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Following last weeks missed
sun and snow extravaganza in the Lakes we were keen to get over asap. Unfortunately this weekend's weather wasn't anywhere near as good, but with Sunday looking the better, with a promise of a weather window before the next front came in we headed over the A66 towards Loweswater for the next installment of our round.
The sun shining on the Pennines gave us a clue that the weather was in advance of the forecast and once we got into the Lakes the Bank of cloud to the South West confirmed that the sunshine was not going to last much longer. It was as the last vestiges of this warming glow left Carling Knott that we set of walking on what was already now a grey day.
Carling Knott by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Autumn by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Mellbreak and Grasmoor by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
High Nook Tarn by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Heading up by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
For full screen version follow the link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnkaysleftleg/10960643553/in/photostream/lightbox/Veiled Grasmoor by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Moody Buttermere by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Looking towards Hen Comb by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
The ascent of Gavel Fell starts quite promisingly with a defined ridge heading up at a nice angle. The views back towards Loweswater, across to Grasmoor and friends and up Buttermere are very nice and on a sunny day in late August with the heather in bloom this would be a quite idyllic start to the walk. As it was it stayed fairly clear until we reached High Nook and the clag started to roll in. The ridge also loses all semblance of definition at this point so it was a largely viewless trudge up to Gavel Fells summit.
The Joy of Fellwalking by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Grace and Hughie on Gavel Fell by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
We paused long enough to don our water proofs as a fine misty rain had also started, before following the fence towards the days high point, Blake Fell. From what I saw Blake Fell looks quite impressive as it thrusts up to its height of over 1800ft. I can't speak of the views however as we saw none.
One thing we can recommend is the summit shelter when the wind is blowing from the South West as it provided an excellent place for lunch. This was a good job as the light winds forecast were now whipping up nicely.
On the way to Blake Fell by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Pretending to be happy on Blake Fell by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
We left the shelter somewhat reluctantly and headed off into the clag to find the nondescript summit of Burnbank Fell.
This is another of those mystery fells in the round of 214, quite why it's included is hard to say, especially as Carling Knott or Carling End would probably provide a far better objective. AW chose to include them as part of Blake Fell so fair enough I suppose.
Once more into the Clag... by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
Final top of the Day by
johnkaysleftleg, on Flickr
By the time we were heading down from Burnbank the rain had set in quite persistently (so no more pics I'm afraid) which made the steep grassy descent quite interesting to say the least. Upon reaching the terraced path around the side of the fell a reason for it's inclusion perhaps became apparent as this high level traverse, with the superb colours of Holme Wood and Loweswater below, is really beautiful, even in the rain. We finished off by walking through the stunning Holme Wood with a mind to return on a sunny Autumnal day at some time in the future.
I would have to say we certainly didn't see the best of this round which is a pity as I feel on a really nice day it would have considerable merit.