Saturday 2 April 2011

Walk 49. 5.5m / 2300' ascent
Time Taken 5 hours

184. LDW-156 Whinn Rigg 1755'
186. LDW-129 Illgill Head 1998'

Route taken by Phil G4OBK and friend Geoff on April 2nd 2011

After the previous gruelling day when we suffered the gales, rain, mist and an injury on Wainwrights western fells to the north of Wasdale, I decided we needed something much easier - after all I did not know how my knee would hold out after my fall the previous day.  With two cars at our disposal we undertook a linear walk along the ridge to the south east of Wast Water taking in the summits of Whinn Rigg (LDW-156) and Illgill Head (LDW-129/LD-029).  A well used path ran above the screes of Wast Water which was boggy in places. 
There was room to park a car roadside near to The Lodge and Youth Hostel at NY 143043. The other car was parked in the layby at Brackenclose road end.
After 75 minutes we reached the summit of Whinn Rigg which was unremarkable, although 18 contacts were made on VHF for Wainwrights On The Air. I had a good line of sight path on VHF to the south. We were in mist and after a short wander off course when we left we reached Illgill Head in around 50 minutes after departing Whinn Rigg. This Marilyn summit is the one supporting the Wast Water screes and looks impressive when viewed from the top of the dale: 

Illgill Head viewed from the track leading to our B&B at Burnthwaite Farm at the head of Wasdale
From Illgill Head I completed 20 contacts for SOTA/WOTA including Summit to Summit conversations with Mike 2E0YYY/P who was on SP-015 The Cloud in Cheshire and Barry MW6BDV/P on NW-018 Moel Llyfnant in Wales. After enjoying a stay of 50 minutes and our lunch when the sun finally appeared, we made our way down to Brackenclose to finish our walk before 3.00pm.

With a dose of Ibuprofen and Paracetamol inside me I was relatively comfortable all day walking with my knee injury, and  relieved that it appeared I would be able to continue fellwalking for the rest of the summer season when I hoped to complete the 214 Wainwrights.

After a poor meal and service the previous night at The Wasdale Inn we took the trouble that evening to drive down to The Strands Inn at Nether Wasdale where we enjoyed a much better dinner than the previous night. 

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