Date: 08-Mar-2010
Map: Landranger 89, 90, OL4
Weather: Sunshine with passing clouds.
From the road near Brumston Bridge up to
Sale Fell and back by the same path before circling up to
the summit of Ling Fell and back to the start :
a very gentle 4.7 miles as measured on Satmap GPS.
The last
day of my Wasdale weekend and my legs a little sore from
yesterdays jaunt up Whin Rigg and Illgill Head. Today was a
day I did something stupid again, when will I ever learn -
see later. I had a quick look at my list of Wainwrights and
decided that Sale and Ling Fells fitted the bill, and the
weather was as the rest of the weekend - delightful. Like my
walk up Binsey, this was really a gentle stroll or should
have been. After a last look up Wasdale for some more
pictures, I checked out of the Santon Bridge Inn and drove
up the coast again, heading east along the A66. I turned off
at Wythop Mill to park up in a small lay-by near Brumston
Bridge. It was only a short walk of 4 miles but it gave me
two more Wainwrights to tick.
looking over to Ling Fell
the gentle path up
to Sale Fell
the slightly steeper bit up to the top
glorious sunshine - looking over the valley to the strip
Lytchets
As with Binsey it was fairly
easy going, with an initial gentle ascent along the flank of
Sale Fell on a farm track, which then cuts back along the
hillside. The big buzzards were out quartering the fields
above - I really must bring my old camera with me to use the
zoom lens on it - better than carrying extra lenses for my
SLR and not much heavier. That's what I used to think but
last time I was at the airport I tested the weight of a big
zoom lens and was amazed how light it was. There weren't
many views on the way up apart from Ling Fell across the
valley and the flat coastal plain to the north. It took me a
while to figure out which hills were to the south of me then
I twigged it was the back side of Broom Fell and Lord's
Seat. Across the valley there were some interesting medieval
field patterns at Old Scales farm - they looked like strip
lychets but aren't marked as such on the OS map. The route
turned up a steeper grassy slope and made our way up to the
summit and glorious views of Skiddaw with his snow capped
summit, and the Helvellyn range in the background.
up on top and the view to Skiddaw is fantastic
the view from the summit - see the terraces towards the
bottom right
this one doesn't need any words
the next objective was Ling Fell
At the
summit after a brief refreshment stop we about turned and
followed the same route back down to the car, where Mrs RP
decided to read a book. Unfortunately for me this was where
I 'did' my knees in on the descent from Ling Fell. Of all
the Wainwrights I've done recently Ling Fell isn't high on
the list, it has similar views to Sale Fell but not as good.
The route up was easy enough as I followed a farm track
around the contours circling the hill before cutting up more
steeply to the summit trig point. I had a quick mooch around
and I don't know why but I put a spring in my step and
hurtled down the steep side of the fell. The consequence of
this of course was jarred up knees that were painful for the
next two months, and I'm sure they haven't been the same
since - dohh. I was soon back in the car and then had the
long drive home to end a fabulous weekend - ouch for a while
though, but a blazing sunset picture from Wasdale keeps me
smiling.
looking back to Sale Fell from the track up to Ling Fell
the view to the north was a little hazy
the trig point on the summit of Ling Fell
Where now:
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