Bigert Mire, Thwaites Fell, Buck Barrow, Whitfell, Cumbria.
[ 14.7 km] Fri 23 Jan 2009

Arrived below Bigert Mire just before 8am and was surprised how light it was compared with just before Christmas when it was still dark at the same time. The traffic announcements on the radio said the Corney Fell road was closed due to snow. I set off for it on foot heading south along the narrow lane through Long Garth and Loganbeck. The cloud level was very low and I knew I would soon lose any views.

Thwaites Felll in the mist. A car's headlights can be seen.

I reached the Corney Fell road and saw several cars heading up over it. There was about 10mm on snow on it and it was even slippery to walk on. I headed steadily up and saw the road vanishing into the cloud. At a bend in the road where Black Beck flows under the bridge there was a car stuck in the verge. The driver must have got a lift out of the area as there was nobody about. I left the scene and carried on to the summit where I left the road and turned right to head up by the wall towards Buckbarrow Crag.

I’d soon lost any visibility and looked for some shelter from the wind behind the wall to eat my sandwiches. The final climb up the crag was uncomfortable as the snow made the rocks very slippery and I couldn’t see what was under the snow. I was very glad to get off the rocky area and reach more level ground. I had to walk on a compass nearing as I was in whiteout conditions and had nothing to get any bearings on. The snow coated summit cairn of Whitfell loomed out of the cloud.

Whitfell summit cairn and OS trig point.

Descending to Bigert Mire

I started down the slippery descent and was very glad to reach the main descent track down to Bigertmire Pasture. As I left the snow the ground became very wet indeed and unfortunately I was wearing some older boots which let the water trough in no time. The path vanished for a while but emerged onto a faint stony track which I followed back to Bigert Mire buildings and back to the car.