Great Carrs, Swirl How and Grey Friar from Wrynose Pass

I’ve had a summer away from Lakeland doing other things but as I drink my morning coffee a thousand feet up the Wrynose Pass watching the sun rise over Wetherlam it’s like meeting up with an old friend again. Shared experiences and years of familiarity mean the relationship is comfortably secure and time and distance apart is quickly forgotten. Every corner tells a story, and my particular memory here is of pushing an old mark three Cortina up an icy Wrynose Pass just after Christmas sometime in the mid eighties on our way to Eskdale YHA.

Is it acceptable to start a walk when you’re already a thousand feet up? I think so. Most walks don’t start at sea level and the accepted route to Everest, the highest mountain in the world (and Everest Base Camp for most of us!) starts at Lukla, which is itself 9,300ft above sea level.

Besides, I need to gain some momentum after being away and this spot will give me two good days walking without having to move the van. And I’m walking in new boots, more robust than my usual 2/3 season ones so there’s a potential they’ll need some breaking in. I’m hoping they’ll be good for winter as well to give my aging Meindl Bhutans a rest.

*****************

It’s three hundred feet uphill from the get go to reach the top of Wrynose Pass which gets me nicely warmed up on what is a beautifully crisp and clear but icy cold day. Three weeks ago I was walking up Talaia d’Alcudia in +30°c on Mallorca, with the wind chill, today’s about -5°c.

The Three Shire Stone, as well as marking the top of the pass, used to indicate the meeting point of three counties, Lancashire, Cumberland and Westmorland. The merging of the latter two into one county, Cumbria in 1974 has removed any practical significance but it remains in situ as an historic landmark.

Leaving the road I follow the footpath to Wet Side Edge which angles up the fellside. I’m still in shadow heading up but reaching the edge brings me into the glare and warmth of the morning sun. It also reveals the first two hills I’ll be climbing, Great Carrs and Swirl How.

 

I follow the ridge up, grass at first but with some rocky terrain just before I reach the summit of Great Carrs. It’s a glorious morning with great clarity in the air and the hills, ridges, valleys and tarns of Lakeland are bathed in a wonderful soft focus, yellow light.

From Great Carrs I drop down and pay my respects at a war memorial just below the summit. In October 1944 a Royal Canadian Air Force Halifax Bomber, lost in fog crashed into Great Carrs killing all on board, seven Canadians and Scot. Here

The remains of the bombers under carriage remain in situ and it’s a poignant reminder in a wild and lonely place of the ultimate sacrifice paid by so many. Particularly, as the crew were Canadian it reminded me of the words on a memorial by the shores of beautiful Emerald Lake that I had passed by in the summer.

Rejoining the ridge, the path curves up and around to the top of my second fell, Swirl How. There are good views back along the ridge to Great Carrs and beyond that in the distance the great bulk of the Scafell range stands out proud, it’s grey crags contrasting with the blue sky above.

In the other direction are the Coniston fells, Coniston Water and the sea at Morecambe Bay, whose waters are glittering golden yellow in the low sunlight.

From Swirl How I retrace my steps down to the top of Broad Slack and then it’s a simple matter of following the wide and obvious path up to the top of Grey Friar which is unmissable and straight ahead.

To my left are the contrasting peaks of Brim Fell, domed and grassy and Dow Crag, sharp and rocky with Morecambe Bay again appearing just over the connecting col of Goats Hause.

Grey Friar is perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing mountain I have visited today. The top is a broad grassy plateau littered with scattered, embedded rocks and the summit cairn is on a rock outcrop slightly higher than the surrounding ground. Once again the dominant feature is the Scafell’s but to the south Coniston Old Man has now come into view, with more of Morecambe Bay visible from this new aspect.

After spending some time on the summit I retrace my steps for a short while but then branch off left to avoid ascending Great Carrs again and traverse around to join Wet Side Edge further down the ridge.

It’s a pleasant walk down on a good path, so pleasant that I switch off and miss the feint track I was going to take to return to Wrynose. The top of the pass is clearly seen from the ridge however and it’s an easy, if slightly boggy tramp across the bracken to get myself back on route.

From the pass it’s a short walk down the road back to my home on wheels overlooking Little Langdale and a clear frosty night underneath the stars.

To download a GPX file of this route and see a route map with geolocated pictures click ‘Learn more’ below