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Place Fell rises prominently to the east of Patterdale. I had originally intended to climb it on the journey over the High Street ridge from Troutbeck, but the climb up from Boredale Hause looked far to demanding so I had decided to leave it as a stand-alone peak for another day. So the morning after my mid-December climb up St Sunday Crag, I returned to Patterdale and parked opposite the hotel again. This time I turned left and then up the minor road which bends to the left before the footpath breaks off onto the side of the fell heading southeast above Rooking.
From this point, with Place Fell towering directly above, the parallel paths up towards Boredale Hause are obvious, the climbing is on a steady gradient and in relatively quick time I arrived at the confluence of paths on the Hause. Turning north the path continues to ascend and becomes increasingly steep. There is a false top about 300 metres before the summit and the gradient relaxes to become a pleasant walk with stunning views for the last section.
With my focus this morning very much on peak bagging I think I was a little lazy in considering an alternative route down by continuing north on a minor tread and then descending sharply via Hare Shaw. Instead, I mostly retraced my route, enjoying the views south to the High Street ridge before adopting a small deviation on the excellent paths past Side Farm to return to Patterdale. It is a fast descent back to the valley so a more leisurely round using the alternative route off the top may be more fun.
