Bob Graham route choice

[Stolly]

Long way round

I like that line. And, apart from a smidge of time lost on the Skiddaw to Great Calva section, I was nicely up on my schedule all through leg 1 (more than can be said for the first half of leg 3 )

[Derby Tup]

Bob and Yiannis nip back down the ridge of Calva and then more or less take a straight line for the cairn of Mungrisedale Common. Now the slog from Calva to Blencathra is always hard, but on the couple of times I've used the route Stolly shows I've found it extra tough going, especially traipsing along the stream when you want to get going

[Mark Smith]

Yeah I went on a beeline from the south cairn on calva to mungrisedalw common cairn (passing it 30 feet to the left). Feels longer/slower than the east fence line but I'm always faster that way. It's all crap ground so cover as little of it as possible I say

[Bob]

If you look at the maps there's a very faint re-entrant that debouches just north of the sheepfold at 296302. As Andy says, this is the way I've always (save one) gone. Nine and ten years ago the heather was very short probably having been burnt a couple of years earlier. On Andy's first attempt we took this line and the heather was quite a bit higher and harder going - there is a faint trod but it's a bit of a leap of faith that you are going to pick it up. There's a few patches of grass that you can link up.

One route mentioned in the thread (by AlwaysInjured?) is to head all the way down the south ridge, follow the track to Skiddaw House and then the path towards Threlkeld and cut across to Mungrisedale Common just after passing through the gate. I've done this once. It's pretty dry underfoot, the worst bit is the bottom part of the ridge down Great Calva, it's the longest of the options but has least reascent. I don't think my time was any quicker than my usual direct line but I probably didn't take the best line up or avoiding Mungrisedale Common as I think the line should follow the spur to the south of Sinen Gill. If the Caldew is high then it's the best/safest line to take.

[rsk]

What is the normal way up steel fell? The trod by the fenceline (over the stile) or are there more direct lines?

[Derby Tup]

Over the ladder stile and straight up. There's a trod developing all the time. I'm guessing you've seen mention of the fence-line in Wainwright? That's well over to the right of the BG route. Make sure you look down from the top when you get up. 25 or 26 mins is fine for the split