Across Cumbria Day 2 Black Combe to Gt Worm Crag

Tuesday 11 August.

A warm and foggy morning with no visibility at all saw me, or, rather, assumed I was somewhere climbing up to the summit shelter on Black Combe.
As I came down the other side, the mist started to lift a bit and it all became a bit more green and cheerful.
And so I pressed on over Wainwright Outlier country, and a right boggy do it was, in places. In turn, I passed over Whitecombe Moss ( a boggy lump), a swampy pass at Charity Chair ( a very boggy, unstable, wobbly and damp place) then some rocky Tors at Stoneside Hill, Great paddy Crag and Kinmount Buckbarrow, where the drizzle started again and the mist blanked out any view.
Then on to Whit Fell, just under the cloud base. More bogs to Stainton Pike preceded a soggy boggy semi-descending traverse to the road at Brown Rigg, at which point it really started chucking it down.
I traversed the depressing wet grey slopes of Great Worm Crag till I found a flat spot near a gushing stream of what appeared to be cold tea, put up the akto and retreated inside for a bit of a shiver and to get everything on the inside of the tent as wet as it was on the outside.

But despite the weather, this part of the route is just smashing. I saw no other walkers at all. In fact, apart from a couple of cars on the roads, I saw nobody else all day and, it being very late summer, there was no bird song either. So it was a silent walk. Apart from my renditions of a KT Tunstall album that I couldn’t get out of my head.
There were elements of wildness. It wouldn’t have seemed so wild and empty on a sunny day with skylarks and plover. The weather was, perhaps, just right for this kind of thing.

12 Miles and 2700 feet of climbing. Happiness and some episodes of pleasure.

Big black horse…. And a cherry tree…. Dum de dum…

A Walk Across Cumbria Day 1 Silecroft

Monday 10 August.

The first day. The objective was just to get established some way up the Southern slopes of Black Combe and, originally, the plan had been to get the train to Millom and walk the eight miles or so to the hill, put up the tent and pick my toes for the next ten hours.
But No! Once on the train out of Carlisle, I discovered (from the guard’s announcement) that the train stopped on request at various places, one of which was a little station called “Silecroft” Now Silecroft had been the planned original starting point for this walk, mainly because it has a beach and the first “real” hill in the Lake District if you’re looking at it from the South. And, as this was a South-North walk up the high bits of the Lakes, Silecroft would be a much better start.
So I informed the patient train guard (about four times, just to be sure) that I would get off the train at Silecroft, which I did, and, thereby cut my first day’s walking down to a paltry (not poultry, which is chickens), two miles. Yes folks, that’s a full two of your Queen’s miles. I fully expected this to be achievable, which it was. There was quite a bit of uphill, though, just to make it a bit energetic.
My first camping spot, on a broad grassy platform with a fab view of the sea and the Isle of Man, was much too windy. So I plodded uphill and found a less windy one with a good water supply about 150feet down the hill.
And so, in drizzle and a hurtling gale, I got into the sleeping bag, had dinner (more of which somewhere later, possibly…) and drifted off to have yet another tussle with Kylie’s bra strap.
At some point, I became aware that the tent had lit up in a bright and orange kind of way and it occurred to me that a sunset might be going on outside.
And it was.
Apologies to the lady runner who appeared suddenly out of the mist to find a barefoot and half-clad eejit ooo-ing at the sun having a final pink sizzle into the Irish sea.
The rest of the night passed flappily and with the occasional hiss of light drizzle.
Day 1 2 Miles and 1200 feet of uphill (including visits to a spring for water)

Perhaps not the most energetic start.

Silecroft has a beach, a campsite, a pub and a railway station, though, so it’s a good place to start a walk such as this.

I should have started at Millom but didn’t (Quick note by the way to those who use the word “of” in this context – as in “I should of started at Millom” Look guys, use the verb. Its “I should have, You should have, He should have, We should have, You should have, they should have.” You should of made a note have this by now. Don’t do it again, has you it?

Black Combe and Devoke Water

I caught up with the Go4awalk motor home (containing Mike from go4awalk.com)somewhere along the A590 and followed it to Millom Rugby Union Football Club where, for a small consideration, they let me put up my red Wild Country two man tent – veteran of two TGO challenges and a couple of Cairngorm wild camps involving only short walking from the car cos its heavy.
But I devolve…. Shortly after this we were embarked on the path up the South end of Black Combe the hill fog at about 450 metres, so there wasn’t much of a view. Apparently, you can see Wales from here. You can certainly see Black Combe from Wales on the occasion of very clear weather. It must be quite a long way. Somebody should measure it.
Anyway, after a spot of chicken butty, banana and green tea in the windy summit shelter, we plodded off to bag the very lovely (if you’re a fan of red bog grass) Stoupdale Head and then White Combe, which is more of a shoulder than a summit, but which bears an enormous and ancient cairn and a cracking view of bits of Morecambe Bay.
The little gem of a hillock White Hall Knott followed, and then a steep and uncomfortable descent through dwarf gorse (whatever you do, if you go this way, don’t slip on your arse…) and an easier-than-it-looks-on-the-map-due-to-the-fact-that-there’s- quite-a-good-track-most-of-the-way (phew) handrailing of the intake wall back to Kirkbank Church where we’d left the car.

8 Miles or so…

There was then a short interval for eating, dozing and drinking beer in front of the fire in the Rugby Club bar.

And then it was tomorrow, or, rather, Tuesday.

The day started in driving drizzle off the Irish sea and continued mush in the same vein most of the day.

We did a circuit of Devoke Water, adding a couple of tops just for the ticks. The round was Rough Crag – Water Crag – Birkby Fell – The Knott – White Pike – Yoadcastle – Seat How. The last one being the exciting one due to it’s craggy defences. These are quite good hills for climbing in the drizzle since they appear much bigger and snowier when they’re looming out of the hillfog.

I didn’t take many pics due to the rain. But we managed 6 miles for apparently, a lorra lorra effort- it was the wind, the heavy going, the wet weather clothing, the lactic acid from the Rugby Club Bar….

I was quite taken with Millom – friendly place, chip shop, seaside….