After a big day out on the Mosedale horseshoe, my poor little legs weren’t up to another long walk (much to Sam’s disappointment, as he was champing at the bit to do the Ennerdale round again). There were plenty of shorter walks to choose from though which would still enable us to tick off another Wainwright, which was the main objective of the weekend. Ultimately we settled on Green Crag – a rocky little peak usually completed with Harter Fell, perched between Eskdale and the Duddon Valley. As we’d already ticked off Harter Fell and the ground around here is a notorious bog fest, we didn’t feel the need to re-bag it, sticking instead to a linear route from the Birker Fell Road which meant we were only out for a few hours.
We followed an out and back route that we found on WalkLakes, totalling around four miles and completed in just over two hours. I had looked at this walk when we stayed in Santon Bridge in November, but chickened out after reading the ‘cattle roam the whole area!’ warning on WalkLakes. This time though I decided to put my brave pants on – after all, any cattle are probably used to Wainwright baggers passing by, and by the end of August they’re probably nice and chilled out after a few months of munching on summer grass. I also reasoned that any calves would be bigger and less likely to have over protective mothers chasing us away!
In the end all my worry was for nothing – we drove past some cows in the distance when we joined the Birker Fell Road, but they weren’t anywhere near the part of ground we needed to cross for our walk. While there were no fences between us and them, they were literally miles away – so while you may encounter cattle, it’s also fair to say you may not. We did however see plenty of sheep.
There is no dedicated car parking along the Birker Fell Road, just a few grassy areas where you can squeeze a few cars in. We found one such space near the start of the WalkLakes route and set off towards what we happily thought was Green Crag in the medium distance (sadly a quick check of the map showed this was Great Worm Crag, a smaller peak you climb on the way). WalkLakes warns that this walk is very boggy in all seasons and within five minutes I was immensely grateful that we were doing the walk at the end of a very long, very dry summer. It was still wet and squelchy underfoot, but it thankfully didn’t go over the tops of my boots apart from once on the way back.
Much of this walk is pathless tramping – there are occasional sheep trods which you can pick up which make the going blissfully easier, but you need to be careful these tracks don’t lead you astray. While the ascent is overall fairly gradual and not what I’d call steep, it is made much harder work by the large absence of paths. This was especially evident on the way back when we made a beeline in the direction of the car and didn’t encounter any sheep trods at all, having been able to use them roughly 50% of the time on the outward leg.
Despite the pathless bog, I still enjoyed this walk. The views are excellent and it was very quiet – we were there on the August bank holiday Sunday and we didn’t see another soul. There was also plenty of heather still flowering which always makes me happy to be outside. I do imagine though that I’d have enjoyed it somewhat less if the ground hadn’t been thoroughly dried out for months – although at least it’s one you can bag in a morning or afternoon if you don’t get good weather like we did.
Navigation on the outward leg isn’t too tricky – you just need to aim for Great Worm Crag and then for Green Crag. This is slightly trickier on the return leg so make sure you’re well equipped with a map and that you only attempt this in good weather, unless you are an experienced navigator.
Dog friendly rating – 3/5. There is a strong likelihood of seeing livestock on this walk (sheep or cows), so ours were kept on the lead all the way around. On the plus side, there are no stiles, no walking along the road and the bogginess meant that we did come across some puddles where they could have a drink – and they certainly weren’t bothered about getting wet feet!
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