Carlisle & District Rambling & Fellwalking Club
Walk & Event Reports
Sunday 29th June 2014
A walk
Grisedale Pike, Eel Crag
8 Miles Grade 1sc
Report by Peter Flynn
Photos by Lauren Sarasini, Peter Flynn
& Fred Bell
Perhaps those blessed with wisdom among us could comment on whether it is acceptable for a walk leader to start with 16 (13 coach passengers and Dave, John and Susan by car with their dogs) and finish up with 6? The weather was lovely for walking – not too hot, occasional sunshine and tremendous clarity in distant views. Kathryn had clearly been thinking carefully about the implications of the electric shock zapper that was used to control dogs and which was a feature of last week’s walk, and would like to develop one for men (or to be more precise, for women to control men). One shock for “a cup of coffee”, two for ironing, three for cleaning the toilet and so on, starting with a very mild tingle but with the severity increasing. One wonders how many other World changing inventions have been dreamt up while walking the fells! We started at Braithwaite, headed up the path to Grisedale Pike and along to Hopegill Head where we had lunch. Has anybody ever experienced the dreadful sensation of the mind going totally blank when I met an old friend walking on his own – a retired local vet who probably knows the Lake District as well as anybody? He started chatting with the group and as soon as he left his name came back – Phil Dover. The first parting of the ways came when we approached Eel Crag (called Crag Hill on the O.S. maps) with a choice between a steep but lovely scramble up the north side of the hill or a more relaxing, but slightly longer, walk joining the path from Grassmoor to the summit. Here it was very disappointing to see (c.f. the photos) that the trig point had somehow been smashed and was lying on its side. None of us could imagine this happening by accident and the trig points are such a crucial part of the Lake District history and cartography, we wondered just who could have done it. Down the hillsides and scrambling the steep hillside from Sail, we came again to the second parting of the ways. The easier and much quicker route was down the path to the little hills that lead to Braithwaite. Half the group went that way and the rest headed for Causey Pike with its challenging scramble down the far side. It was here we met the gentleman in the kilt and asked him which tartan it was. He told us that a) he was from Yorkshire and had no connections with Scotland, b) possibly Black Watch c) that this was the garb worn in the U.S.A. by lots of walkers, d) that he was preparing for a long distance walk in Corsica and the kilt was much more comfy for his rugby players legs! This apparition provoked considerable excitement among the ladies and John, Roger and myself were mentally measured up for ours. The next encounter was somewhat different – a walking group from Lancaster who had “lost” one of their number and asked us if we might have seen anyone answering to his description. They said he was very naughty and often did that – we told them we knew exactly from experience the problem. The snag was that they were walking at a snail’s pace on paths far too narrow for overtaking, and we soon realised why he had headed off on his own. Great walk, lovely company. Thanks to all participants.
Peter
