Little Mell Fell: The Lake District Lowlands

I guess as part of attempting to tackle ALL the Wainwrights, you have to take the rough with the smooth. Or in this case, the smooth and rounded instead of the rough and craggy.

Some of these "minor" fells are also valuable for a number of reasons - they are easily done in a shorter amount of time, and a good number of them lie on or close to our route when headed home from the Lakes. Great Mell Fell, Souther Fell, High Rigg, Latrigg are all fells we can easily head up on the way home and one other obvious addition to this list is Little Mell Fell.

True, a walk up Little Mell Fell cannot compare with the thrills of a high ridge walk, an ascent of a higher fell, or a grand day out. It is lowly, rounded, grassy and isolated from other fells.

But for me it is the gateway to the Lakes, the first bump in the landscape that tells you that you are entering Lakeland. It is also a nice quiet corner of the Lakes and so the lanes between the A66 and the shores of Ullwater provide an ideal little network of routes for cyclists to avoid the busier roads.

Our tour of Little Mell Fell was completed in under one hour - ascent, enjoy the view, and descent. There's no description of the route needed either. Park at the bottom, head upwards on the grassy slope until you reach the trig point, then head back down.

I did really enjoy the landscape from here. The great hulk of Blencathra over to the north, the fellow minor fells of Great Mell Fell and Gowbarrow Fell nearby, Ullswater just beyond and panoramic views of the Lake District to the west and the Eden Valley over to the east.

All in all an easy and fun little walk that allows us to get just that little piece more of Lakeland before heading home.