UKC

after coming down off pillars nw ridge i lost the path at about the 260m contour line. the path marked on the map is lost due to forestry work it appears.
does anyone know of a way to the valley bottom other than scraping through the trees?
and should the forestry commission maintain paths they have knacked?

In reply to dan bulman:

I take it you mean you found it down to the forest road (good effort in itself!), then struggled to find the path below that? Beyond the road, were you trying to find the public right of way (green line) or the actual footpath (black line)?

Not that it makes a whole lot of difference - having made the mistake of trying to follow one on a night time orienteering course (10 years ago...it's not recent), I've always avoided them since. Faced with emerging on the forestry road at that point a couple of weeks ago, I chose to mainly walk along the forest roads back to Gillerthwaite - a little longer (but not that much once you factor in needing to find a bridge), but a whole lot easier, and barely slower.

The cut through a couple of km further up the valley does exist, but neither does it save you a whole lot of distance.

In reply to Carolyn:

i was just trying to find a way back down to get back to bowness knott. having walked up the ridge inbetween caw and haycock it was making for a really nice horseshoe walk. but the end has put me off doing it again.
i lost the path at around 155,134.

In reply to dan bulman:

From 155134 the best bet is to turn left (on the forest road) and continue to Low Beck to descend by a clear path on it's East side. This is the normal approach for the North ridge of Steeple.

ok sheep. i see where you mean. i'll give it a go. thanks very much.