free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
Part1: Gavel Fell, Blake Fell and Burnbank Fell
13.5 km, 660m ascent, time taken 4h 17m
I made an earlier than usual start for these as for some reason I woke up very early and didn't go back to sleep.So I was able to get some breakfast, drive up to the western edge of the Lake District and start walking by about 9am.
I started from Lamplugh. To the south of the village there's a car park with a path leading to Cogra Moss reservoir.
- Cogra Moss Reservoir and Blake Fell
At the far end of the reservoir a steep path heads off to the left, along the side of Knock Murton. At the top of this path you cross a forest road and go through a gate, and then a path along the fence line leads up over the tops of Low Pen and High Pen to join the ridge between Blake Fell and Gavel Fell.
- View from Low Pen
- Cogra Moss from High Pen
The summits of Gavel and Blake fells both had a bit of snow on them, but not enough to make walking difficult.
- Gavel Fell summit
- Blake Fell summit
If you followed the ridge from Blake Fell, the next big hill would be Carling Knott.However, it's the lower down , insignificant-looking summit of Burnbank Fell, reached by following the fence to the north, which has Wainwright status.
- Burnbank Fell summit
For the descent from Burnbank Fell, Wainwright suggests to 'head north and join the bridleway to Fangs Brow'. So I headed north (I think) but didn't find the bridleway and instead had a pathless descent over wet ground and barbed wire fences,eventually finding my way down to the road leading back to Lamplugh.
- Looking back at Burnbank Fell
Part2: Castle Crag
4.0km, 257m ascent
It was still quite early in the afternoon when I got back to the car so I had time to drive over to Grange and head up to Castle Crag.
Seathwaite valley is supposedly the wettest place in England, and it lived up to its reputation as I got soaked on the way up, whilethe rest of the country was enjoying a bright sunny day.