Hartsop, Gray Crag, Thornthwaite Beacon, Hayswater Gill, Hayswater, Cumbria
[ 10.3 km] Wed 15 Sep 2010

NY 4101 1299
After a very windy drive I arrived at the small car park at Hartsop. It was so windy I made sure my car was well away from all the trees. It was also raining but only lightly. I set off along the track to the east and up Hayeswater Gill. The impressive summit of Gray Rigg was ahead but I wondered what the wind would be like on the summit. I crossed the bridge over Hayeswater Gill and headed up the stony track. Up to my right was an old barn which still had its roof. A sign said keep out but I couldn’t resist a quick look inside. It was also nice to get out of the wind, even if it was only briefly.

Higher up the track I passed though a gate and left the track to head directly up the fellside and up the steep climb to Gray Crag. I hadn’t been climbing long before I realised I wasn’t going to make the full route I’d planned. The wind was coming from the west and was blowing so hard I couldn’t stand up. For some sections I had to crawl on my hands and knees to make any progress and at times had to lie flat on the ground while a particularly fierce gust passed overhead. A narrow path appeared but it was too exposed so I walked on the east side of the mountain to try and get some shelter. Eventually I reached the small cairn on Gray Crag summit where no shelter was to be had.

At least I was now walking on the flat and better able to cope with the wind. The dark shape of High Street was to my left and I was originally hoping to walk along its summit but the wind up there would be even worse. After a mile I reached a ruined cross wall on the fell and at one point it was high enough to get some shelter so I stopped for a quick cup of coffee. By now I’d realised my originally planned route wouldn’t be a good idea so I began to look down in to the deep valley of Hayswater Gill below to see if there was way down. No paths are shown on the map and none are visible either. I pressed on to Thornthwaite Beacon and soon came to the main path and wall coming up from Threshthwaite Mouth. The tall stone beacon appeared out of the gloom and the wall to my right gave good shelter from the wind. I decided to use the relative calm behind the wall to have an early lunch.

As I sat there the wind screamed over the wall and at times sounded like it was trying to blow the wall over. I now had to find a safe route off the mountain. I followed the High Street path for a short way until it reached the head of Hayswater Gill. I looked down to figure out which side would be the safest to descend. The centre of the Gill was a deep rocky ravine but down to the left were easier grassy sloped. It was fairly steep in places but with many sheep tracks available it was a good descent. It was still very windy, even in the valley bottowm. As I approached Hayswater reservoir I came to a path and up ahead a couple of walkers approached through the rain. When I got to the reservoir dam I was surprised how low it was. It can’t have been much more than 2m high. I was now walking down the reservoir access road which was an easy walk back to the car at Hartsop.