North of Whinlatter

[icemandan]

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Hills named after their vegetation do not really stir the soul. So Ling Fell and Broom Fell are amongst my last Wainwrights. Gray Stones doesn't set the pulse racing either. String five together and you get a reasonably challenging walk.

I parked up on the Whinlatter Road. Whinlatter is best known as where fresh faced and enthusiastic Coast to Coast cyclists encounter their first serious hill. A few red faced puffing pedallers inched past as I booted up. Apart from a few passing motorists, these were the only people I met all day.

A long plod on the main road was lightened by rosebay willowherb and foxgloves in profusion as well as the welcome surprise of wild raspberries in the road verge. The fell road up to High Side was more pleasant, a narrow ribbon of tarmac with a mohican haircut of grass along the crown of the road as it winds up the hillside, in and out of small valleys and woodlands and farms.

I struck up the hillside and as I climbed, views of the Solway Firth and agricultural West Cumberland opened out. The top of Ling Fell was soon reached and there were views over to its puddingy twin Sale Fell and the toe of Bassenthwaite Lake.

Then down to Wythop Moss - Wainwright implies that this is some sort of Tolkeinesque morass but compared with the boggy extremes of the Pennines, it was nothing and soon crossed.

I climbed up to the forest fringe at Widows Hause, hit a path for the first time and followed it to Gray Stones.

The principal issue on Gray Stones is finding the top, there are three points of roughly equal height. Having hedged my bets and visited all three, I strode back along the ridge towards the fine cairn on Broom Fell (NB despite the evidence of the path and the cairn, this is not the top which is a nondescript grassy lump a little way to the east. I followed the path to the top of Lords Seat.

Here I picked up a forest track which made for pleasant and fast, if indirect, progress to the edge of the forest. From the stile, a faint path, little more than a sheep track, led to the top of Whinlatter with a fine view of Grizedale Pike in the evening light.

A steep descent into the Aitken Beck valley, fuelled by a few bilberries, an easy stride down the forest track and back to the car

[susanmyatt]

Well done Iceman, three to go

[L-Hiking]

Only three to go now great achievement..I have not done these yet so thanks for the pics and report and will follow your route. Where are you cracking the bottle of chapagne on number 214?

[icemandan]

I have not done these yet so thanks for the pics and report and will follow your route

A couple of thoughts;

i) Start and finish at the Wheatsheaf in Lorton would break up the road walk and is a nice spot for a pint afterwards;

ii)You might find a better descent route than me from Whinlatter. Mine was steep and a bit tedious. It looks as if you can follow the ridge to the end and drop down to Darling How.

I'm saving Arnison Crag (the first fell in the first book) til last. No date as yet.

[L-Hiking]

I aint been in the Wheatsheaf, hope they serve the Jennings Cumberland , thank s for the recomendation it sounds a good choice. I hope to include Barf while Im up here shouldnt add too much more distance.

Arnison Crag nice one, I dodnt suppose many choose that as there last Wainwright do they? good little hill tho, but lots of bracken at this time of the year on the paths near the base of the fell. i look forward to reading your report on completion of them all

[icemandan]

They do a nice pint of Cumberland at the Wheatsheaf.

I've already done Barf (and Lords Seat). If you adapted the walk to include Barf and didn't want to go back on yourself, it looks as if you could drop down off Barf to Beckstones Gill and follow the forestry track past Beckstones plantation round to emerge at Whinlatter.

I'm off to think about interesting routes up Lank Rigg and Bonscale Pike.

Dan