On the 17th May 2012 myself Paul themuss Daniel Export Sales Rep for Hilleberg the TentMakers and a group of lads from George Fisher the Outdoor equipment shop whom are great retailer for Hilleberg Tents and other outdoor gear, we all met at a Campsite in the Lake District (after the Keswick Mountain Festival had been on up the road) to have a bit of crack, some booze and some food and stay the night in some Hilleberg Tents.

Me and Paul arrived at Keswich in the Lake District  had around 4pm ish and drove onto the Stonewaithe Campsite (it was raining as usual for the area) to be greeted by a lone man in his tent we sat there for a bit wondering if this was Daniel or someone from George Fisher maybe, on asking him he said he hadnt herd of Hilleberg and new nothin about our meeting which we were invited to.

So off we went to seekout some info at the nearest pub called The LangStrath Country Inn which whilst we were there we thought we would checkout the local Ale we asked some questions if anyone had known about a meeting with Hilleberg and George Fisher on the campsite just a few hundred yards down the rather bumpy road, knowone had herd anything, me and Paul were a little unsure what to expect here would there be Marquee tents serving mountains of food and beer with hundreds of people here ? we even considered the email we received to be a windup lol. With some phoning around from a very helpful woman in the pub whom put our minds to rest and said it was all true and soon enough a silver car past the pub window and she said he was waiting for us on the campsite.

 (From left to right) Daniel, Jon, Paul and Myself Daveswildcamping

So after just one pint of the fine Ale we walked over to be greeted by Daniel a very charming Scandinavia guy whom works in Export Sales for Hilleberg the famous tent makers this was something I was very looking forward to and couldnt be missed as I have been a fan of there tents for many years as my videos will show.

Me trying on the Hilleberg Bivanorak

We started by errecting some of the tents Daniel had brought a long opened some cans of lager he had with him and soon after three lads from George Fisher had turned up. We all had a wander around these fabulous tents whilst Daniel gave us a run down on them and explained how one person is involved with the full manufacture of each tent and their name is place on a tag inside the tent that they have made. I found this astonishing as  I have never noticed this on my old Akto and checked it when I got home and sure enough a name was on the tag “Helviina Saar” as you can see from my video, I really find this amazing as I no the care these people will take in making these tents as not only because there name is on but the sense of pride each individual would feel after being solely involved in making a product that will be used and cherished by someone on the other side of the world for many years, how satisfying that must feel.

After some cans of lager and a nice baracue and some more chat we decided to call it a night around 23:00 two of the members of our group couldn’t spend the night so we were down to just the four of us myself Paul, Daniel and Jon I had my usual poor sleep no fault of the great roomy tent I spent the night in which was the Nammatj 2 made from the Kerlon 1800 which is currently the strongest fabric used in Hilleberg tents and has the stronger 10mm Dac poles this is a tent I will be considering in the near future.

We had our alarm clocks set for 7am and had breakfast which was provided, we packed away the tents and off we went, Daniel was talking about us going over to Scandinavia sometime which I would love too I even offered to pay Pauls flight to come with me, watch this space

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On the 12th April 2012 myself and two Pauls one in the shape of themuss and the other a surprise friend whom neither of us have met before Killburnicus decided to join us.
Paul ‘themuss’ picked me up around 6pm we arrived there in about 30 mins where Paul ‘kilburnicus’ was waiting we headed off into the forest we eventually decided on our camp after some debating and proceeded to make a pit for the fire that would cook our Salmon and rabbit.
Once the two main meals were on cooking we opened up some cans, Killy was already half way through his by we arrived to meet him lol.
Paul themuss had his usual spirits I had 4 cans of special brew, we talked well into early hours before deciding to climb into our bivvys and retire and killy into his poleless Hilleberg Akto poor man forgot his poles and ended up just wrapping the tent around himself, by this time the sky had cleared after some drizzle earlier my view of the night sky was very limited only managing a couple of stars due to the thick canopy above use.
Most of my time was spent lying awake listening to the sounds of the forest and themuss snoring, I eventually got up at 6am to relieve my bladder and take in the sights of the morning forest and its wildlife.

Our Camp

Salmon Cooking

Rabbit and Salmon

Had a great time with the two Pauls and was a pleasure meeting Kilburnicus for the first time and hopefully do some more camping with them soon, before we left we covered over the fire pit and collected all our rubbish and took it out with us and returned our campspot into the same state it was before we arrived as so we had never been there.

 My video to follow is of poor quality as my mobile phone camera quality settings wasnt set to HD due to a recent hardware reset of the phone which was a disappointment on returning home.

Coordinates: 54°40′19″N 1°51′22″W / 54.672°N 1.856°W / 54.672; -1.856

Bedburn Beck in Autumn, Hamsterley Forest

Hamsterley Forest is a commercial forest in County Durham operated by the Forestry Commission. It is the largest forest in County Durham and covers more than 2000 hectares. Recreational activities are promoted within the forest and are focussed at the eastern end around the visitors centre. In addition to the visitors centre there is an adjacent cafe, an education room, toilet facilities and an independent bike shop called Wood'n'Wheels that also hires out bikes.

• History
• Mountain Biking
• Other activities
• External links
• References

History

During the 1930s, the Forest was planted and tracks were built by unemployed men supplied through the Ministry of Labour. Most came from the mining communities and shipyards of the North East of England. They were housed in one of a number of Instructional Centres created by the Ministry, most of them on Forestry Commission property; by 1938, the Ministry had 35 Instructional Centres across Britain. These were basically work camps, where unemployed men carried out heavy labour and lived on site in wooden huts. The Instructional Centres were closed in 1938, as unemployment declined in the run-up to war, but some of the huts can still be seen around the Visitors' Centre, which was originally built as the camp's refectory. The Visitors' Centre was part of a prisoner of war camp during the Second World War.

A number of Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age flint tools have been found in Doctor's Gate Quarry. An area of the forest is probably the site of a 15th century iron ore processing site. An area next to Linburn Hall Wood was the site of a medieval convent.

Mountain Biking

Mountain bike trails are developed in the forest by Hamsterley Trailblazers which were constituted on 5 January 2004. There are four official routes: Green (easy), Blue (moderate), Red (Difficult) and Black (expert) all of which are waymarked with colour-coded marker posts.

"The Loop" is a skills development circuit which includes features such as rock gardens and north shore obstacles. Features are graded from blue to black therefore helmets should be worn and it is not suitable for occasional/family cyclists.

A map showing areas used by mountain bikers

Descend, a private club established in 2000 operates mountain bike 4X and downhill courses in the area south of the Grove.

See also Beyond Hamsterley for more mountain bike rides in the area.

Other activities

The forest is home to other activities such as walking and horse riding. The forest has also been host to the RAC rally over many years as well as other rallies including the Hamsterley Stages Rally which from 2009 has a new name of The Tour of Hamsterley Rally

Durham Fell Runners are active in the forest with regular events starting at the visitors centre.

External links

• The Forestry Commission
• Outdoor Centre
• West Hoppyland Farm
• Keys To The Past - Hamsterley Forest
• Tour of Hamsterley Rally

References

Field, J. "Learning Through Labour: Training, unemployment and the state, 1890-1920, 1992, University of Leeds, ISBN 0-900-960-48-5

v t e Ceremonial county of County Durham North East England Portal Unitary authorities Borough of Darlington Borough of Hartlepool Borough of Stockton-on-Tees (part) County Durham Major settlements Barnard Castle Billingham Bishop Auckland Chester-le-Street Chilton Consett Crook Darlington Durham Eaglescliffe Easington Easington Colliery Ferryhill Hartlepool Middleton-in-Teesdale Newton Aycliffe Peterlee Seaham Sedgefield Shildon Spennymoor Stanhope Stanley Stockton-on-Tees Tow Law Willington Wolsingham See also: List of civil parishes in County Durham Topics Museums Parliamentary constituencies Places

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I felt like the pupil been taught by an up and coming master of bushcraft, we started with the fire which Paul lit first time with his fire steel and we proceed to cook as it was getting late,

we cracked open some cans of lager had a great laugh quite a bit of catching up to do, then we proceed to erect our shelters, my poncho went up first in a new configuration which I named the flat roof open side not expecting rain again the poncho was put up just as practice for when the eventual comes.

 Scenes from Our Camp Above

 then out came the Terra Nova Jupiter bivvy, Paul trying his Dutch Bivvy for the first time and I quite liked it for space him being able to put in his larger than my backpack inside where I struggled with the jupiter, the Dutch Bivvy also has a different way of unzipping apart from side entry visibility is through the front via a window which mesh can be zipped over, the visbility on the jupiter I like in a different way front vision is reduced but you can see directly above behind and to the sides perfect and the mesh is almost invisible on a clear night and the breeze is very plentiful sometimes too much which there’s the option over partially covering with the outer waterproof skin. My second night spent in the bivvy and am liking it more each time just wish there was a bit more space width wise but I suppose you can’t have it all as the pack down size is very handy.

Above my Rather Burnt Titanium pan Which I put on the fire to boil some water to clean it out and forgot about it.

I had a great evening will be doing some more of wood camping with Paul soon from a secret location.

 Check out my video below

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Above is the Actual Route from GPX file

Satmap screens of the summit and trip log.

Me at the Trig Point with my Osprey Exos

Arrive at Harthope valley 14:30 my satmap said 15:30 but was an hour out due to me not correcting it, the weather was sunny and warm there was a breeze at the summit but nothin to bad I took my time errecting the poncho shelter.

And setting up my Tera Nova Jupiter for the first time in the wild, thinking I wouldnt require the hooped pole with having the tarp as shelter from any weather I proceed just to wrap myself up in the sleeping bag and leave the bivvy bag open this may have been ok on a summers night but I was soon realise my mistake, winter northernly winds howling over the cheviots arnt to be taken lightly, I wish I could have measured the wind chill as removing my gloves for a minute at a time was numbing my hands and my face was so cold I couldnt bare it any longer I had to slot the hooped pole into the bivvy and zip myself in.

A great clear night and one of the best starry nights I have ever seen was had the first also been in the Cheviots.

Some view of the Sunset
 

 Sunset

 Sunrise 

 Checkout my video below for more info on my trip.

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No video too follow :’(

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My 4 mile Route to The Calf 

 I planned to do this trip a few weeks ago but just got around to it, in fact this is a hill I wanted to do way back when I done Fell Head lets face it you’re not a keen Howgills hiker unless you have done the daddy The Calf right!
I set off in plenty time this time in fact I got there a bit to early 12 o’clock I started the satmap at 12.16pm the hike over to The Calf was easy till I started the ascent and quickly released my fitness wasnt as good as when I done Grasmoor, Grasmoor was steeper and harder on foot this was all grass-covered like all the Howgill hills not like the rugged lakeland hills.
It took me 3 hours and 30 mins to reach the top this is pathetic lol total moving time of 1 hour 52 as seen on the satmap screenshots means I had nearly 1 and a half hours resting haha but hey I told you I had loads of time.
It was now nearly 5pm still loads of time to pitch and prepare for the sunset, I seen plenty of hikers this time around usually don’t see many in the Howgills.
There is a 360 view on the summit but only a small band of horizon as the hill-top is wide in places not my favorite type of hill I prefer the small top hills imagine a pyramid type summit that way your 360 angle of view is great.
This view was hampered mostly by low cloud and haze yet no cloud at all above me which ment a starry night not my best but ok I stood around looking at the stars for a good few hours and a few brews of yorkshire tea later I decided to retire to my sleeping bag and read the paper I continued to sit with the door open a future few hours admiring the moon a few bright stars I could see from my bed and enjoying a bit of banter on my live blog.
I awoke around 3am winds had increased which probs what awakened me, I immediately opened the vent in the top of my door to check on the sky and was disappointed in the blanket of fog that surrounded my tent I had hoped the clear skies would have carried on till morning which would have guaranteed me the sunrise I so wished to see, I had my alarm set for 7am just incase but it wasnt to be I turned over and went back to sleep till around 8.30 I crawled from my sleeping bag packed a few things away fired up the msr dragonfly stove and rashers of Danish bacon was on the menu washed down with a brew.
It was time just to sit around for a bit to see if the rain would halt and it did eventually I packed up and headed off 10.27am on the 4 miles back to the car as you can see from the satmap screens it only took me 2hrs 5 mins total time and 1 hour 30 mins moving time.

Thanks for reading, your comments are very welcome.

On Route to Summit

The Calf Trig Point 

Akto on The Calf Summit

My Sunset Just before it disappeared into the cloud

Tarn on The Calf Summit

Another shot of the Tarn

I like this one of the Tarn

 Really Cold Out here

Looking Fed up for some reason lol

Now Happy haha

Danish Bacon Breakfast

Route Up left and Route Back on right here you can see the time differences.

The Calf
The trig point at the summit, looking towards the distant Pennines.
Elevation	676 m (2,218 ft)
Prominence	383 m (1,257 ft)
Parent peak	Cross Fell
Listing	Marilyn, Hewitt, Nuttall
Location
The Calf Yorkshire Dales, Cumbria, England
OS grid	SD667970
Coordinates	54°22′03″N 2°30′51″W / 54.36742°N 2.51403°W / 54.36742; -2.51403Coordinates: 54°22′03″N 2°30′51″W / 54.36742°N 2.51403°W / 54.36742; -2.51403
Topo map	OS Landranger 98

The Calf, at 676 m, is the highest top in the Howgill Fells, an area of high ground in the north-west of the Yorkshire Dales in the county of Cumbria. It can be ascended from the town of Sedbergh to the south, by way of Cautley Spout from the east, or up the long valley of Langdale from the north. The Sedbergh ascent is the most popular, and has the distinction of being on good paths all the way.

The summit commands an extensive panorama, although foreground detail is obscured by the extreme flatness of the plateau. A twenty-mile skyline of the Lakeland peaks can be seen, as well as the Yorkshire Three Peaks and many of the nearer Howgill Fells.

Calders at 674 m is about 1 km SSE of the summit of The Calf. It is classified as a Hewitt.

v t e Hills of the Northern Yorkshire Dales Marilyns Baugh Fell Great Shunner Fell Hoove Kisdon Lovely Seat Nine Standards Rigg Rogan's Seat The Calf Wild Boar Fell Yarlside Hewitts Calders Fell Head High Seat Little Fell Randygill Top Swarth Fell Other hills Winder

v t e Marilyns of Northern England 1. Northumberland The Cheviot Housedon Hill Long Crag Peel Fell Ros Hill Shillhope Law Sighty Crag Tosson Hill 2. Northern Lakeland Binsey Blencathra Knott Skiddaw 3. Western Lakeland Blake Fell Dale Head Dent Grasmoor Great Gable Grisedale Pike High Stile Kirk Fell Lord's Seat Low Fell Mellbreak Pillar Robinson Seatallan Swinside Watch Hill 4. Central and Southern Lakeland Black Combe Claife Heights Coniston Old Man Hard Knott Harter Fell High Raise High Rigg Holme Fell Illgill Head Kirkby Moor Lingmoor Fell Loughrigg Fell Muncaster Fell Pike of Blisco Scafell Pike Top o' Selside Whitfell 5. Eastern Lakeland Arnside Knott Fairfield Grayrigg Forest Great Mell Fell Gummer's How Hallin Fell Helvellyn High Street Hutton Roof Crags Lambrigg Fell Little Mell Fell Place Fell Red Screes St Sunday Crag Seat Sandal Stony Cove Pike Tarn Crag Wansfell Whitbarrow 6. North Pennines and Durham Burnhope Seat Cold Fell Cross Fell Dufton Pike Mickle Fell 7. Northern Yorkshire Dales Baugh Fell The Calf Great Shunner Fell Hoove Kisdon Nine Standards Rigg Rogan's Seat Wild Boar Fell Yarlside 8. Southern Yorkshire Dales Aye Gill Pike Birks Fell Buckden Pike Calf Top Cracoe Fell Dodd Fell Hill Fountains Fell Great Coum Great Knoutberry Hill Great Whernside Ingleborough Pen-y-ghent Rombald's Moor Sharp Haw Whernside 9. North York Moors to the Humber Bishop Wilton Wold Cringle Moor Gisborough Moor Urra Moor 10. Forest of Bowland Easington Fell Fair Snape Fell Longridge Fell Ward's Stone White Hill

This Cumbria location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

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I’m all excited going to get blown all over haha mint there is possible gusts up to 100mph forcast

The Live Wildcamp will appear at the top of the list at the top right under “wild camping list” tomorrow afternoon if your subscribed to my blog you will received an email when this happens.

 12th September Great Mell Fell WildCamp Here.

Thanks,  your Wild Camping Master

David Murphy

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On my way up Great Mell Fell in the Lake District Cumbria North West England today 12th September 2011( this blog is live as usual) with my mate Paul aka the muss. I picked this location as its west from our home town and Paul has been screaming to test his Vango Hurricane out in storm force conditions and my have I an evening in store for him and he tells me he wants a small hill as his fitness is not too good.

Tell you the truth if one of our tents has to blow away I am half hoping its mine as his been a two-man tent and mine been a tight single man tent I don’t fancy been squished in mine with him, his breath stinking of brandy and his snoring not to mention his smelly backside.

Our Route 

 On The Summit Of Great Mell Fell

Heres what happened, We new what we were letting ourselves in for catching the tail end of hurricane Katia blown in from the States.
The purpose of this Wild Camp was to test Pauls Vango Hurricane and by god we did.
I arrived at Pauls at 12.10pm we finally were on our way after Paul packed some of his gear and arrived at our destination around 3pm. I was keep saying how lovely this hill is the wind blowing the grass and patches of trees scattered it look very idealic.
At first the wind didn’t appear very strong at all then by we were half way up we recorded around 63mph on Pauls Kestrel wind gauge.
It was tuff standing up sometimes having to spread one leg out behind us to keep the wind from sweeping us off our feet, I have never experienced winds so powerful.
We reached the summit of Great Mell Fell not a big Hill by anyone’s standards, we stood there for a while pondering what to do, do we go for it and pitch on the top or head down in a more sheltered spot, we headed back down and after deciding the lower location lost views over at least one direction we headed back to the top.

My Hilleberg Akto In 80mph Winds

I proceed to pitch the Hilleberg Akto with Paul sitting on the flysheet whilst I pegged down the corners, standing watching my poor Akto get battered we recorded 79.1 mph as you will see in my video.

Pauls Kestrel Wind Speed Meter
We then started working on the Vango Hurrricane, when he pulled all these poles out of his bag I thought to myself no way on earth this is going up, frantically holding onto the canvass, a few bent poles later we gave up never even raising it off the floor we decided to head to lower ground to pitch leaving my Akto up on the summit with my Osprey Argon inside we headed down. On discovering a snapped pole Paul discussed sleeping in the car I would have quite happily slept in my tent having the walkie talkies with us we could have at least kept in touch, I thought that wouldn’t be fair so we set off back to the summit took down the Akto and headed home. Both very sick by this time, our first Wildcamp we have had to leave for home.

Anyone reading this may think Paul is a little unlucky, well I think he’s not, for someone to lose a piece of gear a Satmap in this case, standing him at £400 with SD card for him to return the next day 200 miles round trip to find three cars parked in the very spot he lost it with a note on one of them asking him to contact them for a lost piece of hiking equipment. Paul I bet your relieved.

Just came across this forum members having a bit of a giggle at this blog post.

Great Mell Fell
Great Mell Fell from Gowbarrow Fell
Elevation	537 m (1,762 ft)
Prominence	198 m (650 ft)
Parent peak	Helvellyn
Listing	Marilyn (hill), Wainwright
Translation	Large rounded bare hill (Scots Gaelic, English)
Pronunciation	English: /ˌɡreɪt ˌmɛl ˈfɛl/
Location
Great Mell Fell Cumbria,  England
Range	Lake District, Eastern Fells
OS grid	NY397254
Coordinates	54°37′12″N 2°55′59″W / 54.62°N 2.933°W / 54.62; -2.933Coordinates: 54°37′12″N 2°55′59″W / 54.62°N 2.933°W / 54.62; -2.933
Topo map	OS Explorer OL5, Landranger 90

Great Mell Fell is a hill in the Eastern Fells of the English Lake District. It is a north-eastern outlier of the Helvellyn range, but, like its twin Little Mell Fell, is isolated from its fellows, standing in the middle of a flat plain. Presenting a symmetrical domed profile from almost all aspects, Great Mell Fell conspires to appear almost artificial, akin to jelly turned out of a giant mould.

• Topography and land use
• Summit and view
• Ascents
• References

Topography and land use

The hill lies on a low ridge, barely perceptible in places, which provides the connection between the Northern and Eastern Fells. This watershed runs from Bowscale Fell, across Eycott Hill to Great Mell Fell, and then up the north eastern ridge of Great Dodd. It forms the boundary between the Derwent/Cocker system in the west and the wide catchment of the Eden Valley.

To the north west of the fell is an old rifle range, now disused but still with some fittings in evidence. This was once a reason to declare Great Mell Fell strictly off limits, but this is not the case nowadays and the fell is free land. The National Trust currently owns the fell above the fenceline.

Great Mell Fell is extensively planted with Scots pines on the east, and occasional trees dot the fell all around the base. Near the summit are a few stunted larches, blown almost horizontal by the prevailing winds.^[1]

Summit and view

The summit bears a small cairn built on top of a mound. The Ordnance Survey maps identify this as a tumulus and it is believed to have been a Bronze Age burial mound.^[1]

Due to its isolation from higher ground, Great Mell Fell is a Marilyn, and an excellent viewpoint.^[2]

Ascents

The fell can be climbed most easily via a path from Brownrigg Farm to the south east, and additional access can be gained through the old rifle range.^[1] There is also a footpath which circles the base of the fell, passing largely through woods and providing an enjoyable low level walk.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Richards, Mark: Near Eastern Fells: Collins (2003): ISBN 0-0071-1366-8
2. ^ Alfred Wainwright: A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 1: ISBN 0-7112-2454-4

• Lake District Walks - Great Mell Fell Walk

v t e Wainwright's Eastern Fells Arnison Crag Birkhouse Moor Birks Catstycam (Catstye Cam) Clough Head Dollywaggon Pike Dove Crag Fairfield Glenridding Dodd Gowbarrow Fell Great Dodd Great Mell Fell Great Rigg Hart Crag Hart Side Hartsop above How Helvellyn Heron Pike High Hartsop Dodd High Pike Little Hart Crag Little Mell Fell Low Pike Middle Dodd Nab Scar Nethermost Pike Raise Red Screes Seat Sandal Sheffield Pike St Sunday Crag Stone Arthur Stybarrow Dodd Watson's Dodd White Side Full list of Wainwrights by area

v t e Marilyns of Northern England 1. Northumberland The Cheviot Housedon Hill Long Crag Peel Fell Ros Hill Shillhope Law Sighty Crag Tosson Hill 2. Northern Lakeland Binsey Blencathra Knott Skiddaw 3. Western Lakeland Blake Fell Dale Head Dent Grasmoor Great Gable Grisedale Pike High Stile Kirk Fell Lord's Seat Low Fell Mellbreak Pillar Robinson Seatallan Swinside Watch Hill 4. Central and Southern Lakeland Black Combe Claife Heights Coniston Old Man Hard Knott Harter Fell High Raise High Rigg Holme Fell Illgill Head Kirkby Moor Lingmoor Fell Loughrigg Fell Muncaster Fell Pike of Blisco Scafell Pike Top o' Selside Whitfell 5. Eastern Lakeland Arnside Knott Fairfield Grayrigg Forest Great Mell Fell Gummer's How Hallin Fell Helvellyn High Street Hutton Roof Crags Lambrigg Fell Little Mell Fell Place Fell Red Screes St Sunday Crag Seat Sandal Stony Cove Pike Tarn Crag Wansfell Whitbarrow 6. North Pennines and Durham Burnhope Seat Cold Fell Cross Fell Dufton Pike Mickle Fell 7. Northern Yorkshire Dales Baugh Fell The Calf Great Shunner Fell Hoove Kisdon Nine Standards Rigg Rogan's Seat Wild Boar Fell Yarlside 8. Southern Yorkshire Dales Aye Gill Pike Birks Fell Buckden Pike Calf Top Cracoe Fell Dodd Fell Hill Fountains Fell Great Coum Great Knoutberry Hill Great Whernside Ingleborough Pen-y-ghent Rombald's Moor Sharp Haw Whernside 9. North York Moors to the Humber Bishop Wilton Wold Cringle Moor Gisborough Moor Urra Moor 10. Forest of Bowland Easington Fell Fair Snape Fell Longridge Fell Ward's Stone White Hill

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On the 18th September 2011 I parked along side Crummock Water in the Lake District to hike up to Grasmoor for a bit of Wildcamping on the summit.
Walking on Lad Hows Ridge between Cinderdale Beck on the left and Rannerdale Beck to my right, the summit is only 1.6 miles away.

I arrived and parked along side Crummock Water around 4.30pm I purposely left it late been a sunday I didnt want to arrive on the summit too early as I have done in the past, Ingleborough to name one where I was hanging around for hours before I was able to pitch without scores of hikers on the summit, this time was a miss judgement.
I didnt estimate the time it would take to the summit via lad Hows Ridge it was a challenge I didnt expect, very tiring on the legs and some scrambling near the top was needed.
Near dark on reaching the summit entering low cloud my great views a few hundred feet lower had gone wish I put my tent up lower down when I said in my video would have witnessed a great sunset  instead rain and wind and no views this brings back many bad memories with Paul lol
I proceeded to errect the Akto in thick fog by this time, and thought to myself I would get a brew of tea on quick sharp then Daves Wild Camping Kitchen was in full swing on the menu this even was Sheperds Pie and Chicken Korma “Pack’n’ Go” from Be-Well Ltd and how nice of a change for me they were, easy cooked with 350ml of boiling water stir and leave to stand for 6 mins.
After spending all the evening a prisoner in my tent due to rain I read the newspaper and then it was time to retire, I woke several times during the night to look out the opening in the top of my door hoping but not expecting to see stars only to see the same fog, it never shifted all night.

Morning came I had my alarm set for 6.20am to catch what I didnt really expect to see, the sunrise and there was no change at all a thick covering no views whatsoever, I turn back over to sleep till around 9am when I got up to my breakfast, Cereal Start “Pack’ n’ Go” by Be-Well ltd.

 I started to packup my tent then the heavens opened I got soaked on walking back to the car I was hoping I didnt leave the headlights on, all was well.

Thanks for reading and supporting my website with your comments, till next time,

David Murphy
Daves Wildcamping

My Route up Grasmoor

Grasmoor Summit Shelter

Hilleberg Akto Summit of Grasmoor

My Akto On Grasmoor

View of Crummock & Buttermere

View from Lad How on way Up to Grasmoor

View from to Grasmoor Summit

Waterfall on way back down

My Actual Route

Grasmoor
The huge bulk of the Grasmoor mountain seen over the Crummock Water valley
Elevation	852 m (2,795 ft)
Prominence	519 m (1,703 ft)
Parent peak	Scafell Pike
Listing	Marilyn, Wainwright, Hewitt, Nuttall
Location
Grasmoor Cumbria,  England
Range	Lake District, North Western Fells
OS grid	NY174203
Coordinates	54°34′16″N 3°16′45″W / 54.57115°N 3.27918°W / 54.57115; -3.27918Coordinates: 54°34′16″N 3°16′45″W / 54.57115°N 3.27918°W / 54.57115; -3.27918
Topo map	OS Landranger 89, 90, Explorer OL4

Grasmoor is a mountain in the north-western part of the Lake District, northern England. It is the highest peak in a group of hills between the villages of Lorton, Braithwaite and Buttermere, and overlooks Crummock Water.

Grasmoor is distinguished by its steep western flank, dropping dramatically to Crummock Water. This face is however not suitable for rock climbers as there is little clean rock, although Alfred Wainwright describes a challenging route up the face in his Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells.^[1] To the east the fell is linked to others by Crag Hill and Coledale Hause. Grasmoor is also home to the most extensive scree slopes in the North Western Fells.

• Name
• Topography
• Geology
• Summit and view
• Ascents
• References
• External links

Name

Grasmoor takes its name from the Old Norse element grise, meaning wild boar. This element appears in other Lake District place names, including Grisedale Pike and Grizedale Forest.^[1]

Topography

The North Western Fells occupy the area between the rivers Derwent and Cocker, a broadly oval swathe of hilly country, elongated on a north-south axis. Two roads cross from east to west, dividing the fells into three convenient groups. The central sector, rising between Whinlatter Pass and Newlands Pass, includes Grasmoor.

The highest ground in the North Western Fells is an east-west ridge in this central sector, beginning with Grasmoor above Crummock Water and then gradually descending eastwards over Crag Hill, Sail, Scar Crags and Causey Pike. Grasmoor has the greatest elevation, although Crag Hill stands at the hub of the range.

From the valley floor near Little Town at the eastern end, the ridge requires four miles (6 km) of gradual ascent to attain the summit of Grasmoor. Starting at the shores of Crummock Water in the west, the same is achieved by a single slope of scree in less than a quarter of the distance. Grasmoor is Lakeland's terminal height par excellence.

The summit area is a gently domed promenade of moss and short grass,^[1] running along the ridgeline with a narrow constriction in the middle. This is created primarily by the scooped-out bowl of Dove Crags on the northern face. To the east of this plateau are broad smooth slopes descending to a wide unnamed col at 2,368 ft (722 m). This connects onward to Crag Hill. At the western end the summit area narrows, culminating at the subsidiary top of Grasmoor End (2,445 ft) which crowns the western face. Great fans of scree descend to the lakeside road below. Grasmoor has one minor ridge which descends south westward over Lad Hows (1,397 ft) before a steeper fall to the valley floor.

To the south of Grasmoor is the valley of Rannerdale, which flows to Crummock Water between Lad Hows and the neighbouring Wandope. This drainage is supplemented by Cinderdale Beck, separating Lad Hows from the main body of the fell. The northern flank of the ridge stands above Liza Beck. This stream also makes due west for Crummock Water, but is diverted northward by the low top of Lanthwaite Hill to join the Cocker after its exit from the lake. An area of lowland to the north west is thus annexed to Grasmoor from the natural territory of Whiteside.

Geology

The surface rocks of Grasmoor are composed primarily of the Ordovician Kirkstile Formation. These are laminated mudstone and siltstone, typical of the Skiddaw range.^[2] There is no history of mining beneath the slopes of Grasmoor.^[3]

Summit and view

The top of the fell lies toward the western end of the summit plateau, marked by a huge sprawling cairn. There are many smaller cairns and the top is characterised by sheep-mown grass.^[1] The view is extensive although robbed of some foreground by the extent of the summit. All of the major Lakeland ranges are in sight with the exception of the Far Eastern Fells, with High Stile above Crummock Water perhaps the highpoint.^[1] This is best seen from the western end of the plateau.^[4]

Ascents

The obvious way is direct up the screes from Lanthwaite on the Crummock Water road, picking through the rock scenery above to appear on Grasmoor End from the north west. This involves 2,000 ft (610 m) of ascent in about half a mile. From the same starting point a detour along Liza Beck/ Gasgale Gill can be used to give access to the northern slopes. A way can then be found almost direct to the summit around the rim of Dove Crags. From Rannerdale a choice of routes arises, either climbing the Lad Hows ridge or following Red Gill a little to the west. Finally Coledale Hause can be used to gain the main ridge between Crag Hill and Grasmoor. This can be reached from Lanthwaite or as the first objective of a longer march from Braithwaite in the east. Coledale Hause connects to Hopegill Head and the fells to the north, providing further indirect possibilities.^[1][4] The summit was conquered by a Rolls Royce in 1982.^{[citation needed]}

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Alfred Wainwright: A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells, Book 6, The North Western Fells: Westmorland Gazette (1964): ISBN 0-7112-2459-5
2. ^ British Geological Survey: 1:50,000 series maps, England & Wales Sheet 29: BGS (1999)
3. ^ Adams, John: Mines of the Lake District Fells: Dalesman (1995) ISBN 0-85206-931-6
4. ^ ^{a b} Bill Birkett: Complete Lakeland Fells: Collins Willow (1994): ISBN 0-00-713629-3

External links

• Computer generated summit panorama Grasmoor index

v t e Wainwright's North Western Fells Ard Crags Barf Barrow Broom Fell Castle Crag Catbells Causey Pike Dale Head Eel Crag (Crag Hill) Grasmoor Graystones Grisedale Pike High Spy Hindscarth Hopegill Head Knott Rigg Ling Fell Lord's Seat Maiden Moor Outerside Rannerdale Knotts Robinson Sail Sale Fell Scar Crags Wandope Whinlatter Whiteless Pike Whiteside Full list of Wainwrights by area

v t e Marilyns of Northern England 1. Northumberland The Cheviot Housedon Hill Long Crag Peel Fell Ros Hill Shillhope Law Sighty Crag Tosson Hill 2. Northern Lakeland Binsey Blencathra Knott Skiddaw 3. Western Lakeland Blake Fell Dale Head Dent Grasmoor Great Gable Grisedale Pike High Stile Kirk Fell Lord's Seat Low Fell Mellbreak Pillar Robinson Seatallan Swinside Watch Hill 4. Central and Southern Lakeland Black Combe Claife Heights Coniston Old Man Hard Knott Harter Fell High Raise High Rigg Holme Fell Illgill Head Kirkby Moor Lingmoor Fell Loughrigg Fell Muncaster Fell Pike of Blisco Scafell Pike Top o' Selside Whitfell 5. Eastern Lakeland Arnside Knott Fairfield Grayrigg Forest Great Mell Fell Gummer's How Hallin Fell Helvellyn High Street Hutton Roof Crags Lambrigg Fell Little Mell Fell Place Fell Red Screes St Sunday Crag Seat Sandal Stony Cove Pike Tarn Crag Wansfell Whitbarrow 6. North Pennines and Durham Burnhope Seat Cold Fell Cross Fell Dufton Pike Mickle Fell 7. Northern Yorkshire Dales Baugh Fell The Calf Great Shunner Fell Hoove Kisdon Nine Standards Rigg Rogan's Seat Wild Boar Fell Yarlside 8. Southern Yorkshire Dales Aye Gill Pike Birks Fell Buckden Pike Calf Top Cracoe Fell Dodd Fell Hill Fountains Fell Great Coum Great Knoutberry Hill Great Whernside Ingleborough Pen-y-ghent Rombald's Moor Sharp Haw Whernside 9. North York Moors to the Humber Bishop Wilton Wold Cringle Moor Gisborough Moor Urra Moor 10. Forest of Bowland Easington Fell Fair Snape Fell Longridge Fell Ward's Stone White Hill

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