Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Trail

GET 50% OFF Ordnance Survey All first-time Trail Subscribers get 50% off OS Maps, the Ordnance Survey’s digital mapping service. That’s the equivalent of 607 paper maps in your pocket! PAGE 22 It always bothers me that so many of my friends don’t really know Scotland. Plenty of them have been to Edinburgh for New Year’s Eve, or climbed Ben Nevis, or more recently even churned up some roads on the NC500, but we’re talking about passing visits here that don’t even make a squiggle on the surface. I went to the Cairngorms a couple of times as a kid, but I was deep into my 20s before I got a taste of the real Scotland. I remember driving north from Loch Lomond – the landscape getting bigger, emptier, more…

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Great End is the most north-easterly summit on the 3km-long chain of gnarly fells making up the Scafell range. Most walkers reach its 910m plateau by way of a brief, uninspiring diversion off the main path linking Eskdale Hause with Scafell Pike, but there are other, more exciting routes up its north face. Here the mountain is riven by fearsome gullies that are frequented, in winter, by iceclimbers. Slightly west of these is The Band, a rugged ridge that provides a tough, but nontechnical route for lesser mortals. Reached from Seathwaite via Sty Head, The Band begins as a grassy ridge. Beyond the head of Skew Gill though, the ascent steepens as walkers have to negotiate scree gullies, easy scrambling and, at the base of the final climb, a boulder…

Lakeland has its share of epic mountain horseshoe walks: Coledale, Deepdale, Newlands, Kentmere – the list goes on. But, perhaps, the greatest of all these high-level, circular ridge walks is the Mosedale horseshoe. Starting at Wasdale Head, under the shadow of Scafell Pike, this route loops the remote, bowl-like valley of Mosedale via a series of iconic peaks. The walk ticks off five Wainwrights – Pillar, Scoat Fell, Steeple, Red Pike and Yewbarrow – and serves up stunning views of the Scafell Massif and Great Gable. It’s a rough and rugged hike, with steep ascents and a touch of scrambling. It’ll test your legs, as well as another key mountaineering asset – your bum. Alfred Wainwright comically writes about how useful a sturdy derriere is to this route’s descent of…

DAY 2 6 NY245077 Cross Angletarn Gill, veer left and take stony traversing path north-east. The path traverses below Rossett Crag, passes to left of Black Crags’ 588m top and then veers right, descending grassy slopes to tarn at Stake Pass. Follow path to right of tarn and arrive at path junction. Turn left past large cairn and head north on path, looping anti-clockwise around tarn. Veer right off main path on faint grassy trod into boggy hollow. Cross Stake Beck, head east, cross subsidiary stream and pick up trod to left of stream. Climb east and north-east up to High Raise. 7 NY280095 Take wide path north-east to rocky outcrop. Veer left and head north, following line of old metal fence-posts. Go up-andover cairned top at Low White Stones.…

1 NY337074 Follow Broadgate Road north out of Grasmere to the A591. Cross with care and follow the road opposite to the right of the Swan Hotel. Take the 2nd right, signed Greenhead Gill and Alcock Tarn, turning right off the road at the top of the hill. Follow the path across a footbridge and then steeply uphill, trending right to reach a gate to Alcock Tarn. 2 NY348080 Follow the path to the right of the tarn and then right, following the footpath through a gate and zigzagging down the fell into woodland. Turn left where the path becomes a track and follow this to the road above How Top. Turn left, following the road uphill, then right onto a bridleway descending to the A591. 3 NY348065 Cross with…

The time is now, and now is the time of the young… The bracken on the easy, low down slope of the mountain is nearly fully emerged; just the ends of its fronds still wound tight like ammonites. The green of those prehistoric plants has the freshness of youth, spring and summer are colliding here in the mountains. A mare from the herd of mountain ponies that graze the common has sought the sanctuary of those fronds. She’s alone, hidden from the world and awaiting the inevitable. The sun climbs through the sky, illuminating a miracle. Laying on her side, the mare periodically raises her head to look behind her, trying to catch a glimpse of the slippery newborn foal that’s now cushioned amongst the still soft bracken. Sunlight catches…

GET YOUR GRIND Coffee only remains fresh for about 30 minutes after grinding. After this, it will start to oxidise, losing flavour and aroma to the air. If you’re just after a whomping, ‘good-enough’ caffeine fix, this might not be an issue, but connoisseurs might want to consider grinding beans fresh on the hill. As well as imparting more flavour, this adds a sense of real ritual to your morning cup. You will however need to bring a manual burr grinder, which means there’s a cost in weight of 250-500g and a cost in cash of whatever you’re willing to spend. Cheaper options go for £10-£25, premium options can cost up to £75. CHOOSE YOUR METHOD There are four main ways to brew on the hill (putting aside cowboy coffee).…

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The monumental forces that have shaped our bens, pens, fells, stobs, sgurrs and pikes have often conspired to forge their most beautiful and intimidating creations as north and/or east facing. These dark, foreboding places cradle the finest tarns, llyns and lochans and are home to some of our most striking and complex topography. In few places is this trend as apparent as in the Lake District’s Eastern Fells, which are interesting from the south and west, yet often spectacular from the north-east. Helvellyn’s famously edgier end faces this way, while Fairfield, a bit of an uninspiring lump from the south, showcases a mighty display of dark crags and buttresses at the head of Deepdale. Hart Crag and Dove Crag, arguably unremarkable when chalked off on the Fairfield Horseshoe, are yet…

DAY 3 12 NY308219 Veer right off the summit, negotiating a bit of craggy ground, and then turn left to descend grassy path north and west. Cross a stile, veer left to a memorial stone and drop down to road, to left of diocesan youth centre. Turn right, pass the youth centre, church, car park and outbuilding, and follow the minor road as it veers north. Go through a gate, pass some cottages and – where the road turns sharply right – fork left on a track. Pass the houses at Row End and walk north through fields, up a little stone stairway and through two gates to arrive at a road next to Shundraw. Turn left and follow the road north and north-west. Turn left at next road junction…

1 NY337074 Follow the minor road out of Grasmere signed National Trust Allen Bank. Turn right onto the gravel path and walk across fields to join Easedale Road. Turn left, following the road to a small footbridge on the left. Cross this and follow the bridleway uphill, at first through gently rising grassland and then climbing alongside the stepped falls of Sourmilk Gill to reach Easedale Tarn. Set in a dramatic glacial corrie at the head of a hanging valley with glorious views down towards Grasmere, this is popular swimming spot over the warmer months so it’s worth visiting early if you’re keen for a dip. 2 NY310087 Continue on the path to the left of the tarn and up the steepening rocky valley with Blea Rigg rising to the…

1 CURLEW Numenius arquata LOOKS LIKE: A large brown bird – Europe’s biggest wader – with long legs and a down-curved bill which can be up to 15cm long. SOUNDS LIKE: The most mournful song ever to echo over the open hill. Familiar and wild. The song starts with slow hoots and rises to an urgent bubbling call. The flight call is a lonely ‘kuu-wit’. FIND IT: Probing for insects in wet, open ground especially near farmland or close to the coast or flying overhead across the moors. With good eyes, you can make out its distinctive bill. 2 SNIPE Gallinago gallinago LOOKS LIKE: Dumpy body with short legs and a long, straight bill that it tends to hold downward against the chest when not in flight. Plumage is a cryptic brown,…

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Blencathra is a truly majestic mountain. Standing alone, separated as it is from other prominent landforms, it exudes an even greater sense of grandeur than other summits. As you drive west along the A66 towards Keswick, Blencathra greets you at the gateway to Lakeland, like a towering guardian of adventure, enticing you to explore its southern ridges. While these ridges are impressive, the mountain’s most striking feature is tucked away in a secluded high comb – hidden from view but impossible to ignore. Sharp Edge, an aptly named and exhilarating challenge that’s not for the faint of heart, is the highlight of this wonderful journey. Yet Blencathra offers so much more than the thrill of its famous edge. Walking along its southern base and traversing the high east-to-west edgeline offers…

Could the valley of Ennerdale be the most elusive of all the radiating Lakeland valleys? Even though some of the better-known summits on this high and low-level journey could be accessed from an increasingly bustling Buttermere, what better way to see and feel some of the Lake District’s quieter contours and corners? And a new Wild Ennerdale partnership conservation project has been brought to life by landowners the National Trust, United Utilities, Forestry England in partnership with Natural England. Once choked with thick forest plantations, Ennerdale seemed a dark and quite foreboding valley. Now, one of the UK’s largest wild land projects is allowing ecosystems throughout the valley to evolve with greater freedom, creating a more mixed landscape with increased areas for native woodlands, heath land, bog restoration and roaming…

DAY 1 1 NY245137 From the bus stop at the National Trust car park in Seatoller, turn left and head south-east on the B5289, then turn right, cross Seatoller Bridge and walk south-west along the road for 1.9km to Seathwaite. Head south through the farmyard, signposted ‘Styhead 2½ miles’, and go through a wooden gate onto a wide, rocky path. Ignore the footbridge on your left and continue south, with the river on your right. Walk south on the excellent path, via a couple of gates and footbridges. After 1.4km from Seathwaite, turn right and cross Grains Gill over Stockley Bridge. Go through the gate and climb west on a winding, stone-pitched path. Pass through another gate and veer right as the path hugs a fence with woodland to your…

1 NY337074 Follow Stock Lane (B5287) out of Grasmere to the A591 at Town End. Cross with care and follow the road opposite, signed to Dove Cottage. Walk up the road to a left fork, signed footpath and no through road. Follow this uphill and left, where it becomes a bridleway, passing Dunnabeck House to reach a small turning area. 2 NY348068 Continue on the bridleway, following the Coffin Route below Nab Scar. This high-level route linking Ambleside and Grasmere offers great views of Rydal Water and passes two of Wordsworth’s Lakeland homes: Dove Cottage and Rydal Mount. White Moss Common, also on the route, was a favourite place of Dorothy Wordsworth. Close to Rydal Hall, you’ll arrive at a path junction. 3 NY364064 Turn left onto a footpath, joining…

Walk Pillar’s famous old Climber’s Path to Robinson’s Cairn for epic views of the Lake District’s climbing history. CLIMB A STAR OF THIS ISSUE P24 WALK IT (BETTER THAN WE DID) Of the three climber’s traverses in the Lakes (that I know about), this one on Pillar is my favourite, as it takes you to Pillar Rock. If you’ve seen Pillar from the Ennerdale side, then you’ll know what a landmark the ‘Rock’ is. Because we’re all friends here and none of us is going to go telling teacher, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’ve walked the traverse in both directions quite a few times over the years, I’ve even climbed the ‘Rock’ once or twice, so I know the area. Well, this time, too…