BOOTboys

BB2415 : Problems with Paths

Thursday 9th May 2024

We had a few problems with paths today. I don’t mean we got lost. I mean there were problems with paths.

There was just Robert and myself and a long list of excuses from others. I had to be back home early so it had to be a fairly curtailed exercise. We opted for a quick up and down Whitbarrow, starting from its most southerly point.

I was using the Hug WalkLakes map which is exceedingly detailed regarding footpaths. The only problem, or to be more accurate, the initial problem- was that the first two paths shown into the steep wooded hill were blocked off with “keep out” signs. Quite possibly illegitimately but we didn’t chance them.

We did manage to find a legitimate way round and traversed clockwise to seek what is shown on Hugs level 9 (most detailed) map as a view point. The path became disturbingly exposed for my liking and any view that once existed was now impeded by trees.

We did find a small cave but shortly afterwards I wimped out of going any further. Robert, who is braver than me and hence in the lead, agreed it was a sensible decision as the path seemed to disappear. We retraced our steps then scrambled up through the wood until we reached the normal route out onto the scar.

When back home I had another look at the Hug maps. Maybe the view point was at the higher level? I think it must be as it seems to imply a 360 degree panorama. I then examined the somewhat less detailed level 8 map and noticed that the cave we had visited was marked on it. More research needed to determine its origins. Neither is shown on the OS maps.

It was a pleasant stroll along to the Lord’s Seat cairn.....

.....although the distant views were a little hazy.

It was good to see the Ash trees sprouting leaves so maybe the concerns we had last time out about Ash die-back are misplaced here.

We stopped for a brew and, in Robert’s case, to collect a tick, then continued north. I heard a distant noise to my left. It grew louder than something passed by in front of me. The noise, now on my right, was repeated, loudly at first then more distantly. What was it? Well, for only the second time in my life, and on the same hill, I had seen a cuckoo in flight.

The Bell Rake descent is odd. Whitbarrow is a limestone outcrop but the scree seemed to us to be of a different type of rock.

Lower down, as Cilla would have said, a lorra, lorra logging had taken place.

Eventually we reached the road and headed south. Marked on the map, just north of Witherslack Hall is a small lake, presumably man made.

There is a walkway around the edge and a few small wooden piers but all generally in poor condition. Not a safe path to explore.

Tony told us later that Kendal District Angling Club used to rent the water from Witherslack Hall for a reasonable fee but then the owners got a well-known estate agent involved who demanded a ridiculous amount so they walked away.

It wasn’t taken by anyone for several years so the Hall lost out.

Whoever owns it now doesn’t seem to be making much use of it. Are they paying the Hall?

We had originally intended to finish with a visit to Yewbarrow but so much time had been invested in our two path investigations that it was time to return home.

I am sorry, dear reader, that I have no more exciting things to report about paths. All subsequent ones were where they were supposed to be and in good condition. There was however a window with an interesting pattern which I have overlaid on the header picture just for a bit of fun.

Don, Thursday 9th May 2024

Relive Whitbarrow

To Relive Robert's Whitbarrow adventure (with a different set of photos), click on the picture below.

Comitibus:

Don, Robert

Map: Hug WalksLake map level 8

STATISTICS	BB2415 : Problems With Paths
Date:	Thursday 9th May 2024
Features:	Whitbarrow Scar
Distance in miles:	7.1
Height climbed in feet:	1,216
GPX track:	BB2415.gpx
Comitibus:	Don, Robert

Comments

David W : I've made the same mistake on Whitbarrow. If you take the first footpath you come to on the road, and go through a farm, you meet the track that skirts the bottom of Whitbarrow. It seems totally natural to go to the right, but it's wrong. Go left and the path you want is just round the corner. It is shown on the map, but the others shown don't seem to exist. And, like you, I've tried!

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