A year or two ago there was a good thread all about various route choices for parts parts of the BGR, but I cant find it.
I was wondering about the ascent of Kirk Fell on a Clockwise round,
Fence Line
First gully or
Second gully
Thanks
Printable View
A year or two ago there was a good thread all about various route choices for parts parts of the BGR, but I cant find it.
I was wondering about the ascent of Kirk Fell on a Clockwise round,
Fence Line
First gully or
Second gully
Thanks
Is this it?Quote:
Originally Posted by stustod
http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/showt...-Route-Choices
Thanks Merrylegs
I best get reading!!
My pleasure mate.Quote:
Originally Posted by stustod
I'm a new convert to going round to the right and meeting the fence line as it comes in on the left. Far less loose ground there, less than the bloody gullies which I've developed a bit of a hatred for!
I haven't tried the fence line yet but i have gone up both gullies. The first one was loose and the second one more steeper and grassier, was just wondering what the preferred choice was.
I follow the fence, used to come in from the right but I'm starting to prefer the left now as its less steep at the start.
At the top of the last steep bit I like to trend left around a small crag, avoids the rock step.
The gullies are ok for descending but going up the easy scramble over the crag is better.
Yiannis
That's the way Yiannis :DQuote:
Originally Posted by ydt
up the gullies ?
are you mad ??!!
nice thing about the scramble is that you get to use your arms alot - big relief for the legs.
Agree with Yiannis - I always go up this way on a clockwise round, but prefer to go down Red Gully on an anti-clockwise roundQuote:
Originally Posted by ydt
Its amazing how the memory fades but after a few years and now returning to the round it seems there are some different (better) lines?
previously I took a line from Skiddaw in the direction of Hare Crag and at the low point before a slight rise to hare Crag summit, I would cut left and skirt via a vague trod around Hare Crag. I repeated this recently and it was horrendous and there seemed to be no trod anymore? o most people now follow the trod over the summit of Hare Crag and join the ascent of Great Calva at the stream/Cumbria Way junction?.
From Great Calva is it still best (as far as trods are concerned to follow the fence line down and then just near the bottom where it steepens, cross the fence and follow some zig zags down to the stream before following this to the big bend in the Calder?
I still havent found the parachute. I dont mind Halls and can doit in about 25 mins. is the parachute worth pursuing and if so how far down Halls Fell do you o before you hit it. There seems to be a good scree shoot down to the right about 100m from the summit as Halls Fel narrows?
At Grizedale tarn I always went to the East bank/col and then up Fairfield, but I keep reading reports of people taking the western side to the col. is there anything in it?
Parachute: you don't start down Halls but head west from the summit for about 50 metres maybe a bit more then drop down following a steep grass slope next to scree. You head for a gully way down and right, cross this on to Middle Tongue then make a descending traverse across this to drop in to the gully on the far side. Follow this down to where the two becks meet, cross back to the Halls Fell side and follow the beck out to the fell gate crossing back over about halfway down. Did it once (following Bilbo's directions) and found it hard work.
There's an alternative that starts down the Parachute then cuts back right to join Halls Fell below the rocky bit. Never done this though.
Simon the parachute is fast in dry conditions (too fast?)needs good studs in the wet as it's steep short grass but reccie it thoroughly before doing it on a round, steep ground below you if you miss the gully as crossing to middle Tongue as Bob say. could save you 5 minutes at leastQuote:
Originally Posted by Corniceman
Regarding the Parachute route I've found the best alternative to combine the 2. Cut right from the summit until you can get down to the scree. Bomb down good scree for a couple hundred meters then cut left to join back onto Halls fell. This way you cut out the more technical section at the top of Halls fell and miss out the steep ground at the bottom of the Parachute. I raced a friend down from the summit. Me on Halls fell and him on the Parachute variation. He beat me by about 10 mins. Normally we are pretty even on the descents. The only thing is you've got to take the correct line back to Halls from the scree otherwise you end up having to backtrack
Thanks all. Can any body give any advice on the Hare Crag section?Quote:
Originally Posted by frontier_joe
It used to be that the path over Hare Crag was pretty faint but with the increased numbers attempting the round in a clockwise direction it's now well defined on the ground. In fact it's big enough that in daylight you can trace the path from the fence on Skiddaw all the way down to the track when sat on the summit of Great Calva!Quote:
Originally Posted by Corniceman
There used to be a line that skirted HC to the west but it's more a case of following the line that marks the boundary of the heathery bog and the slopes of HC rather than any marked path on the ground. I wouldn't say it's any quicker than going straight over the top, you end up doing the boggy bit between HC and the Skiddaw House track on either option.
As mentioned, there are some great discussions of route choices at:
http://forum.fellrunner.org.uk/showt...-Route-Choices
However, that thread is from 2007. Is it worth revisiting some of those options? In particular I'm thinking of Great Calva to Blencathra which alwalysinjured and bob discuss around post #104. The options differ partly due to the length of the heather and the visibility of trods, which may well have changed in the last 7 years. Anyone got any up to date info / opinions?
This is my line off of Great Calva all the way to Blencathra from my BG last year:Quote:
Originally Posted by rsk
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/841/4e2g.png
And this is the descent from Great Calva zoomed in (albeit from a recce this time). Basically down the wall line until the gate near the bottom, through that, down through a bit of heather, down a muddy slope, past the sheep pen and follow the boggy trod straight across the Caldew
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/843/byqn.png
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 :) )Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/401/n8nf.png
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
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 :)
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.
What is the normal way up steel fell? The trod by the fenceline (over the stile) or are there more direct lines?
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