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Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)


Postby colgregg » Sat Mar 10, 2012 11:54 pm

Hewitts included on this walk: Cross Fell, Great Dun Fell, Knock Fell, Little Dun Fell

Date walked: 10/03/2012

Time taken: 5.5

Distance: 18 km

Ascent: 703m

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I've travelled the A66 many times and have always been impressed by the range of hills that tower above the Eden valley but had never got round to walking them. Today I decided to do something about it:

A beautiful day in Richmond had me thinking it was time to tackle some of the Hewitts in the North Pennines so full of enthusiasm I headed West, parking up on the service road to the Radar station on Great Dun Fell. From the start point (around 2000+ft up) it was merely a case of walking up the tarmac road and onto the summit, where the base is sited, for what must be the easiest Hewitt of them all at 848m. As it was now foggy with strong winds blowing there was no use in lingering to celebrate so it was onto the next summit. I was now following the Pennine Way which has, apart from a few short sections, been paved all the way to Cross Fell making walking easy across what would have been very wet land. The views when I got them were impressive with a panorama of the lakeland fells to the left and the North Pennines and Upper Teesdale to the right. The second summit was Little Dun Fell just over half a mile away which at 842m is only slightly lower than Great Dun. There is a good shelter for which I was grateful as the wind hadn't shown any signs of dying down. After another mile and a half I was on the broad plateau of Cross Fell. At 893m it is the highest point in England outside the lakes and the views to be seen are excellent all round . Unfortunately today all was grey as the cloud had not shifted which was typical and frustrating as many of the lakeland peaks seemed to have been cloud free all day.
Having eaten at the large wall shelter and taken the obligatory photo of the trig point it was time to continue on the Pennine way off the summit to join a track which eventually leads to Garrigill in the South Tyne Valley. A short distance Down this track is a bothy called Greg's hut which must be a welcome sight for those seeking shelter when the weather turns for the worse. I turned off the track once I'd crossed Backstone Edge and headed for the disused Slatesike Mine. My original plan was to follow the Tees to Moor House and then return to the car via Trout Beck but as I didn't think the daylight would last I decided to head back to the summit of Great Dun Fell. I'd had it easy so far with tarmac roads, well paved paths and solid miners tracks so a bit of bogtrotting was called for just to add to the challenge and half an hour later I was back at the radar station.
Instead of returning to the car I decided to tag the short walk to Knock Fell on to the end which once again is paved for most of the way and provides excellent views from the cairn of Knock Old Man.
Despite the weather this was an enjoyable day out and one which I shall do again in better weather as I reckon the views will be excellent throughout.

New_Route(1).gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts


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Great Dun Fell radar station.

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Little Dun Fell

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Even this pic shows the potential for great views. The Lakeland fells are out there somewhere.

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Greg's Hut. Extremely basic but a welcome sight in bad weather.

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Upper Teesdale and Cow Green Reservoir

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Great Dun Fell and Little Dun Fell from Slatesyke Mine

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THe "I wasn't expecting that" moment. Dunfell hush has scoured this massive ravine in the fellside.
colgregg
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby ChrisW » Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:40 am

That's a fine wander Colgregg, shame you didn't the the best of the views but at least there were some. That paving looks a little strange, almost out of palce. Anyway, congrats on making No: 100 +1+2+3 a fine way to do it too :D
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby colgregg » Sun Mar 11, 2012 12:24 pm

ChrisW wrote:That's a fine wander Colgregg, shame you didn't the the best of the views but at least there were some. That paving looks a little strange, almost out of palce. Anyway, congrats on making No: 100 +1+2+3 a fine way to do it too :D

It takes determination to do the Northern Pennines especially as you could be in the lakes distance wise. But I'm going to get some more Hewitts in from that area.
colgregg
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby SusieThePensioner » Sun Mar 11, 2012 1:29 pm

Well done Colin on achieving those Hewitts :thumbup:

Fabulous views on a fine day and then, I think, you're not tempted with the Lakes :lol:

Looking forward to more reports of the North Pennines :D
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby morag1 » Sun Mar 11, 2012 5:51 pm

Congratulations on reaching the magic 100 8)
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby poppiesrara » Sun Mar 11, 2012 7:35 pm

Good stuff, Colgregg - those look pretty palatable as North Pennines go...

Can you easily drive that far up the access road to Great Dun Fell now? I'd read that it's 'no vehicle access' and you had to walk up about the last five or six miles, which isn't a very enticing prospect...
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby colgregg » Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:03 pm

poppiesrara wrote:Good stuff, Colgregg - those look pretty palatable as North Pennines go...

Can you easily drive that far up the access road to Great Dun Fell now? I'd read that it's 'no vehicle access' and you had to walk up about the last five or six miles, which isn't a very enticing prospect...

Yep. While it does say private road its generally accepted that anyone can drive up it. There is a barrier stopping traffic going the last half mile but I parked a little lower down at a mine track. The P.W. ridge is an excellent promenade the problemis trying to make it a round. An Ideal round can be done if parking in Knock but the temptation to do away with 2000ft of ascent is always there. My original option of following the Tees to Trout Beck and back from there is along way but looks fairly easy and interesting.
colgregg
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby mrssanta » Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:55 pm

shame about the mist, it was a lovely day here all day.
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby johnkaysleftleg » Mon Mar 12, 2012 9:58 am

I drive past them every time I go to the Lakes and think, "Maybe one day". After yesterdays spectacular cloud inversion on Grisedale Pike (pics and report to follow) It might well be a long time in coming :D .
I didn't know you could park on the radar station road however. A start at 2000ft+ makes it more tempting.
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby Johnny Corbett » Mon Mar 12, 2012 3:38 pm

I've never did any walking in England or Wales for that matter but i like the fact that you can get so many hills done in very little time :D Well done on breaching the ton :D
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby L-Hiking » Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:47 pm

Cheers CG, nice report

johnkaysleftleg wrote:I didn't know you could park on the radar station road however. A start at 2000ft+ makes it more tempting.


I also was not aware of this access road thank you

Geoff
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby john923 » Tue Mar 13, 2012 8:33 pm

I was wondering when you'd get your hewitt tally into three figures so congratulations. Trouble is, 200 now seems a long way off!
When we were walking down the road last year we nearly got run over by white van men leaving the radar station - just didn't hear them coming with the wind in our faces. It's certainly a commute with a difference for them.
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Re: Hewitt number 100 (and 101,102,103)

Postby colgregg » Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:37 pm

john923 wrote:I was wondering when you'd get your hewitt tally into three figures so congratulations. Trouble is, 200 now seems a long way off!
When we were walking down the road last year we nearly got run over by white van men leaving the radar station - just didn't hear them coming with the wind in our faces. It's certainly a commute with a difference for them.


Thanks for the comments all. 200 is a long way off I'm afraid. really need to blitz thelakes to get close and Wales is well out of the way.
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