A Crummock Water Circuit

Weather always plays a role in the Lake District and so we rarely venture out without having a couple of walk plans up our sleeves. Today we hoped to explore the Loweswater Fells, but extremely high winds made us rethink any plans of hitting the fells, so we decided on doing a circuit of Crummock Water.

We parked at Lanthwaite Wood, enjoying the shelter of the path through the woodland. As soon as we reached the lake side, the blasts of wind hit us and they were almost enough to knock you off your feet.

The first part of the walk along the lake was flooded so we had to find an alternative path across a field, before getting to the footpath that meanders its way around the lower slopes of Mellbreak. Every now and then the wind would die down, only to hit us again with full force moments later.

The path along Mellbreak was very picturesque, at times hugging the shoreline and on other occasions straying up onto the fellside.

Eventually the wind calmed down and by the time we were opposite Rannerdale Knotts about halfway along the side of the lake, we just had a light breeze accompanying, so we could stop and enjoy our packed lunch.

Eventually we reached the flat stretch of land that separates Crummock Water from Buttermere, crossing over as we passed through Buttermere to reach the opposing shore.

Parts of this walk were along the road, straying off the tarmac for a little circuit around the base of Rannerdale Knotts. We then headed back to the lake shore, into High Wood where we picked up a couple of geocaches.

From here it was a simple walk through the woodlands back to the car. A fantastic path that circuits the whole of the lake, easy to navigate and a walk that I'd happily do again in any weather conditions.

Sale Fell in the North Western Fells

This was one of those typical Lake District days where the weather can't make up its mind - rain, sun, snow and sleet all making intermittent appearances, so we decided to go for something that offered shelter for at least part of the walk.

Sale Fell is the northernmost outpost of the North Western Fells, together with Ling Fell these are the gatekeepers to this side of the Lake District.

It is a straightforward fell to walk - no scrambling required and the paths are very straightforward to follow. We approached the summit by following the path that arcs round to the west, with views over to Ling Fell, before coming back eastwards and heading up towards the grassy summit.

As we approaches the views to the south opened up giving us fine views of the Whinlatter range, ad when we reached the summit there were also fabulous views over Bassenthwaite Lake to the Skiddaw range.

Views over to Binsey from the summit were marred by some unsightly deforestation of Wythop Wood that had left this side of the fell scarred with tree stumps and not much else.

The summit itself is a wide grassy plain that was scenic enough without having the thrill you get on reaching the final rocky outcrop of a strenuous fell climb. This is different walking altogether, and Sale Fell offers the chance to follow your nose and explore the grassy plain, taking in the views all around.

We headed back down the southern side of the fell, through woodland and past the site of Wythop Old Church, before following the road back to the car. A lovely little that is ideal of you only have an hour or two to spare.

Blea Rigg via Easdale Tarn

I think of Grasmere as being the heart of the Lakes, Right in the middle, accessible from Keswick or Windermere, Coniston or Patterdale, it stands to reason that it is a busy little village. 

With it's literary, culinary and cultural links, it attracts far more than just your hardened walkers which means that although the village might seem bustling with activity, once you get out and about things quieten down - unless you follow the crowds up Helm Crag.

This walk took us up the popular scenic walk to Easedale Tarn, alongside Sour Milk Gill. The weather was not great and this probably deterred a number of people from heading upwards and so the route wasn't too crowded.

The walk up to the tarn is postcard picturesque all the way, with amazing views from the valley floor, along the gill and up to the edge of the tarn.

At this point the weather took a turn for the worse and as we started heading up the path to Blea Rigg the rain and mist set in, so the views were pretty minimal all the way to the top. The climb itself is good fun, with the path crossing rocky terrain before making the final sweep to the top.

As luck would have to the clouds started to dissipate when we were on the rocky summit, giving us glimpses of fell groups all around such as the Langdale Pikes and the Coniston range. The rain also subsided and conditions became very favourable.

From Blea Rigg we followed the well-trodden path towards Silver Howe, stopping en route for a picnic. We enjoyed our food whilst taking in the view over Grasmere towards the Fairfield horseshoe.

We got as far as the summit of Raw Pike, before deciding to head back towards Grasmere. This was a fairly simple but very rewarding walk and a great way to spend a couple of hours in the heart of the Lake District.

On the shores of Thirlmere

On a recent trip to Grasmere we had a bit of time on the journey back so we decided to explore a bit of the scenery around Thirlmere. This is a beautiful part of the Lakes that we always seem to just drive through as we head between the northern and southern parts of the national park. The fells above Thirlmere, in particularly Bleaberry Fell, don't get a good write-up from Alfred Wainwright either, so it's not been top of the list of places to walk.

A quick look at a map revealed that a walk up to Harrop Tarn should be a nice easy walk. We parked up  close to the shores of the lake and headed up the steep wooded slopes away from Thirlmere. This was actually hard work, the stone steps were extremely slippery and recent or ongoing forestry work meant climbing over felled trees on a number of occasions!

But once we gained a bit of altitude the going got a bit easier, and this became a very scenic woodland walk. The trees cleared as we neared the tarn, and the views from here of the water and surrounding fells were incredible.

Looking back, we had a fine view over the Helvellyn and Fairfield ranges when looking eastwards over the A591.

This was a great place to linger for a while and enjoy the views, but with the old issue of not having time on our side we were soon headed back down the wooded fellside using the forestry commission tracks which were far easier to walk along than the treacherous path up! I noted a path headed over to Watendlath and that feels like a walk we will be doing at some point too.

As we neared Thirlmere we were greeted to an incredible sight of clouds billowing in through Dunmail Raise and slowly drawing over the water. Our walk along the road southwards back to the car meant that we had this spectacle ahead of us all the way back to the car and it really was a special scene.

A Whinlatter Wander

A couple of years ago, we did a circuit of the fells above and around Whinlatter, but missed out on Whinlatter Fell itself. Recently, a spare sunny afternoon in the Lake District provided us with the ideal opportunity to bag Whinlatter.

We have been to the forest often enough, having done Go Ape a couple of times, and followed some of the forest paths, so I was looking forward to tackling the fell, although from reading various walk write-ups, navigation wouldn't necessarily be straight forward.

We parked up at the visitor centre, which was rammed with trail cyclists and Go Apers, heading away from the masses up towards the fell itself. We weren't completely on our own, as the Gruffalo trail was also proving popular with the younger visitors!

AW has a good old moan about the forestation that has taken place on Whinlatter, but for me it feels like the surrounding environment has accepted the spruce trees with grace and dignity and it is an enjoyable Lakeland experience. BUT the forestry commission paths all look alike and as you are surrounded by trees with the occasional glimpse over towards Keswick, it can be quite disorienting.

However once you are out of the forest, Whinlatter takes on a character of its own. Standing somewhat in isolation, it is a quiet backwater of the Lakes, despite being a short walk away from all the action. The heather-clad slopes offer fantastic views of the surrounding North-Western fells.

As it is a fairly gentle ascent, without too much hard work you soon reach the twin peaks of Whinlatter and Brown How, which is a short distance away. The summit ridge makes for fun walking, easy on the feet but with interesting terrain and those unbeatable views.

To get back to the car we retraced our outbound path and before we knew it we were back in the heart of Whinlatter forest, headed towards the visitor centre where a hot drink and scone was waiting with our names on them!

Uldale - Walking in the Northern Fells

Longlands - Longlands Fell - Brae Fell - Little Sca Fell - Great Sca Fell - Meal Fell - Trusmadoor - Great Cockup - Over Water

In various situations in life I find myself rooting for the underdogs. It's always uplifting to see someone or something come out on top despite the odds. I have a similar approach when picking a walk to do in the Lakes. Sure a walk up Blencathra, Scafell, Helm Crag or Coniston Old Man is pretty hard to beat. But the Lake District is also full of unsung heroes, fells which don't have the height, views, challenges and legends that the big guns do. Nonetheless they each have a charm of their own, and with such fells you also get a chance to escape the crowds.

This walk around the Back o' Skiddaw meant a chance of a quiet walk on a busy weekend. The Uldale Fells are a group of fells right on the northernmost edge of the National Park, with only Binsey beyond. As far as walking goes these fells are more leisurely than lively. Most of the walks are on grassy slopes, with the occasional steeper climb here and there but overall it's straightforward.

If anything, as they are all fairly similar in look and feel, you do have to keep your wits about you when navigating.

We parked at the small car park at Over Water and made the short walk along the road to Longlands, then headed out on our grassy climb. The walk up to Longlands fell was straightforward without much chance to go wrong and as we got higher the views behind back over Binsey, the Solway Firth and Scotland beyond opened up.

From Longlands Fell our next target was Brae Fell, which on paper looked like a short hop away, but the relatively deep Charleton Gill meant making a detour before the final ascent to reach the bulky cairn that adorns the summit of Brae Fell.

Here we left the views over Solway behind, heading "inland" into the heart of Uldale. It was a straightforward walk across to Little Sca Fell and Great Sca Fell just behind. By this point with the fells are quite similar-looking it can be disorientating, but you do get a wonderful feeling of solitude and serenity.

The next part of the walk saw us head in an almost straight line, coming down from Great Sca Fell, onto Meal Fell and then Great Cockup. The summit at Meal Fell was an interesting collection of lumps, cairns and a decent shelter and so it was here that we settled down for our lunch.

The most challenging part of the walk lay ahead as we had to cross the wonderfully Tolkienesque Trusmadoor to get to Great Cockup.

This ravine actually looked worse than it was, and the purple heather clad slopes made it all very picturesque. Once we had completed the steep climb up it was a simple walk over to the summit of Great Cockup and then down to Little Cockup.

The end of the walk was actually the hardest part, as there didn't seem to be a direct path back down to the road. We headed for what looked like a track towards the farm buildings of Stockdale but it was soon evident that this was private land, and a farmer's wife who saw us soon afterwards was friendly enough but it was clear that we had gone slightly wrong!

Apart from that this was a delightful excursion to the north of the national park and an area what we will be revisiting for sure.

Far Eastern Fells - A Howtown Circuit

As part of this year's Wainwright Society Challenge, I made my first journey into to wilds of Howtown and beyond to explore the outer reaches of the Far Eastern Fells.

The purpose of the challenge walk was to tackle one of the ridge routes between two fells, as described in Wainwright's Pictorial Guides, as well as raising money for the Brathay Exploration Group. There are many high level ridges that are almost as legendary as the fells themselves, but I decided to pick a less obvious one. The walk between Arthur's Pike and Loadpot Hill is serene rather than sensational, and whilst other fells will have been rammed on this weekend, I had the place to myself here which was a great feeling.

I started off just outside of Howtown, heading back through the huddle of houses and welcoming pub before hitting the lower slopes of Bonscale Pike. After initially following the path that slants its way up the fell, the guide suggested that there was a more direct ascent to be made, and so I went for it. It has to be said this wasn't a path but a straight slog up the side of the fell, a hands and knees job.

Not the best ascent it has to be said, but my frequent stops to catch my breath were rewarded with the Ullswater opening up behind me. In addition, I made the summit in no time and this meant most of the hard work had been done for the day.

Bonscale Pike and Arthur's Pike both have a lot to offer. As long as you stick to the paths their ascents are relatively simple, and perched on the shores of Ullswater they offer great reward. What's more, both summits are embellished by spectacular beacons, stone handiwork from times gone by.

It is a simple walk from one to the other, with a dip between the two when crossing Swarthbeck Gill, and all the way you are accompanied by fantastic views. I will definitely be revisiting these fells!

From Arthur's Pike I then struck "inland", headed on the wide track that follows the gradual incline of Loadpot Hill. This walk now became one of solitude and serenity, as I did not see let alone encounter another soul in this path, which in the Lake District is a very rare thing. It felt almost like the North York Moors here as I crossed the sprawling mass of land that is Loadpot Hill and Wether Fell. Neither are especially scenic but a look at the map and the references to stone circles, tumuli and Roman forts tell you that this is ancient land and steeped in history. As this is also the route of the High Street Roman road, the path follows in notable footsteps.

Wether Hill has two areas of minor prominence which count as its summits and again, whilst not being especially spectacular, this place is not lacking in atmosphere.

I had originally planned on heading back to the car from here, but I had made good time, so I decided to head down into Martindale and up Steel Knotts. I'm not really sure why, but I decided to jog down the steep path, giving me the tiniest of insights into the world of a fell runner. It meant I covered ground quickly, pausing at a ruined house in Martindale for a spot of lunch.

Steel Knotts is a great little fell, with a craggy summit bearing the magical name of Pikeawassa. Perched just above Howtown, the views from here are as spectacular as you could wish for. From here it was a steep but straightforward descent back to Howtown, sadly still no stop in the pub, but a big smile on my face after a great day in the Far Eastern Fells.