It feels like ages since I have been to Black Combe and even longer since I ascended from Whicham Church, the quickest and easiest way to get to the top. The weather wasn’t good for distant views as it was very hazy and the predicted rain came as I set off home in the car.
More cloud but no rain at least for our walk this morning up to Black Combe, that great hulk of fell at the south-western tip of the Lake District. It is a relatively easy ascent following Whitecombe Beck all the way to Whitecombe Head, the sting in the tail being the very steep descent to get back to the valley.
Another day with non-existent views; the whole of the Lake District seemed to be enveloped in low lying cloud today with the promise of further (summer!) weather like this for a few days yet. I had a walk up to Black Combe, a relatively easy walk, and a nice one whatever the weather – at least the rain held off!
Black Combe stands isolated at the south-western tip of the Lake District and today it stood isolated as the only cloud-free fell I could see! Well, it did at first, anyway – the mist soon rolled in to cover the very top of Black Combe by the time I arrived. The descent of Black Combe following this route is particularly attractive, following the beck all the way back to the start point.
Black Combe lies in the extreme south-west of the Lake District and its remoteness from other fells means that it is rarely visited and its detachment from the main fells means that it is easily identifiable from a distance.
The sun shone more than could have been expected this morning with the thick covering of cloud over the top of Black Combe lifting by the time I reached the summit. Black Combe is described in Wainwright’s Black Combe chapter in his book ‘The Outlying Fells of Lakeland’, page 176.
A walk in the sunshine today around the Cirque of Black Combe, a remote fell in the extreme south west of the Lake District. Its detachment from other fells makes it unique and its unobstructed view allows great views of the high fells and to the Irish Sea.
