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Sub 2k Marilyns: Arnside Knott, Hutton Roof Crags, Hallin Fell, Grange Fell.
Date: 27/09/2022.
Distance: 2.5 + 3.5 + 2 + 3.5 km.
Ascent: 130 + 120 + 160 + 190m.
Time taken: 35 minutes + 40 minutes + 25 minutes + 50 minutes.
Weather: Warm, sunny, occasional shower, breezy.
I had enjoyed a decent long weekend in Wales - visiting my parents, catching up with a couple of friends and going walking in a few old haunts. Now it was time to go back to Glasgow for a few days before returning to Jackie in Inverness. I saw it as a perfect chance to add to this year's meagre new Marilyn tally - there are loads of them just off-route so it would be good to break up the journey on a few of them.
I left Anglesey at 10:30am and drove straight into heavy showers. The forecast suggested better weather in the NW of England so I skipped out on Hope Mountain near Mold and went straight over the border. Another hour or so took me past the busiest traffic and onto the southern edge of the Lakes. Arnside Knott is in a key position overlooking the Kent estuary and Morcambe Bay with views into the southern Lakes. It is also less than 160m high - a handy little break not requiring too much effort. I was a little taken aback by the approach from the M6 - lots of tiny villages and narrow, twisty roads. I was soon parked up in a layby and ready to start - the better weather and short distance here meant I went in t-shirt and shorts and left everything else behind.
Ingleborough from Arnside Knott I hadn't realised that these hills were all limestone (although it shouldn't have come as a surprise given all the other limestone areas round about). In the woods I scrabbled up a steep path and reached the trig point in an epic 8 minutes! A heavy shower appeared out of nowhere at this point so I sheltered under some trees while cursing my poor planning.
Coniston Fells in the distance It's fair to say that the high point of Arnside Knott is pretty unimpressive but it only takes a short detour down towards the National Trust carpark to get some great views out over the estuary.
Rainbow over the Kent Estuary 
Kent Estuary and rail viaduct 
Across the Kent Estuary to Grange-over-Sands 
Power station at Heysham 
Coniston Fells again I looped back to the car along a track after descending a slope of steep limestone scree (slippery after the recent rain). A highly recommended corner for a stroll although I think it would be easy to make a bit more of the area than I did.
Arnside Knott ______________
Next stop was only a few miles away but on the other side of the M6. No fast roads to get there though! Hutton Roof Crags are the retiring high point of the much more familiar Farleton Fell. Not that I would recognise that name but it is a landmark around the point you would leave the M6 for the southern Lakes - a limestone scree-covered dome. I chose to park at Dalton Crags on the other side of the hill for sheer bagging convenience though - I don't tend to feel so guilty about finding the quickest way up if I'm just stopping off on the way to somewhere.
Ingleborough from Dalton Crags Once I emerged from the woods (popular with dog walkers it appears), the ground became open and I again had good views of Ingleborough. The landscape was a mixture of trees, short grass and limestone pavement.
Great Coum and Gragareth 
Ingleborough again Once over another wall and into a nature reserve area, there were more bushes and the rock was rougher - if you left the path here you would find things pretty hard going. The actual summit was just east of the trig point and fairly unassuming. Good distant views of the Lakes, Heysham and Ingleborough though.
Coast and Heysham power station from near the summit of Hutton Roof Crags 
Eastern Lakes 
Ingleborough from Hutton Roof Crags I took a slightly different route back to the car. It was time to get a bit further north before going off route again.
Back into the woods ________________
Hallin Fell had only really crossed my mind when I was looking for hills to do on this drive. The others had been at the back of my mind for years but Hallin Fell is probably a little further out of the way than strictly necessary. However I could never make it fit into any plans I have for backpacking across that corner of the Lakes and it is one of those summits which has rewards way beyond the efffort required to climb it. It was approaching rush hour as I left the motorway at Penrith but fortunately the worst traffic was all heading that way rather than to Pooley Bridge. The next section of road down the south side of Ullswater is not fast but it is attractive. The final climb over to Martindale goes up a road reminiscent of a mini Hardknott Pass. I parked opposite a church at the top of this.
Beda Head and The Nab Straight away the views into Martindale were spectacular - worth a diversion I thought. The way up is steep but obvious and I hoped to dodge further showers.
Up Martindale A group of kids from a nearby activity centre dominated the summit but there was plenty of room for all up here. Great views up and down Ullswater to add to what I could already see, and a sliver of Blencathra poking over Gowbarrow.
Across Ullswater to Gowbarrow 
Across Ullswater to Little Mell Fell 
East along Ullswater 
Blencathra peeking over Gowbarrow 
Penrith and northern Pennines 
Group on summit of Gowbarrow There were paths in many directions so I was able to do a loop of sorts, arriving back at the car as another shower approached. I was probably away from the M6 for around 90 minutes, most of which was driving - that comprises my visit to the Lake District this year
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Next (and what turned out to be my final hill) was the runt of the litter. Fortunately a good sunset redeemed the photos but I can easily say that the only Scottish entry to today's bag collection is the only hill I wouldn't be in a rush to return to. It took a bit of meandering through quiet country lanes to reach Dunnabie, where the walk started. I must thank other report writers - particularly McMole - for providing useful info on how best to reach the summit. Until I had looked at these reports I hadn't even realised that this is a forest covered hill as the 1:50k map doesn't show it.
Crawthat from Dunnabie I passed through a couple of gates and climbed steeply up the north bank of a burn. At one point I had to thrash briefly through bracken but for the most part this was on good ground. This took me to the rough land at the edge of the woods.
SE from Grange Fell 
Towards Calkin Rig While the sun was casting lovely colours on the adjacent hillsides, it didn't look like I would be doing any more walking after this unless I was really keen to do it in the dark. Following the route drawn on an aerial photo by McMole, I was able to identify the correct forest ride (although the trees had grown a lot since the aerial shot so it wasn't that easy to spot) and force my way into the trees.
Oh lovely - forest rides full of nettles! This is far from the worst bit of tree bashing I've done but the narrow rides, sloppy ground and nettles made it an inferior experience to the last 3 hills! I dodged about a bit hoping I was going the right way, then worried I'd need to follow the same route out - would I find it? It probably took not much more than 5 minutes from the edge of the forest to the trig but it felt like longer. Still, here I was. No views though despite the sun glinting on the tops of the trees.
Grange Fell summit - uninspiring As it turned out, retracing my steps was straightforward and I was soon clear of the trees. I decided to climb a wall and make my way over to the nearby bump of Carruthers Fell - although 8m lower, this would be a much more worthy summit as it has no trees and a great view of Criffel and the Solway Firth. That just about redeemed the walk.
Arcoss Calkin Rig 
Criffel from Carruthers Fell 
West from Carruthers Fell 
South to the Solway Firth 
Zoom to northern Lakes across the Solway Firth Not fancying the bracken and steep slopes again I picked up the zigzag track which took me back to the road and was back at the car almost an hour after I had started. It was still light but I knew that by the time I regained the motorway it wouldn't be any more.
Back down the track