Wast Water Weekend

 

Friday

The forecast was for a great weekend weather-wise so we couldn't resist another trip up to The Lakes.  As it was so busy last weekend we thought we'd head out to the western part of the Lake District National Park and although it does get quite busy it's a more remote than the main tourist spots. The plan was to spend the weekend kayaking and SUPing on the lake with a nice low-level walk in Nether Wasdale on Saturday afternoon.  

By the time we arrived at Wast Water on Friday evening quite a few of the day trippers were just leaving and we were able to find a spot to park up to get the SUP out and enjoyed a couple of hours paddling.

Wast Water

The lake is 3 miles long and a one-third of a mile wide.  It's the deepest lake in England at 258 feet deep.

Wasdale Screes

The Wasdale Screes are an area of loose boulders directly underneath Illgill head and Whin Rigg, rising from the floor of the lake to a height of almost 2000ft, they loom ominously over the water on the south-eastern bank of Wast Water.

I've been fascinated by the scree slopes ever since our first visit to Wast Water in July 2010 when we hiked up Scafell Pike and we've revisited a number of times since then.  The poet William Wordsworth was far from complimentary when he described Wast Water as 'long, stern and desolate'.  I love it here, it's one of my favourite places in the lakes, so tranquil and beautiful.

Rare seal spotted in Wast Water

Saturday

We were up early and headed off to Wast Water for an early morning SUP before the crowds arrived.

When Charlie was a pup we'd taken him in the kayak a few times but with lockdown and not being able to get out as much as we'd have liked we hadn't been able to get him used to it so we thought we'd spend a bit of time this weekend training him to stay in the boat.  We bought him a float coat just in case he got into difficulty in the middle of the lake, this way we'd be able to pull him out if need be.

First of all we got him to sit in the kayak for treats on dry land

Come on let's go!

We thought he'd try to jump out straight away as he loves swimming but he was happy to sit in the kayak which was great.  

After a few hours playing on the lake it was starting to get quite busy so we decided to head off to do  the Nether Wasdale Wander a series of 14 caches on a 4.25 mile walk.

It was a lovely low-level walk, mostly in shade.  We saw lots of fresh cowpats and hoof prints on a short section of the walk but thankfully we didn't see any cows.

After having something to eat we headed back to Wast Water, it was fairly quiet again and we enjoyed a couple of hours playing on the lake before heading to our overnight spot.

View from the SUP

SUNDAY

Up early again and back to Wast Water for an early morning paddle.

We'd spotted a cache about a mile the other side of the lake and thought it would be fun to paddle to it.

We eventually reached the shore and went off in search of the cache.  

There were a few previous DNFs so we didn't' hold out much hope and sadly we couldn't find it.  Oh well, we'll just have to come back another time 😊

 

We enjoyed a gentle paddle back again and by now the sun was getting quite intense so we spent a couple of hours back at the van, relaxing before heading out for another paddle.

There's barely a phone signal and definitely no data connection so it really does feel that you are away from it all when you come here.

We'd been putting it off for as long as we could but it was time to head back home.

We have plans for the next few weekends so it'll be a while before we can get back up to the Lakes.

Lake District... Knott Rigg, not Robinson!

This is becoming a bit of a habit 😊  The forecast wasn't great for this weekend but as there was some hope of sunshine we thought we'd head back up to The Lakes and bag a few Wainwrights and fit in a spot of SUPing on Saturday night.

Friday

Decided to head up to The Lakes straight after work on Friday ready for an early start tomorrow.

As it was such a gorgeous sunny evening we decided to walk up to Knott Rigg from Newlands Hause.

A straightforward walk up to the ridge with fantastic views of the hause and over to Moss Force waterfall and down the Newlands Valley to Buttermere.

Robinson on the left, Buttermere Moss on the right
and Moss Force just right of centre

Fantastic views down down the Newlands Valley

Eventually the gradient eased and we were out onto the ridge.

Knott Rigg comes into view

We briefly considered continuing on to Ard Crags but hadn't brought drinks or waterproofs so decided to head back down and save it for another day.

Without us blocking the view 😄

Time to head back down, taking in the gorgeous views on the way.

Looking across to Robinson and our planned walk for tomorrow

Charlie with essential reading

 

Saturday

Today's plan was to head up to Robinson and Hindscarth from Newlands Hause.  We woke to light rain but undeterred we set off.

The path up was really slippery on the rocks and I was a bit concerned we'd taken the wrong route but halfway we met a couple coming down, they'd camped up on High Snockrigg and they reassured me that once we'd got over this tricky bit the path got a bit easier so after a quick chat we went our separate ways and we continued up and eventually the gradient levelled out and we could see High Snockrigg.

We continued across Buttermere Moss where the rain started to get much heavier.

Now, I don't mind the rain after all it's only water but the main reason I love these walks so much is for the views and walking in low cloud is nowhere near as good.  

Buttermere Moss

We continued on across Buttermere Moss and as we approached the lower slopes of Robinson we decided to call it a day and head back.  Maybe attempt it again later if the weather clears but it's not going anywhere, so we'll save it for better weather.

Heading back down to Newlands Hause

We headed back to the van absolutely drenched and waited for the weather to improve, sitting relaxing and reading for a couple of hours.  Eventually we saw a break in the clouds and we headed out again but this time we decided to head up over Knott Rigg and onward to Ard Craggs.

Making a new friend

A straightforward walk once up to the ridgeline.

There is a path skirting around just below Knott Rigg but we decided to go up and over the summit again but did take the lower path on our route back.

Ard Crags in view

We soon made our way along the well trodden path to Ard Crags summit.

Looking back towards Ard Crags 

You can just make out the start of the beautiful heather coming into flower on the slopes of Ard Crags.

The views were fantastic and the perfect spot to stop and have a cup of tea.

We made our way back down to Newlands Hause and to the van.

We spent the evening down at Buttermere.

Sunday

Woke to rain again this morning so any ideas we had about attempting Robinson were shelved.  

The forecast was for clearer skies by midday so we decided to head to Troutbeck and do the walk that we'd attempted last week before had to abandon due to torrential rain.

  As soon as we parked up the sun came out so off we went.

This is how far we got last week before the heavens opened

The first mile of the walk is on tarmac 

Troutbeck Tongue

Following the footpath across the field at Hagg Bridge until we reached the track.

Continuing along the rough track until we reached another gate and this is where we picked up the path which would lead us to the zig zag track and then up to the summit.

Troutbeck Tongue summit

Fantastic views

We are really pleased that we abandoned the walk last week as it was such a pleasant walk this afternoon.

We decided to extend the walk and head back down via Hagg Gill.

The pictures say it all, it really was a fab walk.  We made it back to the van just in the nick of time as it was time for another downpour.

I wanted to try and get another SUP session in before heading home but the weather had other ideas so we decided to head into Ambleside to do the set of Adventure Labs before heading home.

Thanks for reading.

Weekend summary:

Geocaches: 3

Wainwrights: 3