Bowscale Tarn and Fell, Bannerdale Crags 24th June 2020Underestimating the forecast heatwave, we planned a day on the hills this Wednesday. A few options were discussed, Helvellyn or High Street, but my wife suggested Blencathra, and I readily agreed, as it is a fine and easily accessible mountain. For once we managed to get away reasonably early, and we drove up the M6, arriving at Mungrisdale at around 0930. There's plenty of parking on the south side of the village, including opposite the village hall (£2/day), but this was crowded, so we found a quiet spot on the northern side of the village, as this was on our route in any case.
We walked for perhaps 3/4 of a mile northwards along a minor road to Bowscale, at the mouth of Mosedale, the only traffic passing us being locals or delivery vans - a sign that we were heading off the beaten track. Lovely foxgloves at the side of the road. We took a bridleway heading west signposted Bowscale Tarn; this led pleasantly up the south side of Mosedale, with good views of the scree and heather covered flanks of Carrock Fell across the valley. We soon began to feel the heat, however, especially as the track began to traverse up the hillside towards the tarn. Tess our shaggy spaniel was panting a lot, which is not surprising in the heat, as she always pulls like a train at the start of a walk and I had to discourage her the best I could. But we found water on the way up, so she drank her fill, at one stage lying down in the water to cool down - clever dog.
The quiet road to BowscaleThe steep flanks of Carrock Fell come into viewThe way ahead - a good view up Mosedale. You can just make out the Bowscale Tarn track traversing up the hillside ahead.Hot dogWe arrived quite suddenly at the tarn, a beautiful sight in the heat, and we found a shapely boulder to sit on, right next to the water's edge. In went Tess for another drink and cooldown. Steep slopes and crags surround the tranquil tarn on three sides, and I spotted a likely pitch for a wild camp - definitely on my 'To Do' list come Autumn. The well made track that we had used circles around the back of the tarn, and starts to traverse up the slopes below the crags, before mysteriously ending at a washed out gully - I wonder why it was built? A failed mining venture would be my guess.
Bowscale Tarn - we rested on the convenient stepped boulder to the left. Tadpoles abounded in the shallows.To continue on to Bowscale Fell we had a choice - ascend the steep grassy gap between the crags directly to the west, or take a path that doubles back and traverses it's way around below the crags to gain the grassy northern spur - we chose the latter, wisely in my opinion, given the heat and the dog. Once on the ridge, we caught a bit of a breeze, which was most welcome, but initially the path was quite steep, becoming gentler as we climbed. Lovely views down to the tarn, and westwards across empty country towards Skiddaw.
Carrock Fell and lower Mosedale from the ridge above the tarnIt was a long hot haul up the grassy slopes, but the views were lovely. High Pike in the distance, disused tungsten mines to the left.
Bowscale Tarn far below - hopefully I'll be back in the autumn with a tent in my packSkiddaw to the west. I love this wide open deserted country.Eventually we reached the summit, and were rewarded with a good view of Blencathra, but the shelter wall was occupied, so we pressed on, flagging in the heat. By now we had unanimously decided to give Blencathra a miss in the heat, my son had a bit of a headache, despite drinking lots of water. Bannerdale Crags was chosen out of several possible descent routes, as it looked interesting and we wanted to stay high as long as possible rather than descend into the sweltering valleys. The path south down to the col was surprisingly boggy given the heat, but at least there was water for Tess, and she again drank her fill. Blencathra looked particularly fine, and we spotted a paraglider. We stopped for lunch on a grassy spur above Bannerdale far below, catching a bit of a breeze.
Blencathra comes into view as we approach the summit of Bowscale FellAnother view of Blencathra, with Bannerdale Crags to the left. The Helvellyn range is visible in the distance.Bannerdale Crags from near our lunch stop. Great Mell Fell is the rounded hill in the middle distanceThe ascent of Bannerdale Crags does not involve much re-ascent, and we soon reached the summit. The path skirted the top of the crags so there were dramatic views down into Bannerdale far below.
View down a gully into Bannerdale far below.Looking back towards Bowscale Fell (right), Knott in the distanceBlencathra from the top of Bannerdale Crags
Rather than descend the grassy slopes to the south east, we took a more direct route down a ridge to the east; this was intimidatingly steep to start with, and I let the dog off the lead as I feared that she would pull me off my feet (I use a bungee attached to a waist belt instead of a lead). We picked our way down the ridge, weaving our way between rocky sections whilst avoiding the big drop to our left. Near the bottom of the steep section there is an old mine, but nothing much of interest - if there had been a shaft or adit, it had long ago collapsed or become blocked by spoil.
The East Ridge drips away alarminglyLooking back up the steep East Ridge from below the mine workingsLooking back from the grassy lower part of the ridgeThe ridge levelled off pleasingly, and we descended towards the River Glenderamackin - I love the name. There is also a Glenderaterra Beck on the western side of Blencathra. The temperature seemed to rise as we descended, and I started to suffer - so much so that I filled my sun hat with water from the beck and put it on - what delicious agony!
Down towards the Glenderamackin valleyA tempting pool at the junction of Bannerdale Beck and the River GlenderamackinThe last mile down the valley would have been most enjoyable if it hadn't been so hot, but we all just wanted to get back. The Glenderamackin must be quite something in spate, as in several places the banks have been eaten away, and a landslip had destroyed the path. We crossed a footbridge, and I made an error, heading downstream rather than taking the new gravel path apparently leading away from the river. The map that I was using was at least 30 years old, and in that time the boisterous river has been making some changes to the landscape - the riverbank path marked on the map no longer existed, and we had to ford the river twice. My wife suggested taking off boots and socks, but I was past caring and already wet from my hat dousing, so I just ploughed on through the more than boot depth water, my family followed my lead. Tess didn't care of course, being a dog.
Looking back up the Glenderamackin valley - the boisterous river had changed course since my map had been printed and we had to ford it twiceGreen pastures around Mungrisdale, Bannisdale Crags visible to the left. The hill in the foreground is the end of The Tongue.The last half mile or so down the track and through Mungrisdale was pleasant, back to civilisation, the scent of a climbing rose, blessed shade, green pastures, and we were relieved to get back to the car! A modest 7 miles or so that took us the best part of 5 hours. Back home to cold beer in a shady garden!