We spent last weekend exploring the Lake District and bagging some more Wainwrights. I can hear what you’re thinking – we must be crazy to head to the Lake District over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend! It wasn’t actually that bad, as we made sure to pick slightly more obscure fells in less popular areas, avoiding easier lower level routes at all costs. There just aren’t going to be as many people wanting to heave themselves up the side of a hill instead of having a nice stroll around a lake!
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On the Saturday we decided to head over to Ennerdale, which is a quieter than places like Buttermere and Keswick, and which has a few good sized car parks. We still got there early though – but at half eight the car park was practically empty. Originally I’d picked out this route from WalkLakes bagging Lank Rigg, Crag Fell and Grike, but Sam convinced me to do a longer (21km) route from our Walking the Wainwrights book which also included Haycock and Caw Fell.
The description in the book says ‘don’t let the distance put you off, as once you’re on the tops it’s very easy walking’. I can confirm that I was absolutely knackered by the end and Graham Uney and I have very different definitions of very easy!
Parking for the walk is in the free car park at Bleach Green. We set off bright and early for a three mile walk along the shore of Ennerdale Water, which was surprisingly up and down, with an almost scrambly part at Robin Hood’s Chair. The views across the lake were very nice, despite the rain which came down for the whole three miles, drying up just as we entered the small wood at the end of the lake. Keep your eyes peeled for red squirrels in here – Sam spotted one scampering up a tree just off the path.
It’s not long before the woodland trail steepens, and we’d soon climbed out of the trees onto a fell path. The climb was hard work (for me, less so for Sam) and a proper slog – we’d been walking for over four hours by the time we reached the summit of Haycock. In fairness it is a big one at 797m – and our bagging rate did speed up after this point! At least there’s a good view across to the Scafells once you’re up there.
Happily, the walk across to Caw Fell is much easier, and we were there in no time. The views on this section of the walk were lovely, made even better by the blue sky which was starting to peep through the clouds. There are two cairns on the map of Caw Fell and we weren’t 100% sure which one was the Wainwright, so we visited both just to be on the safe side!
It was then a long, slightly up and down, but not too steep walk across to the next Wainwright, Lank Rigg. This hill is an out-and-back off the main circular route and doesn’t take too long once you’re on your way – but there is another small hill you need to cross over (up and down) in both directions! Lank Rigg itself is a short but steep climb, and there’s a trig pillar at the top as your reward. Check here for buried treasure…
By this point my feet were really hurting, and we still had two hills to go! Sam very kindly took my backpack for me (his bag being more of a running vest and able to fit inside my bag) so that I’d be able to drag myself up the last two. Thankfully, after a short pathless stretch, the climb up to Crag Fell was not as steep as it looked from the bottom and was over pretty quickly. The views up here were again very nice, with Ennerdale Water just peeping out from behind the hills.
After this, it was one final out-and-back over to Grike, the most westerly Wainwright but happily not particularly large. The walk across was pretty steady, with not much in the way of inclines, but boggy in both directions. We’d all had enough and were ready to get back to the car, so we didn’t hang around at the top, returning back to the fence between Grike and Crag Fell which we followed as we began our descent.
To my relief the descent was reasonably quick, taking us about half an hour to get back down to the car. It starts off deceptively easily, but steepens at the end with a loose pebbly path, so care is needed. Once you get about half way down the car park is just visible through the trees, which spurred us on to keep putting one foot in front out the other. After more than 9 hours walking, the car park was nearly as empty as when we’d arrived that morning.
Dog friendly rating – 2/5. This is a very long walk which should only be attempted with fit adult dogs. Neither of ours struggled, but we did choose to have a rest day for them on the Sunday rather than heading back onto the fells, and they were quite content with that! There are a number of stiles to traverse on this route (including some where lifting is required), and you may see sheep at any time. We also came across ‘evidence’ of cows in some places, but we didn’t see any actual cows. There’s not much in the way of water once you’re on the tops, although water loving dogs will love the opportunity to have a splash in Ennerdale water at the start, so take some extra for your dog as it’s a long day after you leave the lake.
Where we stayed
After our stay at The End last year, we returned to the other cottage on the same site, The Barn. Principally because The End only had a bath and no shower, and I am not a bath person. We had a lovely stay here, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone: it’s in a great location, with Ennerdale and Keswick both in easy reach, comfortable, well equipped and great value for money.
Dog friendly rating – 4/5. The Barn ticks a lot of my dog friendly boxes: it’s spacious, has easy to clean floors and dogs are welcome free of charge. There is a large garden which is shared with The End and the owners, and dogs are not allowed in the bedroom or on the furniture. This is the same rules for us at home, but I know this might put some people off.
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