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In the Lakes last week for our customary Easter break, staying at Wasdale Head with a view to ticking off some of the summits around there that I still need to complete my 214 Wainwrights. No internet or phone connection means no posting reports until after I return...
Weather reports for the coming week were not looking good, with potential big snows and freezing summits that might limit our ability to do anything too high (and there's not a lot that isn't high - by Lake District standards - around Wasdale Head). Kirk Fell seemed like our best bet for a "warm up" on our first day - not too far, and not too steep if approached via Beck Head. We were not really sure what to expect at 2000 feet and above and set off in the expectation that we might have to turn back at Beck Head if the conditions we found were too inhospitable for us.
Setting off from Burnthwaite FarmWe were staying in the cottage at Burnthwaite Farm - a great location for many walks straight from the door.
WastwaterIt was dull and drizzly as we set off - but with the forecasts suggesting things would only get worse we had to make the most of it.
Just past the footbridgeThe wind was blowing rain - and later snow - into our faces for most of the ascent up to Beck Head - so I didn't stop to take a lot of photos.
Beck HeadAt Beck Head we reached the snow-line - and the cloud-line. Thomas was complaining about ankle pains, and we contemplated turning back, but no-one really felt like retracing our route, and returning over Kirk Fell seemed like it wasn't that much trickier an option, so we decided to continue. With the wind now at out backs walking was much more pleasant, though it was ferociously cold on exposed skin.
Wind-blown iceThe wind and snow/freezing clouds had combined to make surreal ice shapes on all the rocks.
Frozen GrassAnd on the grass.
More Wind-blown Ice
Wind-blown Ice on Fence PostAnd especially on the fence posts.
Heading up from Beck HeadHeading up into the mist was actually a lot more fun than traipsing up the path from the valley had been.
Walking over Kirk FellSoon we reached the summit plateau - hard to tell where the path might have been under the snow, but the GPS allowed us to navigate safely towards the summit.
Kirkfell TarnThe dogs enjoyed a dip in the tarn - sooner them than me! The two tarns appear to have become one, but easy enough to jump over the narrowest point.
Kirk Fell SummitAt the summit I discovered ice had formed on my camera lens - should have kept the lenscap on. So I switched to the phone for the remaining photos. Hard to get a steady shot in the buffeting wind (and using the phone meant I had to take my gloves off to operate it - that's when I discovered just how cold the wind-chill was!).
Descent from Kirk FellWe decided that the most direct descent was the one to go for rather than round via Black Sail Pass - starts off deceptively pleasantly on grass but soon degenerated into a steep scree. Descending was not pleasant but ascending would have been a lot worse! On a couple of occasions we found ourselves having to dodge large stones dislodged by walkers above us.
Descent from Kirk FellEven when the scree turned back to grass the gradient did not relent.
Looking back at Kirk FellHard to capture in a photo just how steep it was, but the GPX suggests that the average gradient for the entire descent was 45 degrees. We kept asking ourselves two questions - WHY would anyone use this route for ascent, and - if they did - HOW would they manage to get up!
Great Gable and GorseLimbs were tired when we finally reached level ground and a lovely path alongside a stream (switching from bank to bank several times) back to the cottage.
