TheSamba.com :: View topic - A drive in the country, Lake District and Gatescarth Pass

Thu Jul 05, 2012 5:10 am

We've just returned from a long weekend away Greenlaning in our Tiguan on one of the days and then jumping in with friends in VW Syncros on another. The weekend was a Borg 4x4 trip. A big thanks to Jonathan Smith for planning out the lanes etc.

The main day was taken up with a famous track called Gatescarth Pass which is located just at the bottom of the Haweswater Reservoir.

I did this pass last year in Limey and ended up getting winched off a rock half way up. As Limey is mid roof and engine conversion, I wasn't able to drive it this year.

http://www.lakedistrict.gov.uk/visiting/outdoors/green_roads/green_road_gatescarth

As you can see by the National Park website, it has limited access and even then, there are limits as to the vehicles that are allowed on it due to it's tricky nature.

We booked and were given our pass code for the gate lock and met up at 09:30am on Sunday. The weather was a bit wet but not too bad.

The pass is more famous for it's route up to the top and that is the section that is closed off with gates at both ends, with padlocks and chains etc.

There are good views on the way up...

With the odd tricky bit. Not having diff-locks in can catch you out!

Once at the top, there's a short section of scenic laning to the next gate...

...which was locked.

The problem is that the code that worked on the gate at the bottom gate didn't work on the top gate.

What to do?

The whole idea of Gatescarth pass being limited is that it doesn't get driven much, keeping damage down to a minimum so that everyone (walkers etc) get to enjoy it.

As such, we took the decision to cut the chain, exit the Pass and tie-wrap the chain back up. We removed only one link so that the chain was still usable.

On we went... until realised that the storms that had past over the Lake District on Thursday had had a bad affect on the lane coming down from Gatescarth Pass.

This is usually a very easy lane but as we got further down it, it was obvious that we were in for some work just getting the vehicles down this now very washed out lane.

This doesn't look too bad... but just around the corner...

Please excuse me posting videos of a Range Rover but as I had to spot the Orange Syncro 16 Westy and others down, it was impossible to video them coming down all of it.

My wife did take some videos of them but I haven't had time to download them yet so I'll upload them as soon as I can.

As you can see, there were sections that were barely passable.

In places, we had to move lots of rocks to fill large holes which would swallow a wheel and leave you beached.

Looking at this photo, you can see just how much rock has been carried down the lane by the water.

The torrent must have been something to see on Thursday.

It took us 4 hours to drive the lane and get all 4 vehicles down safely before we could stop and have lunch.

There were several other lanes around the Lakes which were similarly damaged by the storm. All are closed including Gatescarth Pass.

We phoned and spoke to the National Park Authority and they said that they had closed it on Friday and had contacted everyone that they could to let them know. For some reason, we weren't on that list despite having spoken to them on Thursday and getting the lock code from them.

They also apologised for not having changed the lock code on the bottom gate as this would have been the obvious sign that things were not good.

We had a great time but ended up taking a lot more than we bargained for. I feel that I've missed out by not having Limey on the road, but you can't drive them all!

MG

Thu Jul 05, 2012 5:58 am

The day before Gatescarth, we took in a river crossing.

It was a little deeper than last year and there were signs that the water level had been very high only a few days previous to this.

A good place to check out how well your suspension copes with very rough terrain!

This was Jonathan's first trip out Laning in his Syncro 16 Westy so he was being understandably cautious.

Having spent many hours working on this van including a gearbox and front diff rebuild, some engine re-plumbing (1Z TDi) etc, I was very happy to see it make it to the other side ok.

Paul makes this look very easy!

Here's Dave with his Subaru 2.2 powered Syncro Single Cab. This is a van that I owned a while ago and almost fitted an Audi V8 to.

This was Daves first offroading event after having made up bashbars, fitted a working VC etc.

After Gatescarth, we went onto another lane which had had a lot of work carried out on - we could just about have driven it in the Tiguan if it wasn't for the river at the start.

Both Syncros don't currently have snorkels setup and the air intake is infront of the left rear light cluster.

Jonathan is understandably unhappy about having to reverse back into the river to open the gate.. the water is very close to the bottom of the rear light!!

We weren't able to get across the river as one of the huge boulders which was the path over it had been washed further down stream.

Dave doesn't waste any time and gets across the river as quickly as possible to minimize the chance of sucking water up.

I'll try to get some more videos of the Syncros up.

MG

Thu Jul 05, 2012 6:32 am

Fun time. Thanks for sharing. :D

Thu Jul 05, 2012 12:44 pm

Thanks for sharing!
You guys have such beautiful country to explore. We have the desert SW and you have the green civilized hills, rock walls, and lanes lived in for thousands of years. Very nice.

Thu Jul 05, 2012 3:20 pm

Could the Tiguan really handle all this??

Fri Jul 06, 2012 1:04 am

Brilliant, thanks for sharing. Subscribed!

Fri Jul 06, 2012 1:07 am

taigagreen wrote: Could the Tiguan really handle all this??

Lol, no chance.

We left the Tiguan behind on that day!

MG

Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:03 am

Thanks Mike, I have a few photos, mainly of the Tiguan from the previous day, but it's nice to be able to show people what we got upto :D
Many thanks for the invite, & I hope to make it out on a few more trips now Sid (my Single Cab) is up to it

Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:08 am

Good to see you on here Dave.

It was a cracking weekend!

MG