Peak & Lake District Sojourn. Day 48.

Kirk Fell 802m and Kirk Fell East Top 787m, Wasdale (Nuttalls).

Summary

Kirk Fell is a great mountain at the end of the Wasdale Valley and the ascent of its nose is one of the steepest and most noted climbs in the Lake District. With this in mind I didn’t go up it and went around it instead :-). This was for a good reason though as there was supposed to be a decent scramble up a narrow chockstone gulley going up its Northern cliffs aka Kirkfell Crags. The weather was pretty pants again but the scramble was very decent and a fall would certainly have spoilt your day somewhat. Didn’t see much at the top again but still a very enjoyable morning. Only some short scramble days left now to pick up what’s left in this area and this was one of them.

As far as the route is concerned you simply leave Wasdale and go up to Black Sail Pass. As you face Kirkfell Crags you take a path that takes you to the left and the chockstone gulley soon comes into view on the right (see photo). There are two crux sections to the gulley, the chockstone and the rock section. The gulley itself is scree and loose. I took the right hand side so I could grab the rock wall and used my walking stick in my left hand to maintain balance, it is steep. You can negotiate the chockstone either side, I chose the right. You can fall 10-12 feet so a fall will hurt you badly. It was also wet today so the rock was slippery.

Above the chockstone, there is another short scree section before a minor rock face about 6-8 foot high is in front of you (see photo). Again I took the right hand side and again a fall will definitely spoil your day. Personally I thought it was fun and never put my stick away but dangled it on my left wrist. I am very confident on rock however. If you have novices on this then the lead should take a confidence rope and know how to use it…just in case.

Once over the rock wall section it is a short scree run out of the gulley and then you follow a line of rusty fence posts gradually uphill (South) 500m to the summit. There is a shelter and a cairn here. It is then a short jaunt down and up past Kirkfell Tarn to the top of Kirk Fell East Top where there is a small cairn on some big rocks.

From here there is another line of rusty fence posts/path that takes you down to Beck Head pass where the path back down to Wasdale is defined and easy to follow.

Parking: Wasdale Head car park, large and free. Gets busy on weekends.

Route: Well defined paths, a rocky grade 1 scramble in a scree gulley with two crux points. Great views all around on a good day. Today was not such a day. A great route.

Route Statistics: A 10km, 700m height gain rocky scramble day done in 3hrs 30min.