BB1113 : Gurnal Dubbs Revisited

19th May 2011

I nearly didn’t get out this week.  So many BOOTboys were away or on babysitting duties.  I thought for a moment that I had Stan lined up for Tuesday but that was a misunderstanding.  The only BBs playing out were the two Johns but they wanted a late start today whilst I needed an early finish.

But then things changed; the Johns could start early so there was to be an outing for me after all.

John S wanted to visit Gurnal Dubbs and had planned a route in which John PL’s car would be left at Mirefoot and Suzie would then take us all on to the Kentmere Valley to start our climb.

In more or less a reversal of the descent on BB1108, we climbed up onto the fell, ignoring Brant Knott and crossing over the towards Potter Fell.

Approaching Potter Fell

On crossing the stile, I was challenged to take them directly to the exit road on the other side of the fell, a feat complicated by my desire to avoid the deep and energy consuming heather wherever possible.  Through a combination of good luck and judgement, I am proud to say I navigated precisely across the heatherless bits of undulating terrain directly to the exit gate!

In the distance we could now see the Occupation Road- an old name given to a track which I understood John S to say led to a small plot of land granted to the villagers of Burneside many years ago.  If I have that wrong, no doubt JS will correct me.  All I could find on the internet referred inconclusively to an 1848 Memorandum of Agreement regarding a road from Burneside to Garnett Bridge with no mention of land granted to the village.

On the path in front of us we encountered an unusual butterfly.  Suzie, who knows about these things, later identified it as a Small Heath.

A strong breeze had now arisen and so we took lunch behind a sheltered knoll partially overlooking Gurnal Dubbs.

Gurnal Dubbs

Afterwards, it was decided not to descend by the Occupation Road but instead to take the more direct route via Potter Tarn.

We passed a Rowan Tree that appeared to be slowly splitting the rock in which it had germinated.

As we passed the end of Gurnal Dubbs, we noticed a fisherman dressed for the occasion who told us he had taken a few trout.  Fearful, perhaps, that we might report him to Sir James Cropper, he quickly added that he had put them in the tarn in the first place!

The other point of note was that JohnPL got stuck in the stile near Potter Tarn.  For those who know him I should make it clear that it was his foot, not his girth, that got him entrapped!

Once freed, it was an easy descent to Mirefoot and his car, which fortunately JPL was still able to drive- the trapped foot not having incurred any lasting injury.

Don, 19th May 2011

STATISTICS:

BOOTboys routes ares now being put online in gpx format which should work with most mapping software. You can follow our route in detail by downloading BB1113.

To see which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing see
Which Wainwright When?

For the latest totals of the mileages and heights see: BB Log.

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Archive

2011 Outings

BB1101 :
Wasnfell Revisited
Tuseday 11th January

BB1102 :
Recuperation Scar!
Thursday 17th February

BB1103 :
A Promenade of Pensioners
Thursday 24th February

BB1104 :
The B Team
Thursday 3rd March

BB1105 :
A Little Bit Of Wind
Thursday 10th March

BB1106 :
A Linthwaite Round
Thursday 17th March

BB1107 :
Home From The Pulpit
Thursday 24th March

BB1108 :
Taking The Brunt
Thursday 31st March

BB1109 :
Up The Spout
Wednesday 6th April

BB1110 :
Not The Royal Wedding
Friday 29th April

BB1111 :
Kentmere Parts 1 & 2
Thursday 5th, Saturday 7th May

BB1112 :
Five Unknown Tarns
Wednesday 11th May

BB1113 :
Gurnal Dubbs Revisited
Thursday 19th May

BB1114 :
A March Through The Mist
Wednesday 1st June

BB1115 :
Brief Encounter
Wednesday 8th June

BB1116 :
Extraordinary and Lesser Mortals
Wednesday 15th June

 Click on the photos
for an enlargement
or related large picture.

 Wainwrights

To see which Wainwright
top was visited on which
BB outing see Which Wainwright When?.

To download a log of heights and miles and which Wainwrights have been done by which BOOTboy in the "modern" era, i.e. since the advent of BOOTboys
click on BB Log.