Only time for a short walk, as I'd been out on the pushbike in the morning. I parked at Knipe Fold (no sign of Pies, Northern or otherwise, or indeed Superdawg!), and walked up the old road over Arnside Intake. At the junction of paths and bridleways I entered Iron Keld plantation, which isn't any more because all the trees were cut down about 10 years ago. Where the path exits on to the open fell a branch heads north over hummocky ground to reach the low summit of Black Crag, which is a Wainwright of course.
Part of the reason for my visit was to explore the broad northern ridge with a view to spotting some likely bivi spots for the summer. There seemed to be several suitable locations, I backtracked to the trig and had my buttie behind the wall, sheltering from the bitter wind, there was a few snowflakes in the air. The view from here is beautiful, but today the overcast dullness meant only the close fells were visible. I dropped down on a permissive path through Poolscar on a twisting trail which eventually brought me back onto the minor road, which led back to the car.
I remember being on Black Crag a few Novembers ago when it was blowing an absolute hooley and getting really dark. Head torches on the way down. It seemed a really wild place!
ReplyDeleteThose are the days we remember. I'm sure it can be pretty wild up there, the bent and twisted Larch's are testament to that. It was cold enough yesterday, a good test of the old Paramo. I hope it'll be a bit warmer for the bivi come spring!
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