Buckbarrow

20th April, 2013

After last week's hike between Sty Head and Glaramara, I decided to hike up the nearest fell to my house here on Gosforth. My start was the same as two weeks ago, towards Wastwater, along Wasdale road to that public bridle way. 

Buckbarrow is a small fell (430m) to the west of Wastwater and southeast of Seatallan (692m). It can be approached from a number of directions, from my place (as the crow flies) it's 4.5 miles away. Not quite a straight walk but until I can do it with a GPS to tell me real distance, I'll make 9 miles up and back. 

This is the approximate route I took:

Up to waypoint 6 (the lower edge of the forest) is the same walk from two weeks ago. Then it took me an hour to make that point, yesterday only 45 minutes. My stamina is improving quickly!

This is the view northeast towards Buckbarrow, the near, low point in the center. Sca Fell is in the back. For reference, last week's walk was to the left of Sca Fell, and just this side of it. That view down the valley where we stopped for snacks was looking on Wastwater, which is to the right of Buckbarrow. 

I trundled up the road until it stopped at a "fell gate", which the term for a gate that opens to the fells. "Fell" is a Norse term that means "the mountain above the tree line". In England it has come to mean the "common open areas on top of the hills". They were generally fenced off from private areas, but the herders would let their sheep roam the fells and return the sheep via the fell gate to their private lands for lambing and shearing. 

I was initially greeted by a small herd of sheep, but once they realized I was coming closer they ran off. 

The herd is in the distance, this is a little bridge just inside the gate. 

The trail quickly melted into the field, I essentially followed the stone fence up and around to the left. 

This is a clearer picture of Buckbarrow, from a closer position. My objective was the top of the promontory on the right, via an easy ascent from the left. 

The walk was easy, but wet. My feet stayed dry as my boots are meant for this kind of terrain. Basically a bog that has dry areas. I was surprised how wet the fell side can be, the water was flowing from springs everywhere. I bet it's very wet when it's raining, we've had a dry spell!

Every hundred yards or so I'd turn around to check the view back--nothing special so I didn't take any photos. The sheep were always curious about me, but if I went in their direction they ran. 

Finally at the top, it was much cooler and the wind blowing hard. Here's a view towards Sca Fell again. The lake is the north end of Wastwater. Again, last week I was looking up at the far ridge that is on the left. The photo below is looking south down onto Wastwater. 

No desire to walk the 75 yards to the edge, it's a straight drop down!

This next photo is looking towards the west, to the Irish Sea. The village on the shore is Seascale, the village just nearer is Gosforth and of course to the right of Seascale is the plant. 

You have to zoom in to really see anything. But this was the payday for the hike up!  I stepped down into a shelter and enjoyed some water, trail mix and an apple, then headed back down. 

Here's a shot of me just before I headed down, yes, I was cold!

The walk down was easy, I didn't see this formation on the way up, but some sort of sheep pen. 

After three hikes, two of which were serious, I've got some good lessons:

• Clothing. While I started with two layers, they were not enough near the top. I need to get a proper wind breaker, gloves and head gear. Plus I need to have something in case it rains. 
• Weight. Useless stuff gets very heavy after a couple of hours. No wasted food, no wasted clothing. I need a lighter backpack and lighter, but warmer clothing. I can reuse some of my sailing and cycling gear, but not all of it. 
• Shoes. My hiking shoes were good for this one, but poor for last week. The difference?  Rocky last week, soft ground this week. I'll need to find shoes that are good for ANY terrain. 

I'm not as sore after this one, even though it was twice as far. My feet are tired as are my lower legs. The hardest part of the hike was the last half mile, all flat but I was tired at that point!

9 miles, 5 hours.

Lots of fun, until next time...