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We started out on Saturday 2nd May from waterside Farm campsite in Ullswater. The weather was fine and clear but a little chilly. I had my wife as company and my son in our Mac-pack Vamoos child carrier strapped to my back for the days walk ahead. Very quickly we came to Parkfoot campsite which is where we turned and walked up through the site and out onto the fell just after their pony trekking centre.
From this point on you leave all the noise and hustle of low level campers and everything that goes with it behind. Its a great feeling when you close the gate behind you and your eyes look up the slope towards the tops of Arthurs, Bonscale and Loadpot stretched out invitingly before you. We soon found our pace and settled down for the mornings pull up to Arthurs Pike. The day stayed sunny but it had a real bite in the N/W wind so we stopped and dressed our son in his ‘snow suit’ which he loves (You get cold when just sitting) and then we were off again.
We soon reached Arthurs Pike which gave us some great views down the length of Ullswater and the central Fells beyond. Helvellyn and both edges were clearly visible with a little zoom on the camera. From Arthurs you can clearly see your route across to Bonscale which is easily achieved.
We stopped for lunch (Pick-nick) in the lea of Bonscale before heading down into Howtown with a view of catching the ferry intoPooly Bridge for beer and food. The path almost immediately disappears as you leave the summit and start your descent. This steep grassy slope is quite challenging as it starts with a gentle descent and quickly turns into a very steep slope. None the less the path comes and goes as you traverse and descend with the contours of the fell side. The views down into Howtown are well worth it. Unfortunately too worth it as we saw our time scheduled ferry dock and then leave when we were still several hundred feet up the side of the hill!!
So when we reached the bottom we followed the track back to the mouth of the valley and back to our camp site. A very pleasant 7.5 mile walk in sunny spring conditions.
For a review on how I got on with my new walking poles, see the general notice board under ‘walking poles’ which I posted a week or so back.
