Ski Club of Manchester Walk, Illgill Head and Whin Rigg, Saturday 9th May 2026

Reporter: Andrew Walker

The weather. It’s always the weather in the Lake District. This walk was originally planned for the Sunday, and Saturday had been earmarked for Scafell (which in the end was changed to Harter Fell), but we decided that Sunday looked the better day for the higher level walk.

The original plan was to drive to Miterdale Forest (not Mitredale as a National Trust signwriter thought) and start the walk from there, but we learned that the track through the forest was closed so we walked from the hotel instead.

A group of eight, plus three dogs, started pretty much on schedule at about 9:45 and headed up the Whillan Beck valley to Burnmoor Tarn. The tarn, so Wikipedia tells me, occupies 23.9 hectares in a moraine hollow, is up to 13 metres deep, and is the largest entirely natural tarn in the Lake District. So there you go.

From there we took the track which eventually drops down into Wasdale Head, and turned left to Illgill Head (609m). It was a steady climb to the top, with an increasing breeze and rain threatening. The route from Illgill Head to Whin Rigg is for the most part a gentle descent. Despite being immediately above the Wastwater Screes, they are hidden from view, and Wastwater itself is visible only from a few spots. A look over the edge at various points reveals dramatic crags and gorges, some of which look navigable for short sections before the descents apparently disappear into thin air.

On the ridge we stopped for lunch once we had reached a spot with a bit of precious protection from the wind, but we didn’t hang around for long once the rain started. It wasn’t heavy, but it came with an unpleasant wind chill. I was extremely grateful at this point that I had packed a pair of overtrousers, something I normally leave behind on the unreasonably optimistic basis that if it’s warm enough when you start the walk it can’t really be that cold at altitude.

Conditions improved significantly once we started descending. By the time we reached the River Mite (dunno why it’s not the River Miter), we had abandoned the original idea of returning to Boot over White Moss and opted for a more sedate but slightly longer route, going down Miterdale and then crossing into the Esk Valley and following the forest track south of the river before walking the final stretch on the road past Dalegarth Station.

The very original plan of an eight mile walk, after adjusting for inflation caused by closed paths and lower elevation options, turned out to be 12.5 miles. However, it was a very enjoyable walk, and thanks at least in part to the more remote location we saw very few other people. Thank you to Dave Miller as usual for the planning and execution, and to Patty for not complaining and having to be carried for only a very short distance.