30th October 2010 - Lake District - Scout Scar eventually

Area:	Lake District	Ascent:	350feet
Walk No:	470	Time:	1hour 30minutes
Date:	30th October 2010	Parking:	Top of Kendal - Underbarrow road
Distance:	3.25miles	Weather:	Overcast, occasional sunny spell.

Route:

For those of you that are thinking of going onto the hills I would strongly recommend that you read the advice given by the Mountain Rescue organisation of England and Wales. To read this advice, which will open in a new page please click HERE. If you would like to make a donation to the Mountain Rescue organisation which is purely voluntary please click HERE. Please make the time to read the advice page.

Not quite the day we had hoped for. We awoke to a glorious blue sky so Edith phoned her brother to change her visiting day until tomorrow so that we didn't have to rush back. My plan was to leave the car at Cleabarrow and walk from there to Orrest Head with a return via School Knott and maybe Grandsire. As we drove along the promenade at Morecambe the views across the bay were disappointing. The cloud base was low and there were a number of showers running up the bay from the south-west, however the weatherman on Radio Cumbria was giving a decent day so northwards we headed. As we approached the Plumgarth roundabout near Kendal the heavens opened and the Crook Road had many areas where it was flooded although passable. We arrived at our parking space at Cleabarrow in heavy rain and it was around 30 minutes before it faired up enough to set off. We had only been walking around 15 minutes when we came to a gateway on the lane where the lane was flooded to a depth of around 18". There was a wall to each side but I'm not into damaging the walls of my beloved Lake District and anyway there would probably be similar problems further along the lane where it dips. We decided to return to the car and move elsewhere but upon reaching the car another band of rain of almost biblical proportions passed over us and I decided to move nearer home. Approaching Kendal the day seemed to be brightening so we popped up the Underbarrow Road for this walk along Scout Scar. Unfortunately the weather didn't brighten even to give us views to Lakeland but the autumnal colours in the Lyth Valley below were gorgeous.

Route Map

Lovely autumnal colours at Cleabarrow after the rain had eased.

Cleabarrow Tarn looked quite picturesque.

The weather still didn't look too promising.

The "new" tarn is well full. So much so, that when we arrived at a gate at the far end it was to find around 18" of water right across the path. Some people had used the wall to the right and it was now in rather an unstable condition. Not wanting to do further damage we decided to return to the car and have a rethink.

We made our way back to the car. Just as we reached it the heavens opened so I decided to head towards home and see if it was any brighter that way. Approaching the Plumgarth roundabout the day did seem to be brightening a little so I drove into Kendal and took the Underbarrow Road to the car park at its summit.