Lake District: Caw Fell and Haycock

[richardkchapman]

2023-08-31 Caw Fell, Haycock.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

After yesterday's long and exhausting walk, I did not have high expectations of achieving much today - but we awoke feeling a lot better after a good night's sleep, and decided to at least set off up Caw Fell, since we were not likely to be so close to it again...

Close being a relative term, of course - there are no short routes up Caw Fell - but the route from Ennerdale is about as short as they get.

So we parked yet again at Bowness Knott (another £8 - an annual pass is only £25 so if we had parked one more time it would have made sense...), and set of yet again down the lake side road and over the Irish bridge.

This time we headed straight on once we reached the far side of the valley, along a very pleasant forest road...

Forest road

That turned into quite a pretty forest path...

Forest path

At one point just before crossing Silvercove Beck there is a point that Wainwright highlights as "a sudden drop that is difficult to negotiate...

Tricky step

But it really wasn't anything significant, and the footbridge was soon reached.

Footbridge over Silvercove Beck

From here the path headed up through the forest on a rather pretty path flanked with heather.

Up through the heather

These sheep seemed like they were telling us to get off their path. But they soon moved.

Sheep block the way

The end of the trees seemed to come a lot sooner than it had yesterday.

Out of the trees

From the ridge there was another nice panorama over Ennerdale lake.

Ennerdale panorama

The ridge was fairly gentle, and not too long, and we arrived at the top of Caw Fell much more easily than we had the day before on Steeple.

Caw Fell summit


Haycock from Caw Fell

From there it was just a question of "follow the wall" to get to Haycock.

Caw Fell from Haycock

The views from Haycock summit were great.

Scafell from Haycock summit


Steeple from Haycock summit

Shame the shelter was not he other side of the wall. Good thing we did not need it.

Haycock summit shelter


The wall

Very few people about on these fells - I think once we left the forest road we only saw one other walker all day.

Haycock summit

From here it was down more-or-less the way we had come. A much more satisfying day than yesterday, and the Western Fells completed. 3 to go...

[Pointless Parasite]

That's an interesting looking route up from Ennerdale, Richard. There was actually a discussion about the best approach for these two peaks on a recent thread. Other than looking a bit overgrown, it seems like a reasonable way up.

[WildAboutWalking]

Approaching Caw Fell from the west via Worm Gill gives a sense of remoteness rarely found on the Lakeland fells, and there is a surprising amount of rock exposed on the western end of the fell, the western cairn is an excellent viewpoint too.

[Pointless Parasite]

Yeah the Worm Gill approach is practically misanthropic it's so remote. I've been down there a few times, but never encountered another soul. I've always found it quite spooky, TBH. It's a very long way and there's no path once you start climbing. I guess it's ideally suited to wild camping though.

[Sgurr]

I thought I could summon the assistance of Chatgpt to plan a route up Caw Fell but it merely said "Research all the routes on the internet and choose one suitable for your abilities." I had particularly hoped for a detailed account of the route from the summit of the Calderald/ Ennerdale road but no luck. Then Bing popped up with an invitation to try its new AI, so this time I made it more precise "How should an elderly woman climb Caw Fell. It said "Caw Fell is one of the most remote and least visited fells in the Lake District, and it can be a challenging climb for anyone, especially for an elderly woman. However, there are some possible ways to make the ascent easier and more enjoyable." it then outlined your route and the one from Wasdale but did not express a preference.