Agree with Yiannis - I always go up this way on a clockwise round, but prefer to go down Red Gully on an anti-clockwise roundOriginally Posted by ydt
Agree with Yiannis - I always go up this way on a clockwise round, but prefer to go down Red Gully on an anti-clockwise round
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.
Bob
http://bobwightman.co.uk/run/bob_graham.php
Without me you'd be one place nearer the back
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 least
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?
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!
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.
Bob
http://bobwightman.co.uk/run/bob_graham.php
Without me you'd be one place nearer the back
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:
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
Long way round
Poacher turned game-keeper
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