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When you embark on a round of Wainwrights some fell names don’t exactly fill you with expectation. Distant places like Lank Rigg and Grike tend not to be on the radar and certainly don’t fire the imagination. Sooner or later however these are places you have to visit and after all, nowhere can be as bad as Armboth Fell.
A weekend in the Lakes gave us the ideal opportunity to tick off some of these out the way (certainly for us) tops.
It was hard to be optimistic about the forecast on the Friday, Low clag, showers and strong winds were promised and although further east didn't look too bad as we drove through, the west of the Lakes was decidedly gloomy.
A Lonely place by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Unsurprisingly we were the only car parked on the Cold fell road beneath Blakely Raise and It was certainly cold and windy but at least it was dry (for the moment) as we set off. Many descriptions of this walk take you over Blakely Raise first but as its modest sub 400 meter height was in the clouds we stuck to the forestry track.
This is a very easy start to the walk with the only real indication that we were gaining height being our ascent into the clag. I wasn't 100% sure of just when to leave the track to get up Grike but as ever the answer presented itself in the shape of a stile next to a gate with a grassy trod beyond.
Last view by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
We followed this up over the remnants of another stile before Grike’s substantial shelter and cairn appeared out of the mist. We tested out the shelter for lunch and it certainly did the job cutting out the strong wind.
It was at this moment that the most surprising thing happened, no the sun didn’t come out
, but just as surprisingly a family turned up to share the shelter. We had a little chat before bidding farewell and setting off to our next objective, the unimaginatively titled Crag Fell.
Grace and Hughie on Grike by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Having seen photographs of the view from Crag Fell it was a bit frustrating to have zero chance of seeing further than about 50 meters. Oh well perhaps one for a return visit some time.
The deadly duo on Crag Fell by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
From the little rocky knoll that provides Crag Fell with its summit we headed south into the felled plantation. Tree stumps are never a great sight but in the mist it made for apocalyptic scene of devastation. We crossed another couple of stiles before reaching the boggy col between Crag Fell and Whoap.
On the way to Whoap by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
We had no sooner started to ascend again when the clag and wind were joined by their good friend and bedfellow, heavy horizontal rain. We trudged across the utterly unremarkable but wonderfully named Whoap without pause, thankfully by the time we had started up the surprisingly steep Lank Rigg it had relented.
We arrived on Lank Rigg summit, the halfway point of our journey over the Lake District fells (also Hughie's 100th) in thick mist with a strong wind. I had probably envisaged something better than this but, hey hoe this would have to do.
Grace at the Half way mark by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
AW wrote about Lank Rigg;
Meeting another human is outside the realms of possibility. Die here, unaccompanied, and your disappearance from society is likely to remain an unsolved mystery
In fact the most interesting thing about this fell is probably its chapter in the pictorial fells. We checked out the ancestors of Wainwrights buried treasure (see below) and, with not much anything else to do, headed back to the col.
Buried Treasure by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
'The only exciting experience in the lonely life of the Ordnance column occurred on a gloriously sunny day in April 1965, when it was a mute and astonished witness to an unparalleled act of generosity. In an uncharacteristic mood of magnanimity which he has since regretted, the author decided on this summit to share his hard won royalties with one of his faithful readers, and placed a two-shilling piece under a flat stone: it awaits the first person to read this note and act upon it. There is no cause to turn the whole top over as though pigs have been at it - the stone is four feet from the column. If the treasure cannot be found at this distance it can be assumed that a fortunate pilgrim has already passed this way rejoicing. The finder may be sufficiently pleased to write in c/o the publishers and confirm his claim by stating the year of the coin's issue. if nobody does so before the end of 1966 the author will go back and retrieve it for the purchase of fish and chips. It was a reckless thing to do, anyway.'
A Wainwright, The Western Fells, Lank Rigg, p7
From here a clear if boggy path heads back to the Cold Fell Road which made for a very straight forward descent, cow dodging apart. On our return to the car the heavens opened leading to us hurriedly cramming ourselves inside in record time.
The mist briefly lifts over Lankrigg Moss by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
One of many streams on the way down by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
This walk will not probably live too long on the memory, probably because we didn’t see anything much to remember
, but it was far and away better than being at work (for me and Nicola anyway).
