Harter Fell (Eskdale)

I keep starting blogs like this but it has been some time since the last walk!  Only one done this year so far, the second walk of the year and its September!  My turn to drive and as we were heading over to Harter Fell we got an early start so I picked Peter up at 6.15.  On the way we were trying to work out if it would be quicker going over Wrynose and Hardknott Pass or round the main road to Eskdale.  After much discussion we decided on the passes.  My Sat Nav also decided to include Kirkstone Pass which made the journey to the start a little longer than it should have been. (That'll teach us, not to rely on Sat Nav!)  Wrynose and Hardknott are very steep but more importantly very tight, with only just enough room to pass another car at passing places.  Fortunately we only met two vehicles at that time of the morning.  However we realised it would be much busier in the afternoon when we were on our way home.  So we decided to head out to the A595 and follow that route back home.  We arrived at the parking spot at the foot of Hardknott Pass just after 9.00 am.  Peter had brought Scotch Eggs for breakfast and we started walking around 9.20.

We set off over a small bridge (Jubilee Bridge) and turned right through a gate heading towards the fell.  It was a reasonably warm morning for September and the climb was fairly steady at this stage.  Plenty of time (and breath) for a chat and putting the world to rights.  The path was clearly defined most of the way to the summit.  We crossed a couple of gills and then took a left on a less defined path.  Very shortly the climb started to get a little steeper although it was still relatively easy.  The final 70 - 100 feet were a little more rocky and a little steeper and also in a little mist.  We reached the summit just after 11.15 still in mist which was a shame as all the books talk about the views from up here.   

A slightly misty summit

We had a sit down over looking Hardknott Pass and had some bait.  The mist was starting to clear and very quickly became quite clear.

Looking down to Hardknott Castle and Pass

We could now see cars on the Pass and could actually hear tyres screeching as they struggled to get a grip on the steep road.  In only a few minutes we counted 7 or 8 cars trying to pass each other and we realised our decision to avoid that route on the way home was the right one.  As we sat we heard voices approaching and quite quickly there were several other people at the summit.  Harter Fell is a particularly nice summit with plenty of space to sit in solitude.  However this morning everyone seemed to want to sit right next to us!  We left the top around noon and decided to follow the same route down.

It seemed a little steeper going down than the ascent but again it was relatively easy, fairly steady on the knees.  We took our time aiming to get back to the car around 2.  

The Scafells in cloud

So we had a little time for another bait stop and time to take a few more photos of the fantastic views.  

Looking back at Harter Fell

We ended up sitting for about half an hour, soaking up the sun and just chilling.

Eskdale towards Sellafield and the coast

We got back to the car just after 2.00pm and had time for a couple of pints at the Sportsmans on the way home.  A steady, but extremely enjoyable walk today, just over 16,000 steps on the Fitbit, around 6 miles.  Now only 17 to go!  Next one planned for 3 weeks, see you then!

Scafell Pike

We are managing to get a few walks in lately in training for The Three Peaks Challenge next month. I wanted to check progress and see how quickly I could do Scafell Pike so me and Peter set off for Wasdale just before 6.30. Steve was away this weekend so couldn't make it. It was a very wet morning as we left the north east on the long drive to Wasdale. We arrived there about 9.15, the car park was very busy with mini buses and camping stoves, lots of three peakers were taking advantage of what was allegedly mid summer!

Neither of us had a chance to get pies yesterday so we had a couple of slices of pizza leftover from last night and set off walking at 9.30. We crossed the stream and started a steady climb pretty much straight away. After about half an hour we reached the fast flowing stream again and crossed it. The path got steeper now and was made up of small, smooth rocks and it was clear they were going to be slippy coming back down! It was not raining at this point and was actually quite warm, after another half hour we reached a fork in the path and we took the right side towards Mickledore. Up to this point we were surrounded by bus loads of walkers but they all took the left path. We had a 10 minute sit down and a cuppa and put on the water proofs as it was starting to rain and getting very cold considering it was June. The path climbed into the crags and became very steep on very wet scree. Finally to reach the summit of Mickledore we had a rough scramble. At the top was a Mountain Rescue store where I stopped for a minute to catch my breath and then set off for the final summit.

The last 25 minutes was then a walk over large rocks, being very careful where to place your feet because one foot wrong could easily break an ankle. We reached the summit of the highest mountain in England at exactly noon so 2.5 hours ascent was exactly on target. We stopped for a quick photo (above) and then set off back down. This time we set off on the path that would take us back to the other junction of the fork. It seemed like a less direct route but without the climb, it was certainly busier. As most of the path was made up of the slippy stones it was quite a slow descent for me. We stopped for a cuppa and some bait for around 25 minutes, far too long when we come to do the Three Peaks proper. It rained most of the way back down so the water proofs stayed on all the way to the car park.

We got back to the car park at 2.50 exactly so 5 hours 20 minutes not the fastest but bearing in mind the weather and 2 stops, not bad.

With the Three Peaks in 3 weeks still lots of training to do but heading in the right direction.