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A trip to the Lakes was something we'd missed all summer due to various things getting in the way, a shame really considering we're only a couple of hours away.
So, when the opportunity presented itself, we didn't take much encouragement, but where and what?.
Well, there were a few small outlyers we wanted to do, so I looked at the idea of an early start and try to do five around the Eastern side using the car to travel between them. On the map this looked more than possible, it was just a case of getting to the start in time to be able to park up before it got busy.
Up the M6 off at junction 40, Great Mell Fell was the first one on the agenda.
There's limited parking near Brownrigg Farm NY407247, the early plan worked as there was no one else parked up so we got the car well tucked in, the roads around here are very narrow.
Set off up the track and took the second stile on the right heading westish through the trees. The walk up is steep most of the way, it maybe little but it gets the heart pumping.
On the summit the views are just as good as from the bigger mountains, here are some of them.
Little Mell Fell.
Gowbarrow Fell.
The Dodds.
Blencathra.
Another summit.
Dalehead etc
Pennines, Cross Fell.
Little Mell Fell again.
Skiddaw.
Blencathra again.
Another form of enjoyment.
We left the summit and arrived back at the car, the round trip took an hour so it's a good little hill to do if you want a leisurely afternoon on a nice warm summers day.
Back in the car for the drive round to The Hause NY423235, there'a a layby on the right just before the bend with room for five cars. Again we were the first car there so the plan was working, it was around 10.10am, not busy yet.
Little Mell Fell was next, through the gate and up towards the gate a little higher up, its wet between the two but once over this little section its straight forward all the way up and the summit is soon reached. Again, the views are great and from the summit we could see a way over to Gowbarrow Fell, our next target.
Gowbarrow Fell.
Little Mell Fell
Big views, the Northern Fells.
Blencathra still holding onto a bit of cloud.
Back at the layby we went through the gate on the other side of the road and walked along the fence line heading for the plantation. There's a narrow break in the trees, you can see it on the map, this takes you to a clearing in the trees,
The view from the clearing.
Here there's a gate to clamber over which lands you onto a path running alongside the plantation and over Great Meldrum.
From here the path takes you all the way to the summit of Gowbarrow Fell.
Gowbarrow Fell.
On the summit there are great views of Helvellyn, Fairfield, the Dodds and Blencathra etc, a superb little hill, it was a bit hazy and the light was suffering a bit for it, on a clear day the views will be fantastic.
Summit of Gowbarrow Fell, a special one for Denise, it was her number 107, halfway!
Views.
Our next hills above Ullswater.
We retraced our steps back to the car, Little Mell Fell, Gowbarrow Fell and back to the car took 2hrs 15mins so it's not a bad way of doing the two.
So, now the little drive to the next parking spot. This is through Pooley Bridge and up the lane towards Roehead. There's a fairly large layby at the top of this lane, enough room for a dozen cars at least and we needed that as it had got a lot busier, there was just enough room for us and two other cars on arrival so the early plan paid off, just.
We had our lunch here before we set off to lighten the rucksacks, we'd not used them until now but decided we needed them for this bit, just in case, by now the clouds were looking a bit dark.
Arthur's Pike and Bonscale pike were our intended, we'd missed these two off a walk we did from Howtown last November and these were the reason for this day out, on their own it was a long way to come, including the other three made it a well worth trip.
We set off from Roehead aiming for High Street, at the Cockpit we chose to use the path heading for Aik Beck and then picked up the path going over White Knott and then running along the top of the crags, doing this we got some lovely views of Ullswater and the three we did earlier.
Arthur's Pike was busy so we stopped for the summit piccy and continued to Bonscale Pike.
Arthur's Pike
Its a nice walk over to Bonscale Pike, the path is good, we were heading for the sheepfold marked on the map by Swarth Beck, this is a nice little spot, a pretty decent place to stop and have lunch for anybody who wants a bit of solitude.
Again, the views are good high above Ullswater, it makes it look like you're a lot higher than you are.
Bonscale Pike.
Views.
We were on those earlier.
Part of Ullswater.
Hallin Fell.
Serene.
Helvellyn and Catstye Cam
We had a snack then set off back, heading for High Street and the easy march back to the car.
Blencathra, Sharp Edge in afternoon sun.
We were back at the car at 3.50pm. We'd started walking at 9.00 am, with the driving between the walks we'd been out for 7 hrs in all so we had a good day out if not a bit different, this was the first time we'd planned a day revolving around the car, so, if it works out, there's a good chance to get a few more of the "out on a limb" hills done, we'll have another go in the Southern Lakes, there's a few down there that this method of "bagging" would be an advantage.
