a gap in the wall on your right (7.2 miles from the start). Go through this, over the next tumbledown wall and then cross a footbridge just to the left of a small stone building. This is Bakerstead Barn, Wyndham School’s outdoor pursuits centre.

Passing in front of the barn, head diagonally across this small field to a gated gap in the top right-hand corner. You now follow a clear track alongside an area of woodland and through a couple of gates. You then walk along a narrow strip of land between the river and a wall (7.7 miles from the start).

Bear right through a farm gate, beyond which you turn left to walk between the farm buildings. You are now on a wide, stony track. Ignoring any tracks up to the right, you eventually recross the bridge over the River Mite to return to the parking area.

POINTS OF INTEREST: Before St Olaf’s Church at Wasdale Head was licensed for burials, coffins had to be carried on horseback to St Catherine’s in Eskdale. This practice continued until 1901.

On one stormy winter’s day, the horse carrying the coffin of a young local man suddenly took fright and disappeared into the mist near Burnmoor Tarn. It was never seen again, although it is claimed you can often hear hoofbeats on the moor when the fog descends.