| Name of walk | Carrock Fell and High Pike |
| Date of walk | 2009-10-05 |
| Distance walked (miles) | 8 |
| Duration of walk | 6 hours 0 minutes |
| Weather | Sunshine and blue skies |
| Peaks on walk | Carrock Fell and High Pike |
Yesterday Ged, Kas and I went to Mosedale to climb Carrock Fell (2174ft) and High Pike (2157ft). On the Mungrisedale to Mosedale road we came across a group of Fell Ponies……so cute and friendly!
There were about nine of them. Some came over to say "Hi"
A pink-eyed albino pony
Awwwwww!
So we sadly said goodbye to the ponies and parked 3/4 of a mile down the Swinside road in an old quarry pit. The road is a dead end that leads to Carrock Mine, we would be returning by this route. Looking at our route back. We then walked back along the way we came trying to find the best place to make a start up the fell.
There is a lack of a good way up from here, we mostly headed up avoiding the gorse, occasionally located what could be a track or a sheep trod, and weaved our way around. It was steep! The heather is still in flower here, in other areas it is long gone.
A mixture of scree and heather, not sure which was worse to negotiate!
Steep! See I told you!
Unfortunately the cairn did not signify the top, but the end of the steep bit and the start of the "lets try to see you walk through this lot" bit!
Kas disappeared amongst the heather, every so often coming up for air......he needed a dog snorkel! We made our way towards the summit.
Carrock Fell’s geology is unique in the Lake District in that it is predominantly composed of Gabbro, a rough igneous rock that also makes up the famous Black Cuillin on the Isle of Skye. Carrock Fell is also the site of an Iron Age hill fort which crowns the summit, only the foundations of the walls remain, the fort is oval shaped and is believed to have been built by the Celts and destroyed by the Romans in their conquest of northern England. The remains of the walls can be seen in the photo. Summit on the left, High Pike on the right.
Ged and Kas next to one of the summit shelters. The Pennines in the distance.
The route to High Pike two miles away. A couple of walkers bottom left starting to make their way up to the summit.
Looking down to Lonscale and Skiddaw with Bowscale Fell and the slopes of Mungrisedale Common on the left and Knott and Great Calva on the right
The summit cairn.
We stopped for lunch in the shelter and then headed off for High Pike. Looking back to Carrock Fell from the start of the walk up to High Pike.
High Pike summit
Stone seat put up in 1961 to replace an iron one that sheep got their horns caught in. In Memory of Mick Lewis who died in 1944 aged 16 "Who loved all these fells" and his mother, Millicent who died in 1971.
Looking past the quadbikers to the Solway Firth and the mountains of Scotland.
Knott, Great Sca Fell, Little Sca Fell and Brae Fell......not in mist!
Top of the ordnance survey post.
We picked up the Cumbria Way track and headed down towards Lingy Hut.
Lingy Hut
It is a place for people to get away from the elements and to stay the night. I`m standing on the raised sleeping area, room for 4 sleeping bags.
Log book and bits and bobs found inside.
Log book shows two people slept here last night.
A wonderful place if you like isolation! A bit on the exposed side!
The track down beside Grainsgill Beck that leads to the old Carrock Mine workings.
What is left of some of the old mine workings. There were fenced-off mine shafts behind us. Ged looked around for mineral deposits. There were conspicuous spoil-heaps of white mica-quartz. I pointed out the sign that said £200 fine for removing minerals without a permit! Carrock Fell is rich in mineral ores and has been mined extensively for many centuries with tungsten, lead, arsenic and iron all being extracted from the fell. Carrock Mine was the only source of Tungsten in Britain outside of Devon and Cornwall. The mine was opened in 1854 but has only been worked in periods when the price of Tungsten has been high, for example during war time, the mine was worked extensively during both World Wars and the Korean War when supplies of Tungsten were threatened. The mine closed in the early 1980s and in 1988 the site was bulldozed and landscaped to its original outline.
The bridge over Grainsgill Beck that takes the Cumbria Way path to Skiddaw House.
It was a two mile walk along the side of the River Caldew back to the car. A very quiet area, and a great place for a picnic!
