Wast Water, Over Beck, Brimfull Beck,  Low Tarn, Scoat Tarn, Scoat Fell, Cumbria. Wed 09 May 2007

The weather forecast was gloomy, with rain for later. I arrived at Wast Water just after 8am and parked near Nether Beck. I walked along the road to Overbeck Bridge and the official car park then turned left and headed up the fell following the Yewbarrow Footpath. Although it was overcast the cloud level was high enough to see most of the surrounding mountains as I climbed the sharp SW edge of the mountain. Before long I turned left to head up Over Beck valley as far as the wooden footbridge crossing the river. On the far side I climbed up to the path which was an easy to follow route that had been well engineered in times past. It was a pleasant walk but when I came to the footbridge over Brimfull Beck I turned left and headed directly up the hillside. The going was steep but good underfoot.

Low Tarn.

Higher up I came to what looked like an ancient wall between two rock outcrops. Continuing on the right side of the beck Low Tarn eventually came into view. I’ve not visited the tarn before and was glad I’d decided to have a look. It wasn’t particularly impressive but the surrounding High Fell was nice walking and the views around were improving as I got higher.

My next objective was Scoat Tarn. Approaching from the south is quite odd because at first there is no sign of the tarn as it is hidden away behind all the humps on the surrounding fell. Then suddenly there it is just ahead. As I approached I noticed a rain gage mounted on a pole. I wonder who maintains the readings at such a remote location. My first and last time here was over 25 years ago when I camped just above the north side with Charlie. After our overnight stay we climbed up to Pillar and returned to Wasdale via Black Sail Pass. This time I stopped near the old camp and had my lunch. The rain held off and even though the sky was heavily overcast it was quite pleasant as I’d found some shelter from the wind.

Scoat Tarn with Seatallan on the right.

Brief view down Ennerdale.

I followed the path up on to Scoat Fell and met some patchy cloud. There was a brief view down into Ennerdale before the cloud rolled in. As I descended and headed towards Haycock I came out of the cloud and was able to see the views again.

The wind increased though and it was quite blustery until I started the descent of Nether Beck at the saddle. It was a very enjoyable walk as the view was quite good and it was soft grass underfoot. As I got lower and reached the valley bottom the going got considerably more difficult as the path was mostly boulders. It continued like this almost all the way back to the car.

Yewbarrow, Sca Fell Pike & Sca Fell.