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" Robinson from Newlands Pass " Date & start time: Tuesday 26th February 2013, 1.45 pm start. Location of Start : Newlands Pass, Buttermere, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 193 176 ) Places visited : Moss Force, Robinson, Buttermere Moss, High Snockrigg and back Walk details : 3.4 mls, 1450 ft of ascent, 3 hours 15 mins. Highest point : Robinson 2,278ft - 696m Walked with : Ann and the dogs, Harry and Bethan. Weather : Warm winter sun, cold in the shade or when the slight breeze found us. |
" Robinson from Newlands Pass " at EveryTrail [ Alter the settings to zoom or change the Map, use Everytrail to download the Gps route ] |
The days are getting longer as we walk the sunniest place in Britain today. Consequently we were able to chose as slightly larger, local fell for for an extended afternoon walk. Robinson is just visible from our cottage and as we drive closer the fell it looks even more inviting, despite the potentially cold climb in the shade at the start. First, a picture from Ann's Low Fell walk on Wednesday, in order to put our Tuesday walk in perspective. Crummock Water and the Buttermere Valley from Low Fell. Robinson is the third summit from the left, the slightly rounded one with some snow. It looks smaller but only because it is further away. A short drive up to Buttermere for us then up Newlands Pass and we were ready to start. We transport you in no time at all to the summit of the road pass over to the Newlands Valley. There's plenty of free parking, with access here to Knott Rigg on one side and Moss Falls and High Snockrigg on the other. For others today, the road continues down into the Newlands with views down to Keswick, Catbells and Blencathra at the foot of the valley. However our walk today would be upward not downward. We nearly opted for Knott Rigg opposite as it would have been in the sunshine all the way, but the prospect of the higher fell won out.
Bethan . . . living life on the edge ! The Buttermere Moss is a flat, upland area between High Snockrigg and Robinson and is drained by Moss Beck seen here just before it cascades over the edge. This was a simple crossing point at the top of the fall which would allow us to walk clockwise around the edge of the Moss. Note the thick icicles by the side of the stream and the white frozen snow on the path next to Ann's feet. Looking over the edge . . . as the water starts its descent. Nearly 300 feet below the cars can be seen parked in the shadow of the fell. There are no particular paths up this side of the Moss but the ground is dry and firm due to the lack of rain. What moisture there is in the soil and fairly well frozen anyway. Looking back as Ann completes the flatter part of the climb. The afternoon sun beats down relentlessly from an azure blue sky and we regretted the lack of sunglasses or solar protection at these high altitudes. Hang on . . . I've been watching too many mountain film spectaculars . . . it was just a nice sunny afternoon !
" Summit successful " Ann stands and takes in the view of the central fells as Harry takes the chance to relax in the sun. The views are superb today if a little hazy . . . here looking north west to Grasmoor, Wandope and Eel Crag. To the left is the now diminutive Rannerdale Knotts with a view down to Loweswater. Zooming in on Rannerdale . . . . . . and again with the big lens . . . you can see our house from here ! That answers one question . . . yes we can see the summit of Robinson from our back garden. Looking around now to see what else is about. This is Skiddaw, one of the Lakeland three thousanders. To the right, Keswick spreads along the shores of Derwent Water. Behind it you can make out the 'T' shaped A66 road viaduct and Blencathra, which provides the backdrop. It misses out on the 3000 foot accolade by about 150 feet. Right again towards Helvellyn this time. Our second 'three thousander' flanked by the far triangular peak of Catstycam and Nethermost Pike (above the large snow field). Conditions up there are very cold and the snow very icy so no visit up there should be undertaken without the backup of some form of spikes, however simple, for your boots. Missing out by just 40 feet, Bowfell still stands proud, it's summit very much snow and ice bound. To the right the lower neighbour of Esk Pike and the flat-snow area of Esk Hause. Allan Crags is almost lost in the brown and white detail but Seathwaite Fell with its darker colour stands out in the foreground. The final three thousander of the Lakes is of course Scafell Pike itself, clocking in at 3210 feet above sea level. The summit of Great Gable just avoids hiding the top cairn of Scafell, which stands out like a square block on the very top skyline. There were a group of guys who called into the shop yesterday and said that they climbed Gable and did a circuit of Gable Traverse but needed crampons most of the way around due to the ice and snow on the paths and fell side. Click here or on the photo above for a Loweswatercam 360 degree annotated panorama from our summit here on Robinson. Time to be off . . . we walk down to the fence overlooking Buttermere Valley and the dark ridge of Fleetwith Pike.
Back down to Buttermere Moss. The path options are so varied here that we've never actually found a path down from the fence line to the base. There are three tracks across the Moss and two diagonally up the fell, one of which we used on the ascent. Going down it was 'find your own way' through the grass and small crags and aim for one of the tracks below. At the bottom the established path becomes more obvious, the grass worn flat by ascenders rather than descenders.
Entering the darkness . . . in relative terms. We passed on walking to the rounded top of High Snockrigg but its shadow is starting to spread across the Moss. Here the sun just catches my top half as I look back at today's walk. A slight breeze and the cold of the shadows sees an extra layer being worn as I contemplate the descent to Newlands far below. Over the edge . . . avoiding that thick ice on the path that we passed on the way up. Only a few hundred feet straight down to the car . . . good job there's room alongside the icy path to get down safely. - - - o o o - - - |
Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon Sureshot SX220, my Canon G10 or 1100D SLR digital cameras. Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder. This site best viewed with . . . an extra layer of clothing for the shadows. Go to Top . . . © RmH . . . Email me here Previous walk - 25th February 2013 - Rannerdale Beck Falls A previous time up here - Monday 3rd August 2009 Dale Head to Buttermere Next walk - 2nd March 2013 - Back O'Wythop with Ian and Jo
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