of the former Penrith–Cockermouth railway. Short of the entrance to Newsham, go through the fence-gate to the right to join a rough track in equally rough pasture. Ascend with the tree-screened Threlkeld Quarry on the right and, glancing by a small walled enclosure on damp ground, curve right to a gate in the fence. Straight ahead lies the site of the ancient Threlkeld Settlement. Turn left when you reach it to climb directly to the Old Coach Road. Follow the open track, left.
Just before the next gate three options present themselves. 2 Bear right passing Clough Fold, swinging up the stony ridge onto Threlkeld Knotts’ northernmost crest. Small cairns mark its two minor tops. Walk down south off the knotts to meet and turn left along a cairned path to the foot of the scree. Switch right on a diagonal traverse and cross two fans of loose scree to the cairn on the scarp brink. Here turn back northeastward (left) to the summit on an intermittent path.
3 Alternatively, keep company with the rising hollow (or slack) ascending to the saddle beneath Red Screes and turn left to join Route 2 here just before it tackles the scree slopes. 4 Or, with White Pike as your objective, pass to the right of the gate on a green path angling above the fence parallel with the track. Branch off pathlessly onto the wide, indefinite ridge, keeping left of the scree, to reach the subsidiary rocky outcrop of White Pike – a splendid viewpoint. From here, follow the ridge path southwest to reach the main summit.
Blencathra from White Pike
Ascent from Wanthwaite 2
A clutch of less-trafficked lines lead up from here, through the western crags and the scree slopes, with Route 6 the most orthodox of the three.
Start out along the Old Coach Road, signposted ‘Matterdale, unsuitable for motor vehicles’. Follow the gated lane, flanked by a shelter belt, that rises beyond Hilltop Farm as a walled lane. Watch for the small stile on the right at the left-hand bend. Cross this and clamber up a hollow beside a spoil bank to the level green track, bear half-right after 25m and cross the second track-bed. Take the path up beside the young conifers and a light fence shielding the edge of Spion Kop Quarry to a ladder-stile. Continue uphill to a ladder-stile in the intake wall. Three routes lead up from here.
Via Fisher’s Wife’s Rake →4.5km/2¾ miles ↑590m/1930ft
5 To reach this intriguingly-named old route contour right from the ladder-stile above Spion Kop Quarry. A well-defined sheep path leads above a shallow hollow to come under the crags. Clinging to the under-cliff, the path deftly avoids further scree to reunite with the original sled-track in picking up a grass path zig-zagging onto easier ground at the head of Sandbed Gill. The path fades into the rushes approaching Jim’s Fold. Thereafter follow the edge northeast up the grass (no path) to join Route 2 to the summit.
Via Buck Castle →4km/2½ miles ↑580m/1900ft
6 Climb the pasture with the peat sled-track, taking either of the two parallel paths up through the cutting and spurning a faint path bearing left for the top of Threlkeld Knotts. A little further on you have a choice of two lines to the ridge. Take the upper route to fall into step with Route 2 as it switches right and up to the ridge. Or, 7, branch off right to contour on a narrow path to the base of the scree. At an eroded section of earthy scree angle left. Keep on the top side to clamber up to the prominent stumpy shoulder of Buck Castle. Make sure to avoid the contouring sheep path which is consistently less comfortable. From Buck Castle contour above Wanthwaite Crags enjoying views down to St John’s in the Vale until you reach Jim’s Fold and turn left with Route 5.
The summit
A stunted windbreak clings to the stone-built Ordnance Survey pillar marking the summit, a place of superlative views. From here you can catch sneak glimpses of both Morecambe Bay and the Solway Firth, a gracious sweep of central Lakeland and, as the piece de resistance, Blencathra, the one true mountain in the Northern Fells. If you have time, make a point of visiting White Pike, an even better spot for a quiet contemplation of all things scenic.
Summit column looking to Skiddaw and Blencathra
Safe descents
As a rule of thumb Clough Head is precipitously craggy to the W and crag-free to the E, so the sane course of action in poor visibility is to head NE for the subsidiary summit of White Pike (4) and the Old Coach Road. Note: there are stiles evenly spread along the bounding multi-wire fence between Mariel Bridge and Clough Fold to ease access onto the track. Western approaches make poor escapes in anything but fine weather.
Looking back from Calfhow Pike
Ridge route
Great Dodd →3.2km/2 miles ↓100m/330ft ↑230m/750ft
A clear path leads SSW over the grassy prairie bound for the lonely outcrop of Calfhow Pike which in itself merits a pause in your stride. Beyond pass by pools, the result of peat extraction, before angling SE on a worn path that climbs without distractions. Glancing by the cairn on Little Dodd, it curves NE to the cairn on the bald summit.
6
Dollywaggon Pike 858m/2815ft
| Start | |
| Climb it from | Dunmail Raise 8 or Patterdale 24 |
| Character | Craggy head and supreme focal point of Grisedale |
| Fell-friendly route | 2 |
| Summit grid ref | NY 346 131 |
| Link it with | Nethermost Pike |
| Part of | Helvellyn Skyline |
Barren western slopes are sustained throughout this range of fells but Dollywaggon’s eastern facade has a ferocity that confirms its status as a fully-fledged mountain. Overlooking the upper section of the great U-shaped glacial valley of Grisedale are two mighty cliffs, Falcon and Tarn Crags, split by near vertical gullies. Tucked high under the south ridge, the hanging valley of Cock Cove is a truly wild sanctuary, unmarked by paths.
The fell has suffered in recent years from the sheer number of pounding feet, especially those haring off the massif, and such shortcuts have grossly eroded the path down to Grisedale Tarn. Relays of rock have been hauled up and set in the higher scarred sections by Fix the Fells to give a measure of stability and hope of recovery, coaxing walkers back onto much-improved footing on the old zig-zag pony path.
The east ridge is a walker’s delight and climbs to the surest of mountain summits but various constrasting ascents begin from Dunmail Raise to the west (1 and 4–6) and Grisedale to the northeast (7–9), with pitched (2) and pathless (3) routes to choose from leading up from Grisedale Tarn.
Dollywaggon Pike from
