The weather today was awful – constant heavy rain and blustery wind. I therefore had to come up with another low-level plan. I didn’t fancy driving far from my base, so a fell a few miles along the road fitted the bill perfectly.
From searching the internet, I found two potential routes up High Rigg. 1) a route traversing the entire ridge of High Rigg from the South-East and 2) a route also taking in Low Rigg from the North. I opted for route 2).
I drove to the car parking area for Castlerigg Stone Circle, where there is parking for circa ten cars in a number of small lay-bys.
Hill: High Rigg
Date: Tuesday 20th November 2012
Company: Just myself
Distance: 8.75km, Ascent: 315m
Time: 2Hrs 40Mins
Click here to see a map of the route undertaken
Before setting off for High Rigg, I took a wee diversion to have a look at the Castlerigg Stone Circle. I was glad I did as it was worth seeing. Not on a par with the likes of Callanish on Lewis but a nice stone circle nonetheless.
Castlerigg Stone Circle information sign:
Castlerigg Stone Circle:
From the Stone Circle, I walked along the road past the Keswick Climbing Wall. Opposite Goosewell farm, I followed a right of way through some fields before returning to the road.
Goosewell Farm:
A wee bit more road walking and I reached the access track towards Low Rigg.
Start of footpath towards Low Rigg:
The cloud was fairly low throughout the day, however, it did lift briefly providing a view of Clough Head, a hill I ascended two days previous.
View across to Clough Head:
After walking several hundred metres through the field, I came to Tewet Tarn.
Translating English to Scots, tarn = lochan and fell = hill.
High Rigg, Low Rigg and Tewet Tarn:
During this walk, I climbed over three walls with in-built stiles.
Wall stile:
Looking back to Tewet Tarn:
The weather was really foul throughout the walk. I passed three horses attempting to shelter from the wind and rain by standing behind a small knoll.
Horses sheltering from the rain and wind:
Looking back towards Goosewell Farm from Low Rigg:
I had to take a small detour from the public path to reach the top of Low Rigg. Low Rigg isn’t listed in the Database of British Hills.
High Rigg from top of Low Rigg:
High Rigg ahead:
During the descent from Low Rigg towards the Church, I stopped to speak with a woman who was jogging the route in reverse. She looked seriously wet but did say she was "having fun".
After reaching the church, I began the ascent of High Rigg.
Church/Youth Centre:
During the ascent of High Rigg, I decided to put my camera into the rucksack as its case was soaked through. I therefore had to stop to take the camera out of the rucksack for each of the subsequent photos.
Track ascending High Rigg:
Looking back towards Low Rigg:
Track heading towards summit of High Rigg:
At the summit of High Rigg, I placed the camera on the ground to get a photo of myself at the summit. Unfortunately, it came out completely blurred and out of focus. High Rigg was my 800th Marilyn.
Summit of High Rigg and nearby cairn:
From the summit of High Rigg, I returned to the car via roughly the same route, excluding summiting Low Rigg.
It was still quite early when I got back to the car so I decided to ascend another nearby hill. I drove to and parked in the car park for Cat Bells.
Hill: A small hill
Date: Tuesday 20th November 2012
Company: Just myself
From the Cat Bells car park, I went for a walk.
View from Cat Bells car park:
Swinside Lodge Hotel:
On reaching the bottom of a small hill, I neither confirm nor deny if I ascended that small hill. That small hill may, or may not, have been Swinside and photos shown below were definitely taken by someone – these photos were absolutely not taken with my Canon 550D. I saw no access signs either permitting or restricting access via the ascent route which I may or may not have taken.
Allegedly, Swinside has hundreds if not thousands of pheasants on it with a considerable number of shotgun cartridges littering the ground. Allegedly, Swinside is owned by a rich Lord, who does not like people walking on his land. Allegedly, a significant number of trees on Swinside would appear to have girdling, which has killed the trees. Bizarre!
