The Allt-fawr Affair

The Crimea Pass car park makes the ascent of Allt-fawr that bit easier as you start at over 1200 feet which is more than halfway up before you’ve even laced up your boots!  But the smug feeling was tempered by the grey conditions, matching the grey quarries hereabouts.

above Llyn Iwerddon

Light drizzle accompanied me along the ridge and up to the final slopes as they rose above Llyn Iwerddon before I entered the mist that was obscuring the summit.  As there was no view of note, my attention turned to reaching the next objective of the day, Moel Druman South Top.

I decided to take a route that would skirt the south shore of Llyn Conglog and lead me to the isolated Moss summit.  But the mistake I made was to use my live track on my GPS unit as a way of navigating instead of taking a bearing.  Finding myself descending a re-entrant a lot wider than anticipated I checked the map and decided to carry on as, although packed with close contours, I felt that the ground ahead wouldn’t pose any problem to traverse and that the height I had unnecessarily lost could be easily regained.  The reality was a little different!

The ground was steep but looked reasonable to cross.  Ahead I spotted a group of sheep who had seen me and headed away on a traverse line that I decided would be my way across.  It turned out to be a very narrow trod – often narrower than the width of one of my boots – and it led across steepening ground.  My ankles had to work hard to support me on the slope and although walking poles would have significantly eased the traverse, I reckoned that getting them out of my rucksack would have been a greater risk than just carrying on.  This headwall of Cwmorthin wasn’t letting up and a slip here would have been calamitous.  I checked the ground above looking for any weakness so I could directly ascend but none was forthcoming; it was steep and grassy and wet.  I had no option but to continue the traverse until the ground eased, which it eventually did.

I followed the stream up to the outflow of Llyn Conglog and although easily crossed, I still ended up with one leg plunged knee-deep in peat.  Easy ground led to the two 630-metre contour lines which I crossed but I wasn’t able to clearly work out which one held the summit.  But I went over both and claimed the tick.

the face of Moel Druman

The shroud of mist continued to lay down as I continued to Moel Druman, passing an eerie profile of a face outlined in a rock outcrop, and the poor visibility dissuaded me from staying on high ground towards Ysgafell Wen.  I decided to head back to the car and crossed the northern slopes of Allt-fawr before rejoining the ridge above Llyn Iwerddon at which point the mist had lifted and I could now see the highpoints of today’s route.

Moel Druman and Ysgafell Wen

Allt-fawr and Moel Druman

It’s now obvious that my approach to navigating in poor visibility isn’t as accurate as it could be.  My problems arose from an unjustified confidence in navigating using a small screen, despite the undoubted accuracy of the GPS system.  The use of a map to see the “bigger picture” and a compass to direct me on accurate bearings needs to be brought back into my hillwalking method.

I think only my experience and confidence of crossing challenging terrain got me out of a situation that many may have seen as one to call for help on.

A lesson has been learnt.

Gragareth Revisited

I’d been up here before I added the Moss and Wright lists to my own seemingly never-ending ticklist and with those lists came Gragareth North Top and Green Hill South Top, both of which I might have walked over on the previous visit but I couldn’t be sure.

Eight of us plus Pebbles the dog started the walk from Leck Fell and headed uphill into the fog towards the Three Men of Gragareth.  The cairns made for a welcome photo opportunity, particularly for three women, before we walked to the trig pillar and then the rather nondescript true summit of Gragareth which is marked by a small and unimpressive cairn.  Surely the highpoint of the county of Lancashire deserves something of grander stature!

Gragareth North Top lay just west of the path and was easily bagged although it was probable that I hadn’t previously been to that point.  Green Hill South Top lay on the path and no extra effort was needed with a high likelihood that this had been reached on earlier walk on these hills.

There was a fair amount of snow on the ground but nothing that merited the use of axe or crampons as the recent warm spell had ensured that the ground beneath was not frozen.  There were some colourful exclamations from party members when the occasional bog plunge occurred!  We followed the ridge to Green Hill, Great Coum and the trig point of Crag Hill before descending the broad spur to Bullpot Farm.  From there an easy path led to the bone-dry bed of Ease Gill before we trudged up the long heathery slope of Leck Fell to the cars.

Inevitably, the group was keen for post-walk refreshment and quite by accident we found The Royal Barn in Kirkby Lonsdale, home of the eponymous brewery, where the fine selection of ales and dog-friendly bar provided a very welcoming atmosphere.