Grayrigg Pike At Last (had my eye on this for years!

Thu 15 Nov 2018
I was super-excited to get up this hill despite that most people would probably find it tame, bland and boring. Why? quite a few reasons really…

Firstly, although I’d done around four very tame and easy Lake District hills since my hip replacement, this was a much tougher proposition. It was very rough ground, I assumed it would be largely pathless (and much of it was) and it was a pretty steep ascent ridge. Therefore, I was extremely chuffed with myself on attaining the summit without any problems.

The hill is also one I’ve looked at for years (or even decades) now on my many journeys up and down to the Lake District. I kept saying I’d turn off the M6 and do it but never did – I just kept on blasting past.

Just before Tebay on the M6 heading north, just after a small hill with a comms mast on it, there is a very interesting looking hill. It has a huge corrie, a knobbly ridge leading down to the A road just above the motorway, and, the bit that was always drawing my eye – a superb crag-sided ridge going steeply up for the summit cairn. This cairn was also large enough to be seen while speeding past on the motorway – must be worth a visit!

I was heading back from Kendal after dropping Richard off at Oxenholme station and decided to take the Tebay road back to the motorway to get home. This hill was just above that road so I decided, as it was a lovely day, this was the day to finally do it. I wasn’t sure my new hip was up to what was probably a pretty rough walk but there’s only one way to find out.

There is a large carpark just under the hill with a monument to a poor Highways Worker who was killed (and his mate paralysed) on the M6 around here in Feb 2016. I can’t remember his name from the memorial but am pretty sure it was Adam Gibb and seem to remember he was helping out at an accident which had already occurred during the awful snow and ice of that winter when a posh car came flying along at around 80mph (despite the awful conditions) and hit him and his colleague. I’ve googled it but can’t find anything definite…

Great view of the Tebay Fells from the memorial carpark though

I parked up and grabbed a single walking pole just in case – I was already booted up as I’d decided just to wear approach shoes. I was soon off up the hill. I’d noticed there were two gates and think I should have gone for the one by the carpark but it looked like I’d have to cross the stream so I walked up the road to the higher gate.

After crossing an initial bog, you can join a short zig-zag grassy path up the hillside – this headed through an open gate which was swinging tunefully in the breeze. I soon reached the lip of the coomb (corrie) where I headed onto the wide ridge. Almost immediately a path appeared going up the middle of it.

The path was going very well but there was a single herd of beef cattle up here – of course, they were right across the path. Now, I’m not a bit afraid of cows but there was a bull (probably quite tame) and calves so I diverted round. And, of course, that meant I never found the path again for the ascent up the steep part of the ridge (if it continues).

The ridge went very steep indeed and quite rocky – it was a hands and feet job to get up it here and I used my pole for balance in a couple of places. On reaching the top of this section, I could see I was now almost at the summit cairn. A wonderful short ascent!

I rushed onward from my north-facing and very wet ridge as I could see it was lovely and sunny above. I was soon at the cairn and back in the lovely, warm sunshine. I was delighted to notice that the onward route was nothing like as arduous as it had looked from below and had a great path again.

Grayrigg Pike Cairn – high above the M6!

I romped along the great path stopping once to take a photo back to Grayrigg Pike.

There is a wall to pass through which once had a little gate but the gate is now gone. The farmer has wired it up with fencing but everyone is just climbing over and it isn’t very high – just enough to keep sheep enclosed really…

One thing I really like about the hills between the A6 and the M6 is that they are really unfrequented and desolate. These are becoming my favourite hills recently… Funnily though, on my approach, I did actually see two people on the main summit where there is a trig point.

I soon reached the trig point which was now deserted. From google searches I believe this is ‘Grayrigg Forest’ and apparently a ‘Marilyn’ of 1620 feet – bigger than I’ve been doing recently anyway 😉

I was far more excited than any Marilyn-bagger to be here I’m sure! I had a little break in the sun and took a couple of photos – I nearly did one of my little celebratory war-dances too 😉

Looking back to the Howgills…

The path looked to go onward towards the two masts on the next col – either that or it was going to head down to the road at the back of the hill – I wasn’t sure and didn’t have a map (if it’s even shown on one). I dithered for a while but then decided I ought to go back down the ridge I’d originally intended which meant a complete circuit of the corrie by the road.

I’d seen a path before the wall I’d passed through (over the wire) and that had headed off down the ridge. There was also a path leaving this summit however which headed off down that way. Surely there’d be a way through the wall further down?

I romped off down the nice, soft, spongy path keeping an eye out for breaks in the wall and taking more photos…

Grayrigg Pike with my ascent ridge running up to it

T’Other Borrowdale – very beautiful valley! You can return through this if you do the Whinfell Beacon full ridge walk

Unfortunately, there were no breaks in the wall whatsoever and, nearing the foot of the ever-steepening ridge, the wall cut across my path. I found a corner which was lower and clambered over. There was a very steep descent here to the boggy upper sections of the valley…

I was pretty glad to reach the road but my leg felt fine…

Turning right onto the road took me back out of the valley to the main road where I had half a mile or so to walk back up to the carpark. The verges are wide and flat enough to walk on but, as my feet were now soaked, I was trying to dry them off a little by walking on the road. You need to have your wits about you to do this though…

If you want a map for this hill, you’re out of luck as it appears, no matter which type of map you choose, to be on 4 different ones! There are great descriptions online about the Whinfell Ridge though which are very helpful (I only read them afterwards though as I didn’t even know what this hill was called until I got back!)

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