A moderate route in Southern. Check the GPS track on Outdooractive for full details of the route, waypoints, and terrain.
Starting Point: National Trust Wasdale Head car park or campsite (NY 184 076)
Terrain: Campsite track, field path, footbridge over Lingmell Gill, Brackenclose, Old Corpse Road, footbridge, Fence Wood, path beside Straighthead Gill, steep open fellside, summit plateau, ridge path, col, Bell Crag, Whin Rigg summit, retrace, steep alternative descent path, Straighthead Gill
A tremendous ridge walk above one of the finest lakes in England, combining two Wainwrights of considerable character along one of the most dramatic cliff-edge ridges in the Lake District. The approach from Wasdale Head along the Old Corpse Road is atmospheric from the outset, and the pull up beside Straighthead Gill, while unrelenting in its upper stages, delivers you onto a summit of extraordinary position — Illgill Head perched right on the brink of The Screes with Wast Water a sheer drop below. The ridge to Whin Rigg is superb throughout, narrow and clear with the lake always below and to the right. Whin Rigg itself turned out to be one of the more memorable summits of the collection for entirely the wrong reasons — the midges were operating at a level that brooked no argument and the retreat was swift. The alternative descent path at NY 172 052 is a useful variation, steeper than the ascent route but entirely sound, and a worthwhile way to vary the return.