A short 5km mini-adventure with a largely dry ghyll scramble and head-high bracken.Route: leaving the car parked at Rough How Bridge (officially limited to 2 hours but surely not policed thoroughly) and walking north along a path at the edge of the valley and below the fell, joining a paved track, as far as the road to Dale Bottom. Turning half right through bracken but with some indication of a historic path to reach the narrow gully of William’s Beck and following this steeply uphill either on rocks in the bottom or just to one side until, it transpires, just short of a fork in the stream. Taking an easier path rising steeply on heather to the left to reach a small subsidiary summit. Continuing pathless another 50m through bracken to find the merest hint of a path (marked on the OS map) east, which, on reaching the stream again, joined a larger path heading north. After 200m turning right on a yet clearer path towards, then round and then onto the summit. Then taking the ‘ridge’ path south as far as the marsh before Moss Crag and deciding to taking a path downhill to the right in now head-high bracken eventually reaching a lateral wall and a clearer path. Descending to a gate and - perhaps foolishly - turning left through it, to the right of a tiny tarn and then losing all trace of path (though marked in green on the OS map). Thus merely roughing it downhill through bracken to join the end of the outward path and back to the car.
Conditions: a pleasant 20C sunny day.
Pub: the Horse and Farrier, Threlkeld, for Tirril Borrowdale Bitter.
