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Whittle Wander|
Whinfell Ridge, A6 - A685, Cumbria. Wed 09 Nov 2005 |
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I left the car in the lay-bye just south of Huck's Bridge on the A6 Shap road. I then followed the easy track SW down Borrowdale. There were many large puddles to walk round due to recent heavy rain, but I was walking under a clear sky and occasional sunshine. Just before High Borrowdale ruins I saw a large fox over the river. It looked at me and pottered off up the hillside and out of sight. The walk down the full length of Borrowdale was uneventful but enjoyable. I just hoped that the sunshine on the fell-tops would still be there by the time I'd climbed up. The silence of the walk was drowned out by the motorway noise as I reached the A685 road, which runs parallel. |
| A short way to the south is a lay-bye and across is a gate giving access to the fell. I followed an old track steeply up and was soon in a very pleasant cwm below Grayrigg Pike. The low sun gave a good view of the Roman Fort site at Low Borrowbridge. A ridge continued up to the double cairn on the summit of Grayrigg Pike. |
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I lingered a while to take in the magnificent views then headed west towards the radio masts. There was quite a descent and slightly lesser climb to the first mast and its surrounding fence. Clouds had been rolling in from the west and now it started to rain a little. A track lead me to the next mast where I soon turned off and over the fell towards Whinfell Beacon. By now I was in full waterproofs, though the rain wasn't too hard. |
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Then I turned NW towards Castle Fell and another descent and climb. The last bit was quite steep and by the time I'd reached the summit the wind had got up considerably. I found a partly sheltered spot in the lee and stopped to eat my sandwiches. I had a wonderful view down Borrowdale and distant mountains seemed to be in the sun while I wasn't. Yet another descent and climb took me to Mabbin Crag. This time there was quite a bit of water about underfoot as I found my way through the pine trees. On Ashtead fell the weather had improved and there were nice views all around, especially down on the route of the A6 as it climbed it's way towards Shap. The final steep descent to the A6 and back to my car was a bit muddy in places but nothing that couldn't be easily by-passed. |
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