Date: Sunday 26th December 2021
Company: Just myself
Distance: 9.2km, Ascent: 335m
Time: 2Hrs
I set off early this morning hoping to ascend a couple of easy Wainwrights. I am currently dealing with lower back, hip and thigh pain, including sciatica and greater trochanter pain syndrome, hence "hoping" to ascend.
Route:
I parked and set off from Heckbarley which is not far from Ennerdale Bridge.
Starting point:
Much of the ascent of Grike was via easy track. Despite setting off around 40 minutes before sunrise, I was surprised to see two other people already on the hill.
Looking back along track:
Ascending Grike:
Final ascent of Grike:
It didn't take long to reach the summit of Grike which has a cairn and a large summit shelter.
At the summit of Grike:
Cairn and Summit Shelter on Grike:
From Grike, I descended to the col before beginning an easy ascent of Crag Fell.
Heading across to Crag Fell:
It didn't take long to reach the summit.
At the summit of Crag Fell:
I continued on a short distance beyond the summit to get a great view looking down to Ennerdale Water. I then returned to the summit, dropped back to the col then dropped a short distance to get onto the track thus bypassing the summit of Grike on the return.
Looking down to Ennerdale Water from just beyond summit:
I followed the track back to the car.
As I had managed these hills mostly without pain I opted to drive towards Ravenglass for an ascent of Muncaster Fell.
I have ascended Muncaster Fell twice previously. However, following remeasurement using accurate GPS apparently Hooker Crag is not the actual summit. Unfortunately, I bypassed the actual summit on both previous ascents so I had to put that right.
To ascend Muncaster Fell, I parked in and set off from the Muncaster Castle car park.
Hill: Muncaster Fell
Date: Sunday 26th December 2021
Company: Just myself
Distance: 7.7km, Ascent: 260m
Time: 2Hrs 5Mins
Route:
Track beyond car park:
On both my previous ascents I caught the steam train from Ravenglass to Irton Station to allow for a traverse of the hill. I did not expect the train to be running on Boxing Day hence I decided to undertake a circuit by following the track alongside the railway track.
I was surprised to find that the train was indeed running on Boxing Day. Good job I was not walking along the track or I suspect I would have been given a telling-off. There are numerous signs advising not to trespass on the line and that it is not a right of way.
Steam train:
Alas the track only goes as far as Murthwaite Halt and I could see no straight-forward way up the hill before reaching Murthwaite Halt. This side of the fell is covered in bracken and rhododendron.
Murthwaite Halt:
I decided to ascend from Murthwaite Halt following a faint track just beyond the railway line.
Ascent from Murthwaite Halt:
The faint track soon disappeared and I ended up following various animal tracks up through the bracken and at one point had to crawl under some rhododendron. I really would not recommend ascending via this route.
Looking back during ascent:
Looking back during steep ascent:
I was somewhat relieved to reach the wide summit ridge. I then got out my GPS to locate the new summit.
At the revised summit of Muncaster Fell:
From the new summit I next made my way across to the former summit, Hooker Crag.
At the former summit of Muncaster Fell:
Looking across to the new summit from the previous summit:
From Hooker Crag I followed the standard route back to the car.