Lake District 10th June 2012 - Wastwater

Lake District 10th June - Wastwater
(Pathfinder Guide West & South Lakeland)
(Walk#14 Greendale Tarn, Seatallan & Middle Fell - 6.5 Miles)

Sunday 10th June we awoke to a brighter day, and with the forecast much better we set off after breakfast to Wastwater, parking by the side of the lake near the village of Greendale.

Wastwater has some sort of eeriness about it. It is a small but deep lake, with almost vertical screes plunging down to the lake on one side.

We soon arrived at Greendale about a half mile from the lake, and diverted right up a fern- covered and rocky track that was very steep and long, though the views did get better as we gained height.

The track ascended nearly 1000ft, and nearing the top we saw an old chap skipping down the fell rather quickly, dressed in the skimpiest short shorts and fell runner type top.

He had two dogs with him which arrived first, and were friendly, so we made a fuss of them.

The old fellow stopped to pass the time of day with us, commenting about an American couple he had come across earlier up on Seatallan Fell that had got split up from each other. After a short discussion on the good weather he nimbly carried on his way and was down the bottom and disappeared before we knew it. We marvelled at his fitness.

We now know we had just met legend fell runner Joss Naylor MBE, who at 76 years is still regularly running the fells. Some of his prior amazing achievements are listed below:-

Joss Naylor MBE (Born on 10 February 1936 at Wasdale Head) is an English fell runner. Naylor is a sheep farmer, living in the English Lake District, as his achievements increased he became better known as the King of the Fells or simply the Iron Man . His fell running achievements include successive peak bagging records within the scope of the Bob Graham Round:^[1]

• 1971: 61 peaks in 23h37m
• 1972: 63 peaks in 23h35m
• 1975: 72 peaks, claimed to involve over 100 miles and about 38,000 feet of ascent in 23h20m

His other fell running achievements include:

• 1973: The Welsh 3000s - the 14 peaks of Snowdonia in 4h46m
• 1974: The Pennine Way: 3 days and 4 hours
• 1983: The Lakes, Meres and Waters circuit of 105 miles in 19h20m
• 1986: (age 50) completed the Wainwrights in 7 days
• 1997: (age 60) ran 60 Lakeland fell tops in 36 hours
• 2006: (age 70) ran 70 Lakeland fell tops, covering more than 50 miles and ascending more than 25,000 feet, in under 21 hours.

He considered the 72 peak Lakeland circuit as his own greatest achievement, setting a record which stood unbroken for 13 years. He was awarded the MBE for his services to sport and charity, and is included as one of Britain’s top 100 sports personalities in the 2007 book Best of British: Hendo’s Sporting Heroes, by sports journalist Jon Henderson.^[2] Olympic Gold medal winner and co-founder of the London Marathon Chris Brasher described Joss Naylor as 'The Greatest of Them All', a title he bestowed on Joss when he ran 72 Lake District mountains in 24 hours.^[3]

AMAZING!!

We soldiered on expecting the going to get easier, however the walk along Greendale Gill was very rocky and slow going negotiating all the rocks and dips. Eventually though we arrived at Greendale Tarn and spend some time here admiring the view of the valley and the fells all around. Quite a pleasant spot.

The ground round here is boggy - although we had a dry day - it had rained the days previous, so it was still quite slippy and sucky in places.

Resting done we looked at the way ahead to Seatallan Fell.
There is no obvious path or track up this steep, grassy, rocky fell, and an instinct for the easiest line is required. I do not think any lines are particularly easy here as it is a steep sided, grassy pull to the top to say the least. It took us some time........ and many stops to look back and admire the views!! I am sure the resident sheep were laughing at our efforts.

Once over the main pull to the top the cairn is some way in on the flat top and can be seen in the distance in the pic below.

The views were good back down to Greendale Tarn and Middle Fell behind (our next objective).

Views across to the sea estuary and Sellafield, mentioned earlier, were in the other direction.

Some spooky HDR shots.. you knew it would not be long before I did some!!

A little map study near the cairn (2270ft), and another Wainwright in the bag.

A short rest and we headed off to find a suitable "line" down.

Whichever way it was going to be steep!!

The pictures do not really convey how long and steep it was and it was a real struggle trying to stop yourself and your feet running away!

Once at the bottom we walked across flatter, but quite boggy, grassland to tackle Middle Fell.

This was more straightfoward and a clear and easier- inclining track took us to the summit cairn in around 20 minutes. (1909ft) Another Wainwright completed. Similar views enjoyed as Seatallan with a slightly different perspective with us being at the other side.

The way down from Middle Fell was a slow and long descent right down to the original fern covered path area, and for us a bit of a slog after all the effort earlier. Perhaps not so for fitter people!

Eventually we arrived back at the start point a little exhausted, as whilst only 6.5 miles covered it had been a hard slog for us and in some ways a bit monotonous around the rocky areas adjacent the gill which seemed never ending, and the slog up (and down) Seatallan.

I am sure Joss would have no bother though!!

Our Walk Score: 7/10

Some nice sunset views over Ravenglass that evening after dinner......................
Apologied in advance for the extreme HDR ones!