Date: 06-Jan-2011
Map: Landranger 89 OL 004
Weather: Low cloud with a little sleet and snow
From the road near Waterend up the lane
past Askgill B&B. Along the track towards Wilkes How. At the
sheepfolds head uphill to Fellbarrow, around to Smithy Fell,
Sourfoot Fell, Watching Crag and Low Fell. Across to Darling
Fell and back down the slopes to the lane :
a gentle 4.6 miles as measured on memory map.
An early
visit up to the Lake District for the new year and
unfortunately the weather wasn't brilliant. The drive up was
interesting though, up over the Whinlatter Pass and down
into Loweswater via Lorton. My friend Paul took the wrong
route and ended up a farm track where even his winter tyres
couldn't save him from opening and closing gates - Me? I
just took the long way around. We had planned three walks
for a two day visit depending on the time available, to
include 7 Wainwrights. This was my first visit to this quiet
corner of the Lake District, and very peaceful it is. We
based ourselves at the Kirkstile Inn - great for food and
not the usual 'Pub Grub', and we agreed to meet at Waterend,
just past the far end of Loweswater. It was very still when
we arrived and we could see lots of ice under a sheen of
surface water - it was still cold up in those hills. The
weather was as forecast and not promising, with the low
fells covered with low clouds, obscuring any views of the
tops of anything. We parked up opposite the lane up to the
Askgill Farm B&B, and had a nice steady walk up the track
before passing through a gate and out onto another little
used track that runs around the lower slopes of Fellbarrow.
A derelict tractor sat resting in a grassy bank, and the
views over to the north were not too bad, with the Solway
Firth visible. That meant that the edge of a front was just
to the north of us and a quick glance to the sky showed that
the clouds were in no hurry to pass by.
looking back
down the green lane towards Loweswater
the view north
to Scotland
up the
lane to the sheepfolds
the
sheepfold and a lichen covered tree
the route
ahead up to Fellbarrow
up into
the gloom
But up above where we were going was pure unadulterated
clag (low mist/cloud for my overseas readers). We walked out
onto a metalled track and skirted around Fellbarrow until we
reached a sheepfold. The path was obvious here and led us
off to the right, up the fellside - less obvious was the
path to be taken higher up. So we followed a sheeptrod and
wound our way up the hillside over tufty tussocky grass. It
wasn't long before we were up in the mist, so we took a
bearing and headed up towards the summit area. All this
weather meant that I would have to return here to catch the
views that I didn't see. Up at the summit trig point we were
underwhelmed as we couldn't see anything, not even the next
hill on the route. So we took another bearing to check that
the paths leading off Fellbarrow were the ones that we
needed. Following the fenceline down and up to Smithy Fell
was followed by a down and up and around to Sourfoot Fell to
Watching Crag. From here the views should have been great
over towards Grasmoor et al, but all we got was the
impression of steepness of slope down to Lorton Vale. We had
one or two brief glimpses of clarity down over Loweswater,
but they were fleeting, but also enticing at the same time.
wow...a
trig point
the route
down to Smithy Fell
nearly a
view down to Crummock Water
Steeply down to
Lorton Vale
another
fantastic summit of Low Fell....with a low cairn
Down and across
towards Darling Fell around the corner
Up on the summit of Low Fell we were again greeted by a
small pile of stones, and a vague view over to Darling Fell.
We didn't bother going up to the Bield, which on a good day
would give a great view out over Loweswater to Crummock
Water and beyond. Instead we had a genius rouite of dropping
down 300ft before regaining the same via a steep plod up the
flank of Darling Fell. Once up on the top to add insult to
injury it started to sleet and snow....sideways, but it did
quicken our pace a little more. We cut down across the
fellside, bent into the snow and my new Paramo Smock sucked
it in to the inside leaving me a tad damp but nicely warm.
Eventually we dipped below the cloud once more and we
dropped down to the metalled track before walking uphill to
meet the path we had taken earlier. This was another two
Wainwrights ticked off, but we were frustrated by the lack
of a view so shall return here on a better day as it's not
too much effort getting up and down. We walked up Melbreak
in the afternoon.
the Bield
we didn't visit
steeply
down and then up to Darling Fell
there
goes all the ascent...dohh
and some
sleet to see us home
back down to the lane, Loweswater below
Where now:
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