Tuesday 27 May 2008 - A Blunder around Hutton Roof Crags

Time for another evening walk. Don joined Sue and I on a dull evening on which we rendezvoused in the Kings Arms at Burton-in-Kendal. Sadly Sarah and Loz, who apparently live next door, received my reminder shortly after we had set off, and Two Yards of Lard must have been busy marking his maths books. Any of those people would have probably transformed the wisely advertised 'blunder' into a proper walk, given their local knowledge.

Anyway, after the obligatory glass of ale we set off along a nice path and soon found a viewpoint with a plaque describing 'The Burton Jubilee Panorama'. This pointed out numerous points of interest, near and far, including the M6! It was a little murky tonight; normally from here one would view the unmistakable outline of the Langdale Pikes.

The nice path led through pleasant woodland.

A leaflet from the 'web', funded by English Nature, showed a path to the summit of Hutton Roof Crags. We tried to follow it. Really, we did!

Both my maps showed a pathless area of limestone pavement.

We discovered a pathless area of limestone pavement, interspersed with occasional stone walls and beds of gorse and nettles.

Undeterred, we blundered on, the general idea being to head unerringly upwards.

It took some time.

Imagine Don and Sue's surprise when we blundered into this!

After congratulating ourselves on reaching the high point of the walk - the 274 metre south west summit, we had a choice of at least five paths off the summit (having arrived from none of them).

Avoiding the obvious, well worn, route we tramped off on a compass bearing that tied in with English Nature's fictitious path. Well, to be fair, it started as a path. The Nature was nice, with roe deer on the hoof, and orchids and tormentil in abundance, as well as this striking Birdsfoot Trefoil.

But the path soon disappeared and we continued our blunder for some time before reaching a wall as darkness approached. An owl hooted from a nearby wood. Suddenly the evening dullness gave way to a purplish sunset before the light finally faded.

Luckily we now discovered the correct path, and we were able to continue. Still blundering in the dim light, but at least we were on a path, with no more walls to climb, gorse to penetrate, or nettles to sting us.

Walking through a field of uninterested cows, we suddenly heard the thunder of hooves behind us. It was somewhat alarming to turn around to see a runner with a dog heading straight for us followed by the now galloping herd.

Then the gate wouldn't open.

We all quickly remembered how to vault a gate and applied the knowledge instantly. The dog, which behaved impeccably throughout, panicked briefly before jumping for its life.

Phew!

It says 'Crow Trees' on the map. It was Cows at that point tonight.

I think we must have wavered slightly from the 8km route shown below. Have a go, it's a nice area to explore - let us know if you find the correct paths!