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In the last 3 or 4 months, most of the hills I've done have been sub-2000 Scottish marilyns; I'm used to not seeing anyone else on a hill! ...so a Lake District classic on a Saturday, at the start of school holidays and in good weather was a shock to the system
I set off on the walk at 10:30, so of course no parking to be had in Scales itself by then, but I got a place in one of the nearby laybys on the A66. I've only done Blencathra from further west before and it was back in the days when I went up hills like Blencathra, Skiddaw and Scafell Pike a few times rather than specifically seeking out Wainwrights to tick off. I rarely go along the A66 now, so it was nice to see Blencathra up close again ... Skiddaw and Blencathra always remind me of my geography lessons about glaciers, corries etc, as they were textbook examples of the resultant formations we could see in real life locally .
Anyway, my main aim today wasn't Blencathra's main summit, though I did that too ... it was to get a couple of new Wainwrights done. I had in my head I'd do Mungrisdale Common (never previously realising it was a Wainwright when looking down on it or over it before) and Bannerdale Crags, but once I was up there I saw Bowscale Fell and Souther Fell were easy to tag on in such nice weather, so ended up doing those too. It was a really enjoyable walk, my only slight regret was that I didn't take a scrambling ridge route up given the perfect conditions. My route ended up as:
- Looking back down on Scales as I headed up the path (Scales Fell route)
- It might be one of the most straightforward ways up the mountain, but it gives some good views of Blencathra
- Scales Tarn was down on the right as I continued up, Sharp Edge above it
- Hallsfell / Blencathra Summit trig point
- I didn't head along to Knowe Crags today
- ...instead, I headed in the other direction towards Atkinson Pike, past the small tarn and the stones making a white cross
- Marked by a cairn, the path down Blue Screes leads to the wonder that is Mungrisdale Common (the wonder being that it's actually a Wainwright)
- Ignore Skiddaw in the background ... I'm just aiming for the high point of the benign grassy lump. At least the path is clear in these conditions.
- A glimpse of Derwentwater between the bulks of Blencathra and Skiddaw
- Mungrisdale summit cairn, looking back to Atkinson Pike. Despite Mungrisdale Common itself being a bit flat and unexciting, it is in the centre of 360-deg views to proper hills. Wasn't too boggy today either as it's been dry the last few days.
- Bowscale Fell had looked nice from Mungrsidale Common, so I decided to head there next rather than straight to Bannerdale Crags. Had to head to the col where there was a meeting of multiple paths, then it was a straightforward walk from here to Bowscale Fell ahead. Doesn't look so interesting from this approach!
- Pano of Bannerdale Crags, Blencathra, Mungrisdale Common and Skiddaw from Bowscale Fell
- From Bowscale Fell I took the path skirting the top of the plateau above Bannerdale to head right round to Bannerdale Crags
- Cliff edge cairn of Bannerdale Crags looking back to Bowscale Fell
- Bannerdale Crags summit cairn looking over to Blencathra
- Headed from the summit straight back to the col where all the paths met, and took a sharp left to start heading down the valley, taking the path on the left side of River Glenderamackin rather than the one on the right, as it looked like the left one would give me a good route up to Souther Fell
- The path continues on around the nose of the hill, but I took the branch off to the right to cross the footbridge. Souther Fell is the hill ahead, the high point is off to the left
- An easy grassy (and no doubt boggy in wet weather) stroll along the top of Souther Fell got me to the summit, a patch of exposed bedrock. This is looking over to Bannerdale Crags , Blencathra behind
- Not a very exciting hill, but an easy walk, looking back here the way I'd come to the summit and was now about to go back
- Home stretch now, the last bit of hill path down to the small parking area near the sheepfolds. From there, it was a short walk back through Scales and to the car.