Ain't no mountain high enough...

It was always going to be a long day, and as the weather turned to a typical winters day, it was going to be a wet one, too. Our plan was simple enough, I would drive the new Series 6 Mitsubishi L2oo up to junction 36 on the M6 to meet Andy in the new SsangYong Musso and his mate Alex in the Ford Raptor for a day of green-laning. Not only would we take these latest pickups along some iconic green-lanes, but the plan was to drive the highest green-lane in the UK.

Choosing what was probably the wettest and windiest day of the year for any 4x4 adventure, we set off in convoy up the M6, and after turning left at Penrith we headed towards Keswick on the A66 until we turned left onto the B5322 heading towards the Old Coach Road.

Lane 1 (NY 3123-02) I’ve written about my mooches along the Old Coach Road many a time, it’s one of my favourites, but this was the first time for Andy and Alex.

If you’re driving from west to east, there’s an incline that you need to be aware of, it isn’t gnarly in any way, just entertaining, though if you’re on small tyres, watch out for sharp protruding rocks.

We got a few nice shots of the trucks, but as we climbed higher, that’s when the sleet and hail began to hammer down on us, it was fairly grim for the most part, though we did come across a group of walkers who stepped aside to let us by. They were all very cheery, and pleasantries were shared as we tootled past.

For the majority of the Old Coach Road it can be driven in a smaller crossover as the surface is fairly solid, though nearing the eastern end I noticed a muddy hole beginning to form that could bury an off-side tyre. It wasn’t a problem for the L200 or Raptor, but Andy caused a bit of damage to the front splitter on the Musso - whoops. (Don’t worry Andy, I’ll edit that out later…)

On the subject of limitations, although the Musso is a very capable 4x4, it doesn’t have the greatest approach angle, so I had to scrub a few severe lanes off the list. It was the same for the Raptor which is quite wide and wouldn’t get through some of the narrow gates, I ended up adjusting our route accordingly.

Lane 2 (NY 6139-03) After crossing the M6 and following the A686 for what felt like an age (it was only around 40 minutes), we passed the first exit for Gamblesby, which is where our next lane would lead us to. Although I was following the ViewRanger app, which uses Google Maps to direct you to the lanes, I totally missed the entrance. Actually, the voice said “the lane is on your left.” just as I drove past it on a very tight corner. To be fair, we couldn’t have made it as the turning was too tight, so we continued on, turned around and double backed on ourselves.

The lane begins with a steep concrete type base then settles to narrow muddy ruts with a few tight bends thrown in for good measure. On a couple of occasions, whilst heading downwards I could feel the L200 wanting to toboggan, but a few extra revs whilst in low box kept me in control.

As we made our way down the clouds began to scatter and we were bathed in the December sun, for all of a few minutes that is. After crossing a, well, crossroad, our next challenge was a tight section with a stone wall on our left and banking on our right. For the L200 and Musso this wasn’t a problem, the Raptor on the other hand... well, Alex made it through, albeit very slowly. For future reference I wouldn’t want to take a Full Fat Ranger Rover down there.

Lane 3 (NY 6140-02) Unscathed, our next lane was only a few minutes away. Turning off the main road, NY6140-02 climbed up past a farm building and began weaving its way back towards the A686. As well as a small ford that we had to negotiate, there were a few rocky ruts that had the Musso grounding a little, but it was fun, I’m sure Andy was smiling, not grimacing!

Stopping to take the odd photo we were greeted with some gorgeous views over the Eden Valley towards the Lakes.

Although there were a few tight corners that led to a steep incline, the L200 was flawless in high ratio, this was only because it wouldn’t engage low box. Out of all the pickups I’ve driven recently, I think the Ranger is the only one that didn’t hesitate being put in low box. I dislike electrics some times.

Lane 4 (NY 6241-02) Having reached the end of lane 3 on the A686, the entrance to lane 4 is almost opposite, just to the left in fact. It begins with a tarmac base and as you climb, NY6241-02 begins on a left hand corner.

There’s another steepish climb but the surface is good, a bit like a farmers track and therefore not much to report. That said, on TwailWise 2 I did read after we’ve driven it that the landowner had requested that folks drive downhill only, that’s east to west.

Arriving at the east end there appears to be two exits, one to the left that leads into a abandoned pub car park, and the other through a tight gate leading straight onto the A686. Unfortunately the former had a broken latch that I couldn’t open, so we drove to the official end, and whilst I gingerly drove though the narrow gap, Andy was stood in the middle of the road directing me through whilst avoiding oncoming cars! Next time I’ll bring a hammer and exit the other gate, it’ll be much safer!

From here we decided to skip the next 3 lanes as it was getting dark and head towards NY8135-03 on the B6277, also known as Britain’s highest greenlane.

The L200 has always been a favourite pickup of mine, I just like the way it handles on-road, and the new series 6 model is even better. I thoroughly enjoyed the 11 or so miles from Alston on the B6277 with no other vehicles in sight, that was until I came across two blokes riding dirt bikes at around 30-40mph.

Their speed didn’t bother me much, it was the fact that they had just ridden out of a side track that wasn’t a legal byway, and they didn’t have mirrors so were totally oblivious that I was behind them which was evident by their weaving all across the road.

I had a feeling they were heading for the same lane as us, so I kept a distance until we all pulled over at the gate. Their eyes looked guilty and panic stricken as I jumped out of the L200 and stomped towards them, I bet they thought I was a farmer coming to chastise them.

Lane 5 (NY 8135-03) Once through the gate, off they went on their merry way riding off-piste and making a bit of mess, shame I couldn’t read their registration plates.

Anyway, from the B6277, NY8135-03 is fairly steep but the going is good. Funny thing was, although we were high up it never seemed that high, probably because everything around is also high, if that makes sense.

On TrailWise I read that we should take care on the repaired sections as the rocks are like broken teeth, but that was around 9 months ago and it appeared that the sharpness had been rounded off by other users.

I had planned on eating my dinner at the highest point, but by this stage the sleet and snow had caught up with us, so I didn’t bother, we took a couple of photos and carried on.

Exiting the lane at Ireshopeburn, we took Harthorpe Road back down to the B6277, and what a cracking road it is, in fact, for the next hour and a half whilst heading towards Reeth, we drove some blinders, including Bouldershaw Lane that had me grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Lane 6 (SD 9694-01) Our 6th lane is one I’ve been itching to drive for a quite a while, and starts just after Crackpot (yes, this is a place!) and ends up on Long Road. It isn’t a long lane and can probably be driven in around 10 minutes, but it’s pretty with an easy ford to traverse and

some splendid views at the southern end. In fact, we stopped here for a bite to eat and to immerse ourselves in the splendour that is the Yorkshire Dales.

Lane 7 (SE0287-03) Morpeth Gate wasn’t far away and begins just off the B6160 and continues up by the side of a farm house. It’s one vehicle width as you wind your way up the moor with a good solid base, there are some tight turns at the bottom between the walls but wide enough for the Raptor’s fat arse!

Around half way up we came across a large branch that had fallen from a tree and was blocking our path. There was nowhere to move it to, so trimmed some of the bigger branches with my Gerber folding saw to make it more manageable to drive over without scratching the new vehicles. Alex joined in and simply stomped on them, which did the trick.

Within a few hundred yards Morpeth Gate changed to High lane which is as wide and straight as a normal road, but with quite a few muddy puddles.

By this time it was dark, and the rain was horizontal, but we still had arguably the best green-lane to drive, and it was only few miles down the road, so we soldiered on.

Lane 8 (SE0677-02) Commonly known as Scar House, it incorporates two lanes either side of Scar House reservoir, and in a couple of spots was moderately challenging.

Starting at the western end, after a couple twists and turns, it’s pretty much straight up to the very top. The weather remained dreadful, and what made it worse was that many of the gates wouldn’t stay open, which meant that we all at some point had to stand there and get soaked whilst holding the gates open for each other, we all got a drenching.

Heading down towards Scar House reservoir there were a few rocky obstacles to negotiate, again, the L200 and Raptor were fine, but Andy in the Musso had to be more careful with his approach.

Once you turn left and follow the shoreline of the reservoir the lane settles down and becomes a typical farm track with a few more gates to open and close.

Once across the reservoir we have the last section to deal with, which includes another climb with a few more tight bends to tackle. Normally, during the day they’re fine, but in pitch blackness they’re a bit more of a challenge, especially with just normal headlights that only illuminate what’s ahead.

At this point the clouds had dispersed and we were guided by moonlight, and as the narrow lane rose up from the reservoir we squeezed our way up avoiding the boulders that had been laid on the left before taking the sharp right hairpin bend at the top with a few more rocks steps to traverse for good measure.

Once through the final gate, the now easy-ish lane turned into an undulating rutted track on which Andy wasn’t having the best of times with the low slung Musso, and as it’s a single track lane with high banking on either side there was nowhere he could go to avoid it. Although he scraped his way down the lane, it didn’t take away from the fact that the Musso is a very capable pickup with a great 4wd system.

The L200 on the other hand performed admirably with only the odd scrape from its running boards. Alex told us later that the Raptor took everything in its stride, though some of the narrower sections caused a bit of anxiety.

Finally reaching the end there were smiles all ‘round, and we followed Andy to a local pub for a swift ‘alf before going our separate ways. We all agreed that our first lane seemed so long ago, and that our favourite lane was the last, Scar House reservoir.

In a few month's time Andy and I have a couple more pickups from the same manufacturer, both very capable, just one is much taller than the other, so watch this space for more adventures…