Bob Graham Route Choices

[alwaysinjured]

Again I think that the route from the track crossing to the ridge is quicker than taking the path by the beck. A.

Reckon I will look for a descent route from skiddaw that hits that path directly.

I have always reckoned on something approximating to your route B to be as efficient as is possible: Head down the S ridge of GC for a couple of hundred metres then drop into a vague reentrant to gain the track then a little bit of heather bashing to get to the river before taking a direct line to the summit of Mungrisedale Common from where a good path leads to the final slopes of Blencathra whence you traverse across the screes to gain the saddle and then the summit.

The only issue at the moment is the heather is almost 2 feet deep in places: when the heather was burnt down 6-7 years ago and fast running, I reckon the near straight line was a lot faster than it is now. On route (a) the descent down the fence is heather free, route (b) the lower reaches are only walkable, although I agree i think it is still faster - but only maybe 4-5 mins.

I'd like to see the line you mention going from Great Calva to Blencathra.

Here goes.from the top:
Skirt calvas first top tot he right, then down the good path that leads to 284299 track crossing( path not shown on harveys at all!) - the last 200m the trod wiggles a bit , and is hidden a little by overhanging heather but is good running never the less.

Up to skiddaw house, passing it to the left, and follow the track down to
294288 track bend/fence.

And theres the thing - you get there in 17 mins which is only the same time it takes to cross the caldew on the "usual" fence route - yet you are already 200 feet higher.

Then ( it is a bit damp crossing the valley: you could shorten this by crosing more straight W) - first aim for the remains of a sheep fold? stones? you see at 301285 dont try and climb too high too quickly now, because you dont want to drop into roughten gill: I think I crossed sinen gill at about 303283 where there is a trod which takes you round to roughten gill. Aim to cross roughten gill at just above stream junction 311279 then dead reckon the summit from there.

I aimed to hit the ridge W of blencathra, just to make sure I knew which side I was approaching from.

Because the route is a traverse it isnt as steep a climb as it appears as first sight.

Why does this route work:
First, because just jogging you get as far as the fence 294288 in a similar time that it takes to cross the caldew by any other route.
Second because you are already 200 feet higher than the normal caldew crossing.

But the main reason is the nature of mungrisdale common. It is at that awkward gradient where you figure you should jog, but the nature of the ground( tussocky /wet) makes it too much effort. So I reckon that is where the time is lost.

Other than the short valley crossing at 296285 which is wet, but not nearly as bad as the caldew valley floor the ascent is all essentially on firm short grass: and the traction that gives makes for better climbing.

But as with all things, I think it depends on people - who are all different in terms of terrain likes and dislikes.

[Baggins]

Reckon I will look for a descent route from skiddaw that hits that path directly.

Great minds think alike

Its shaley scree on Skiddaw very fast to descent and theres lots of sheep trods heading towards Hare crag

Bill

[Chas]

Why not continue the logic of staying on good tracks and follow the track to the Guide Stone at 292279 and there turn left to cross the bridge over Glenderaterra Beck, still on a good track, turning off it at the bridge over Roughten Gill at 298276 where you can pick up trods up the south side of Roughten Gill to about 308278 from where you dead reckon to the ridge path half way between Gategill Fell top and the summit
see http://maps.live.com/?v=2&sp=Polylin...7nwy&encType=1

[IanDarkpeak]

Then ( it is a bit damp crossing the valley: you could shorten this by crosing more straight W) - first aim for the remains of a sheep fold? stones? you see at 301285 dont try and climb too high too quickly now, because you dont want to drop into roughten gill: I think I crossed sinen gill at about 303283 where there is a trod which takes you round to roughten gill. Aim to cross roughten gill at just above stream junction 311279 then dead reckon the summit from there.

Looks like an interesting route, too late to reccie now, but would I need water wings tonight on the Gill crossings

[alwaysinjured]

Why not continue the logic of staying on good tracks and follow the track to the Guide Stone at 292279 and there turn left to cross the bridge over Glenderaterra Beck, still on a good track, turning off it at the bridge over Roughten Gill at 298276 where you can pick up trods up the south side of Roughten Gill to about 308278 from where you dead reckon to the ridge path half way between Gategill Fell top and the summit
see http://maps.live.com/?v=2&sp=Polylin...7nwy&encType=1

You lose far too much height before you cross that way: almost 300 feet and it probably adds another 600m to the route, which between them will add 7-9 minutes back at a guess, but it might be worth a try some day.

One of the keys to my route is that it avoids losing the height at the caldew crossing, and this route crosses the beck at the heighest possible place.

Whilst I only saw snippets of it because I was dead reckoning , I also think there is a trod from skiddaw house to the crossing of roughten gill for blencathra more or less on the route i took. ( which is below the pile of stones I mentioned) next time I do this I will follow that track to see where it goes.

[alwaysinjured]

Looks like an interesting route, too late to reccie now, but would I need water wings tonight on the Gill crossings

I reckon the caldew may be fun tonight too!
Roughten gill is a trickle compared to the caldew!

Good luck all.

[Mark Smith]

2 weeks to go and i've got all the route choices sorted in my head apart from one...

I'm still torn between going up Fairfield via the track behind Grisedale Tarn and the out and back climb/descent - or - the zig-zags down then going up via the Tarn outflow and the trod going towards Cofa Pike.

One is further with less climbing and on good paths. The other is more direct and on good paths down and reasonable trods up.

I'll be doing this in the dark by the way.

I've done both, but only the more direct route in the dark. My gut instinct is to take the wider, more runnable descent and traverse around the tarn. It also has no nav issues, esp when you leave the top of Fairfield as you return the way you came!

Still not sure.

Any thoughts?!

ST

[little binnian]

I think the best advice I can give is to have good pacers that know the route and let them choose what they think is the best route on the day. On my round, although I knew the route very well I just went with the flow and handed route choices over to my pacers. We took at least 4 different lines to those i had used before and it added to the fun. Our line up Red Pike left of the main track in fact gained 6 minutes on schedule.
Hope you round goes well and enjoy the day.

[Mr1470]

Want to start do some recces through the rest of summer and into next winter.

A couple of questions which have partly been covered before but I'm still not sure of the general consensus;

i) Not being a confident down-scrambler, is it feasible to drop off Doddick ridge rather than Hall's Fell ridge? Certainly would seem more runnable in places just adds a little bit of distance at the bottom.

ii) Scafell!! Reckon that trying to get up Broad Stand would take more out of me than it's worth! Is Foxes Tarn considered the ONLY alternative at the moment because of the precarious rock in Lords Rake?

iii) Yewbarrow - don't fancy the scramble down Stirrup Crag. I've read about the grassy rake off to the left. Is this after the main summit or do you have to double back to find it?

iv) Robinson -so the accepted route is to follow the ridge all the way down to High Snab farm? Is it not worth dropping down earlier, just after the rocky step?

Any advice welcomed

[Grouse]

I think Doddick is a much better bet than Hall's fell, especially in the dark and when the rock is greasy.