Gowbarrow Fell
Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 8:45 amEveryone was feeling a little tired after our walk yesterday, so the plan today was to tick off some smaller fells - Gowbarrow Fell then on to Little and/or Great Mell Fell if time and energy permitted.
We parked at Aira Force car park, and set off through the glade (very pretty but full of people) and out through a side gate onto the fell side (also very pretty, but completely empty).
The ascent of Gowbarrow feels more like a walk round the fell than up it - first you walk across the southern face (lovely views of Ullswater), then you contour around the east side (views over forests towards Penrith) to a ruined shooting hut. Only from there do you finally feel like you start to climb up the fell rather than round it, and it's not long before you are on the top.
The clouds descended more or less as we reached the top so the views were not great, and in particular the cloud seemed much lower to the north so the Mell fells were looking unappetising at this point. We set off down via Green Hill - a much more direct route. Halfway down I managed to twist my knee - not quite sure how, I wasn't even walking at the time, just turning round. It wasn't a particularly bad twist but it kept twingeing the rest of the way down, so we decided that it would be better to rest it for the rest of the day rather than risk not being able to walk the rest of the week - plans for Great/Little Mell Fell were thus abandoned.
No photos today - wasn't really a great day for them. Gowbarrow Fell is a a pleasant enough walk for a short expedition, with the added attraction of a visit to Aira Force at the start and/or end of the walk.
We parked at Aira Force car park, and set off through the glade (very pretty but full of people) and out through a side gate onto the fell side (also very pretty, but completely empty).
The ascent of Gowbarrow feels more like a walk round the fell than up it - first you walk across the southern face (lovely views of Ullswater), then you contour around the east side (views over forests towards Penrith) to a ruined shooting hut. Only from there do you finally feel like you start to climb up the fell rather than round it, and it's not long before you are on the top.
The clouds descended more or less as we reached the top so the views were not great, and in particular the cloud seemed much lower to the north so the Mell fells were looking unappetising at this point. We set off down via Green Hill - a much more direct route. Halfway down I managed to twist my knee - not quite sure how, I wasn't even walking at the time, just turning round. It wasn't a particularly bad twist but it kept twingeing the rest of the way down, so we decided that it would be better to rest it for the rest of the day rather than risk not being able to walk the rest of the week - plans for Great/Little Mell Fell were thus abandoned.
No photos today - wasn't really a great day for them. Gowbarrow Fell is a a pleasant enough walk for a short expedition, with the added attraction of a visit to Aira Force at the start and/or end of the walk.
hope the knee sorts itself out quickly