Route: Yewbarrow
Area: Western Lake District
Date of walk: 2nd December 2014
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 4.2 miles
Ascent: 1,900 feet
Weather: Sun and blue skies, windy and very cold on the top
It’s been almost 10 years since we were last up Yewbarrow and a return visit was well overdue. We arrived early at Overbeck Bridge car park and as we did so a fellow walker was setting off for Red Pike – this was the only person we encountered all morning
The sun was rising over the Wasdale Screes as we made our way up the nursery slopes. Looking ahead, further progress seemed impossible and if we’d not been up here a couple of times before we’d have had doubts about the route. As we reached the lower part of Bell Rib, the walk turned into a scramble. Walking poles were a hindrance and had to be put away as we hauled ourselves up the steep gully in a series of ungainly manouevres
Eventually we reached the top of Bell Rib, emerging at the fearsome cleft of Great Door – a thrilling moment. Although there were a few more rocky sections, the remainder of the climb to the summit was straightforward. The views from the top were glorious, though there was a bitingly cold wind and we didn’t linger there
At a depression before Stirrup Crag, and in order to avoid the very steep descent down the Crag, we took a path which slanted downhill across the fellside and which eventually joined up with the path from Dore Head. This took us back down the valley to the path below Bell Rib, from where we retraced our steps back to the start
It was a fantastic walk in glorious weather
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
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Just before the car park at Overbeck Bridge - Yewbarrow
On with the walk - the summit of the fell is hidden behind the imposing pinnacle of Bell Rib
Herdies beneath Bell Rib
Looking back down to Wast Water
The going gets more rocky
Looking across to Middle Fell
Wast Water, and the Irish Sea beyond
Bonnie waits for us to catch up
The Irish Sea
The head of Wast Water through Great Door
Scafell
Looking back to the top of Bell Rib - we’d emerged (panting) from a gully leading up from the right
Middle Fell
Wast Water
The Scafells
Wast Water
The views back over Bell Rib were tremendous………
Head of Wast Water
The Scafells from Bull Crag
Great Gable
Kirk Fell and Great Gable from the summit of Yewbarrow
Middle Fell
Kirk Fell and Great Gable again
We leave the summit of Yewbarrow and follow the ridge
At a depression we fork off to the left to avoid a steep climb down from Stirrup Crag ahead
We follow the path in the direction of Dore Head…
…and then change direction to walk down the valley
Wast Water comes back into view
We rejoin our original ascent path
Nearly back to the start, looking across Wast Water to Scafell
Back to the start at Overbeck Bridge
On the way back, we stopped the car a couple of times to admire the classic view to the head of Wast Water
To round off a wonderful day, a red squirrel was there to greet us as we arrived back home
