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I've heard of the Wainwright Outlying Fells and thought they'd be worth a bit of research just to find out a little more about them, a possible new "tick list" and get into the less visited hills around the Lake District.
We're not fans of "tick lists" because they tend to become an obsession, we like to be in the hills for the hills and not the numbers, but these lists do get us into different places and I think that's what it's all about really so here we go, lets see what the out lying fells can do for us
Tops visited today:-
Whatshaw Common
Little Yarlside
Great Yarlside
Wasdale Pike
Great Saddle Crag
Harrop Pike (not classed as an "outlying fell")
Lords Seat
Robin Hood
High House Bank
Not knowing what the hills were going to be like, we decided to get away from home early so we could make a reasonable start, the overall distance and ascent looked like a 5 to 5.30 hour day out, as it turned out, it took a little longer
Up the M6 to junction 39 then turn south on the A6, not much difference to our journeys to the Howgills so that was OK
We parked up in the northbound layby on the A6 around NY554063 got ourselves sorted and were off walking by 09.00.
We started on the track marked on the map heading in the general direction of Whatshaw Common.
After 15 minutes or so we cut off the track at a convenient crossing in the fence to visit spot height 484m
then returned to the track and carried on to find another convenient crossing point of said fence to get to the true summit at point 485m
I wish I'd looked at the map
There's one thing about this little foray into the outliers, there's an awful lot of fences
Photo's taken we were off to Little Yarlside
Just like the Howgills the main way of getting about is on fairly well established quadbike tracks and paths where the quads can't cope, the tops of these fells have no cairns to speak of so it's a bit of a hunt around to find the summits, it all adds to the fun
Little Yarlside is just a hump in the landscape really but the views are ok. Then it's off to Great Yarlside which looks more like a mountain from this side
There's a steep section to the summit, probably the steepest of the whole round, from the top the views begin to get more interesting.
From the summit we headed for a gate in the fence at a junction and turned right on a quad track heading for
Wasdale Pike.
We kept the fence on our right and simply followed the track/fence all the way, it takes about 20 mins to Wasdale Pike and the views were opening up nicely towards the Pennines and the Lakes.
Looking at the map I realised there was another outlier within easy striking distance from where we were so we decided to visit Great Saddle Crag on our way back to the gate. The way over was pathless so we had to make our way avoiding the boggy bits, it's lumpy terrain, I guess in the clag it could be confusing making detours so I think these fells are best left for nice weather.
This only added about 10 mins to the walk back so an unplanned top under our belt, if I'd looked closer, we could have taken in Ulthwaite Rigg as well
Back at the gate we started the long trudge along the fence to Harrop Pike, when we got there we found a very impressive cairn so decided to have lunch and look at the views from where'd we'd been to the Eastern Fells of the Lake District,
I didn't realise how close to the Kentmere Horshoe and Highstreet we were.
Our next objectives looked a long way off too
From Harrop Pike we headed for the fence and followed it down to NY504067 to gain another quad track heading for Lords Seat. This section was very tussocky and a bit tiring
Lords Seat has no cairn so another search for the high spot
but the views are good.
We could see our next objective, Robin Hood, but High House Bank was the one that looked pretty interesting and it still looked an awful long way away
Robin Hood has two cairns
(it's the old bus thing)
the views are good from both.
We had a snack then it was off to our final hill.
In the dip between the two there's a gate in the wall to get you on a path to High House Bank, looking at the path we guessed that this hill is well visited compared to the others, it's an easy romp to the summit, it looked quite the opposite from Robin Hood, it's surprising how hillsides change when you get closer
From the summit you get an idea how far you've travelled, most of the route is in view, they may not be very high but the distance travelled and the views make for a good day out.
The Pennines, far far away
From the summit we headed directly for Crookdale Bridge which was a mistake, a struggle to say the least, it was steep and tussocky and there were fences to cross, no stiles or gates, we headed for Crookdale Beck and managed to cross it at around NY549056, if there was more water in it it would be difficult
in the process of looking for a way across the fence we startled a sheep which tried to jump over it, the poor thing managed to get a horn caught in the wire and was trapped, we couldn't leave it like that so we decided to have a go and free it. Surprisingly, when we got close she became quite calm and we managed to lift her head enough to get the horn clear, free from the fence we released our grip and she was off, hesitating slightly as if to say thankyou, one thing's for sure, sheep aren't half heavy
At Crookdale Bridge there's a finger post pointing the way along Shap Old Road which is the way back to the layby on the A6, an easy path to follow, on weary legs the little steep bit at the beginning was unwelcome
Back at the car we de-booted, de-rucsacked, had something to eat then set off home.
We had a great day out, initial thoughts about the Outlying Fells, yeah, let's give 'em a go