Route: leaving the car at an informal car park on Old Rake/Hummer Lane at GR 249 924 thinking it would lead to clear routes through the woods (it did not and it would have been better to park at GR 246 922). Scrambling through trees to a clear track and then turning right on a muddy descending footpath to a lovely stone footbridge at Appletree Worth. Continuing northwest on muddy paths through trees to join the road at Water Yeat Bridge and continuing uphill to Stephenson Ground. Here, taking the second of two paths on the right, uphill on a walled track. Emerging at a hand gate onto open fell, overshooting on to Broadslack Beck but then retracing our steps to take an obvious (from the hand gate) grassy path between bracken, later meeting the beck higher up and roughly following this on subtle paths all the way to the summit ridge, then trending left to find a grassy band to the summit. Descending on marshy ground to climb the Pikes and then down to the bigger path to the obviously new Natty Bridge. Here, attempting to gain altitude on a faint path marked with white posts before roughing it across a felled forest to meet the path on which we should have been. Following overgrown forestry tracks (reduced to narrow paths) to reach the junction at GR 247 928 and then descend on a clear track to return to Appletree Worth, taking the outward muddy path back this time all the way to Hummer Lane and then back to the car.Conditions: despite an earlier threat of rain, sunny spells and, at times, hot.
Pub: The Wilson Arms, Torver, for Cumbrian Legendary Ales Loweswater Gold.
