The Mosedale Horseshoe is what I would call ‘a big day out’. Before you get any further, I should clarify/add a caveat/disclaimer that we did the Mosedale Horseshoe without Kirk Fell – we’d already done that once, and for Wainwright bagging purposes, once is enough! Especially for a fell where the walkers we met at the top (who came up the nose rather than around the back like we did) called it ‘the worst climb we’ve ever done’. Therefore we were quite happy skipping it and containing ourselves to a route which took in Pillar, Scoat Fell, Steeple, Red Pike and Yewbarrow. While Scoat Fell and Steeple aren’t strictly on the route, it’s such a small detour to bag them that it was more than worth doing.
Lots of people setting out on this walk choose to start from Wasdale Head, setting straight out along the path to the Black Sail Pass. We chose to park instead at the foot of Yewbarrow, which meant that we could get the two mile section of road walking out of the way first before we were tired and before the road got busy (an excellent decision as by the time we came off Yewbarrow I was ready to lie down in the road and sleep). We started out at about 8.30am – the advantage of staying nearby the night before meant that we beat the bank holiday crowds, and when we did need to stop to let a car past, there were plenty of blackberries to grab while we paused for a second.
It didn’t take more than an hour or so to get to the end of the road, and we were soon steadily climbing up the Black Sail Pass (including a minor detour through some bracken to avoid some cows). It’s not a hugely steep climb but it is very long and we stopped half way up for a banana break to get the energy to keep going – you are rewarded with lovely views of the valley as you climb, so it’s not too onerous at all.
Once we reached the head of the pass we made a left turn and started our ascent of Pillar. The path here does steepen and it felt like a slog to get to the top – exacerbated by the tang of humidity in the air. I was almost ready to throw in the towel halfway up, but a fresh breeze appeared and saved the day – and luckily it stuck around for the rest of the walk!
The views from the summit of Pillar really are some of the best we’ve seen on our Wainwright bagging journey – and we had the summit entirely to ourselves. ‘Panorama’ barely covers it: wherever you look the landscape is incredible. While the views of Wasdale, Great Gable and the Scafells were top notch, our favourite was definitely the vista looking down into Ennerdale – which made us want to go back and do the Ennerdale horseshoe again.
We stopped for lunch on Pillar (including some tasty Victoria sponge I’d picked up in Booths the day before, definitely one of the best hiking snacks I’ve taken along!) and then continued on to the next summit, Scoat Fell. The summit cairn here isn’t too remarkable, but to get here you do need to follow some scramble-y paths close to a steep drop – all of which affords you a wonderful view of Steeple, Wainwright number three. Looking over to Steeple did freak me out a little as it looks like a fairly precipitous ridge traverse, but it’s actually not that bad – just a few uneven and scramble-y sections, which I chose to scoot along on my bum just to make myself feel more secure!
Steeple probably gets the award for the shortest amount of time we’ve spent on a Wainwright summit, mainly due to the cloud of flying ants which were waiting there. It also confirms my theory that the view of a dramatic hill from the distance is better than the view from the summit – Steeple is dramatic looking in the extreme, but lower than its neighbours – so there isn’t a right lot to see.
From Steeple, it felt like quite an easy walk over to Red Pike – all on flat or steadily ascending ground which was marvellous! This was where we started to see a few other people but it was absolutely not busy: we probably saw less than ten other people over the course of the entire day. From Red Pike, there is a reasonable descent on a path which varies from good to care required, before crossing a small col to start the climb up Yewbarrow.
I’d caught sight of Stirrup Crag earlier on in the day, felt a slight twinge of concern about it, and then parked it as a thing to worry about later. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but we were required to do some slight bouldering which with two dogs was an interesting experience! With the benefit of hindsight, it might have been easier to tackle Yewbarrow as a linear via Bull Crag with the dogs, but never mind – we managed, but I think a less fit and less experienced dog would struggle. The views from Yewbarrow remained fantastic, especially looking back to Great Gable. Then we started the long, long descent back to the car – the path was very loose for a very long time which took what felt like ages to navigate, then a last walk down along the fence line. Finally, we arrived back at the car, extremely happy to have got the road out of the way at the start!
Dog friendly rating – 2/5. This is a long day out on the fells, much of which is exposed and with no shade at all. There is water for the first leg of the walk, but once you start your ascent of Pillar, you’ll only have what you can carry. We took along plenty so this wasn’t an issue, but you’ll also need to keep leads on much of the time due to livestock – we saw cows as we headed down the Black Sail Pass and sheep throughout the entire walk. The two mile stretch of road also needed leads on as there was traffic even early in the morning, but there was only one stile to climb over – a ladder stile at the very end with flat steps which the dogs both managed easily.
A final note to consider before taking your dog on this walk is your dog’s fitness/scrambling ability – especially considering the scramble up Stirrup Crag. Ours managed this very well, but we did occasionally need to give them a helping hand – something to bear in mind if you have a giant breed you wouldn’t be able to lift!
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