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PICTURES AND TRIP REPORTS FROM MY WALKS IN THE ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT
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E-mail - karl@karlswalks.co.uk |
A few pics from a truncated round from Wet ( the clues in the name ) Sleddale. The forecast was for sunny spells but the sun never made an appearance and the cloud was down even on these modest fells. I had planned to descend to the valley and come back on the track which runs from Mosedale and visit Sleddale Hall but after giving the weather a chance to change in the time it took me to get to Great Yarlside I turned back but did vary my return a bit.
Looking back to the reservoir from the muddy track,
The weather kidded me that it was going to brighten up. But that unfortunately the blue skies never came my way.
Anyone studying the map of this area would wonder at the strange feature " To Stone or to'ther" which is a perched boulder on a plinth of granite. The stone used to rock and was known as a tottering stone but soil and debris gathered round it over the years means that it's immovable ( at least by me ) Wainwright reckons the strange name is due to the map maker mishearing a local saying it's " one stone on to'ther which seems plausible. Wainwright also says it's well defended by bogs which is absolutely correct.
From the stone I headed across country to another named feature on the map. Gray Bull is a nine foot lump of Pink Granite left behind by a glacier. Here it looms out of the mist.
I have been to Gray Bull once before. Back in the winter of 2014 when we were mad keen and would go out whatever the weather, Sue Lynn and I took shelter from a freezing hail storm in the lee of the rock and as we were sat huddled together from the cold a huge stag materialised out of the mist with water and snow dripping from its antlers and fur. No such luck this time so I plodded on across more bogs in the direction of Wasdale Pike.
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Still not a lot to see as I pass over Wasdale Pike. The ground has improved now and there is a track to follow heading for Great Yarlside although I handrailed the fence which seemed more direct.
Brew time in the lee of the wall just off the summit of Great Yarlside. I had given the weather every chance to comply with the forecast but to no avail so after my break I retraced my steps but this time I stuck to the track.
After a few hundred yards I came across this digger which I think is working on Peatland restoration which ( according to Google ) is the process of restoring wet areas rich in peat to their original condition. This can include stabilising degraded peatlands and re-establishing healthy ecosystems. I had seen the same thing on the Bowland fells when I walked there last year. The digger had made a wide track which seemed to be heading roughly in the direction I needed to go so I followed it
I left the digger tracks when I came to this fence which would guide my back down to the reservoir. The cloud has lifted slightly so I started to get a bit of a view.
I left the fence to cut across the shoulder of Sleddale Pike from where I could see the reservoir below. Cross Fell is just about clear in the distance.
Interesting old wall running down by Sherry Beck.
Looking across to Sleddale Hall which in the cult 1987 film ‘Withnail and I’ was called "Crow Cragg’, where Withnail and Marwood end up “on holiday by mistake”
Cross Fell and Little Dun Fell are very clear now. Great Dun Fell is behind the cloud.
I smiled when I looked over the wall and saw a more impressive To Stone or to'ther.
Nice view back along Wet Sleddale.
Back to the dam and my car. There were quite a few cars parked but I hadn't seen one person.
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