Kirk Fell and Great Gable

This is an 8.2-mile (13.2 km) complete loop starting and finishing at Wasdale Head Green. You head up the valley beside Mosedale Beck on rough bridleway with Pillar and Yewbarrow filling the view, cross Gatherstone Beck and climb to Black Sail Pass, then tackle Kirkfell Crags to reach Kirk Fell. From its broad bouldery top you pass two small tarns, drop over Rib End to Beck Head, cross Stone Cove and climb rocky steps to Great Gable, where the summit rocks hold the Fell and Rock Climbing Club memorial plaque and the view opens over Wastwater, Ennerdale, the Scafells, Pillar and the western fells. The descent takes the south-eastern ridge on the Breast Route to the stretcher box at Sty Head, then follows the mountain path through Gavel Neese and Gable Beck and the old Moses' Trod line back via Burnthwaite.

Rate it 8/10: a long, hard mountain day. Reckon on about 6.5 hours, realistically 5 to 7 depending on pace, footing, stops and how much navigating you do. Ascent is roughly 1,082 m / 3,550 ft, most of it in two sustained pushes, so treat it as a full day out rather than something to squeeze in late.

The crux is Kirkfell Crags. The line used here goes up a steep, loose scree gully with chockstones and unstable handholds, and loose rock can be dislodged onto anyone below, so spread out and keep your distance. Above that, Kirk Fell's summit plateau is bouldery and awkward underfoot, and the pull onto Great Gable involves rocky steps and hands-on moves in places. The Breast Route descent to Sty Head is steep and loose in its own right, and tired legs feel it. There is real drop-off exposure on the higher ground, though the return leg is clearer, if still rough mountain path.

Much of the high section relies on cairned lines and unobvious junctions across broad stony ground. In mist, finding the right approach to the scree and the correct descent ridge takes competent map and compass work, and Great Gable's summit plateau is a classic place to walk off in the wrong direction. There is little natural shelter anywhere above the valley, and you should plan on no dependable water source for the whole loop. Wind, rain, snow or ice turn the crags and the descent from serious into genuinely committing.

Start from the village-green access at Wasdale Head beside the inn, not the Lake Head car park farther down Wastwater. The valley is remote and the approach road is long and narrow, and parking pressure at Wasdale Head is a recurring problem at popular times, so arrive early and park considerately. No trail-specific permit is needed. Dogs are legally allowed on the public route, but this is a poor route for most dogs because of the loose scree gully, boulder fields and scrambling, and dogs that do come must be under close control around livestock and wildlife.

Be honest with yourself about the gully: it is the one part with no easy way to soften it, and turning back from mid-slope is unpleasant. Combine that with the ascent, the loose descent and the lack of water and shelter, and this is a route for people used to rough Lakeland fellwalking. If you want the same views for less commitment, walk Great Gable on its own from Wasdale Head via Sty Head and back, or stay low with a Wastwater shoreline and Wasdale valley circuit that keeps the fells overhead rather than underfoot.