Wythop and Lorton Fells

Date: 17th July 2024

Wainwrights: Graystones, Ling Fell, Sale Fell, Broom Fell, Lord's Seat, Barf

Start/Finish: Darling How Car Park, Whinlatter

Distance: 11 miles

Height Gaines: 3700 ft

Time Taken: 8 Hours

The route : clockwise from the Darling How car park (bottom left)

     A video of the hike - Watch it ! It's really good ! (IMHO☺️)

 The intention of this hike was to tick off the 7 fells in the Wythop and Lorton region but ... I ran out of steam after the 6th fell. The main problem with trying to link these fells together is that many of them stand alone and therefore require a considerable height loss between each one. This does sap the leg strength, and as a result, I will need to leave Whinlatter for another day. OK, excuses over. Let's get on with the hike.

The walk starts by the Darling How car park on the Whinlatter pass. A path wanders down and over the Aikin Beck before turning to follow it downstream for a short while. Just before the Scawgill Bridge, a vague path heads steeply upwards following a dry stone wall on a fairly straight course up onto the summit plateau of Kirk Fell. Graystones is the name given to the summit. 

The steep path up onto Graystones

From Graystones summit, Ling Fell looks a long way away. A path follows the course of a tumble down dry stone wall northwards towards Ling Fell. Much height is lost and has to be regained on this 2 mile route. 

The view from Graystones over to Whinlatter

The onwards view to Ling Fell

Ling Fell ahead

On the summit of Ling Fell is a lovely pillar shaped Trig point that looks like it was built yesterday. It really has weathered well since its construction in 1949. 

Ling Fell Summit with a glimpse of Bassenthwaite Lake

From here, the whole circular route can be surveyed and in particular, the dispiriting sight of Sale Fell which stands alone like an island. The realisation soon dawns that this fell will also require its full height ascended and descended. And so I started the steep descent with the knowledge that every step downwards would require another equal step upwards on the other side of the Wythop valley. 

Sale Fell over the Wythop Valley

It's another steep climb through the bracken up onto the summit plateau of Sale Fell, which represents the far northern extremity of the Lake District fells. From the summit, there are stunning views out over the Irish Sea, and the Solway Firth to Scotland. 

The path up Sale Fell

Sale Fell views over to the coast

Onward views towards Broom Fell & Lord's Seat

Attention then turns south towards Broom Fell, and the Wythop valley in between which requires crossing again. A good path leads off the fell down to Old Scales but from there onwards there is no clear path to Broom Fell on the map. Progress is therefore made upwards along farm tracks on grassy field skirting the right side of a small valley eventually passing a small copse on the left and heading upwards onto the summit plateau. Broom Fell adorns an impressive summit cairn and wind shelter as well as stunning views over towards the much larger Coledale Fells. 

Broom Fell views over to Skiddaw …

… and the Coledale Fells

Lord's Seat is thankfully only a short distance, and a short ascent away. This is the highest fell of the hike today at 1811 feet. A good path then meanders down to Barf. 

Lord's Seat summit looking down to Barf and Skiddaw beyond

Barf summit is a wonderful place and without doubt the highlight of the walk. The views over the length of Bassenthwaite Lake over towards the Skiddaw massif are breathtaking and well worthy of a 30 minute respite. 

Barf summit view

From here the path to Lord's Seat is retraced about 2/3 of the way before a side track heads off in the direction of Whinlatter. Soon, a forestry track is intercepted which winds downwards towards the flanks of Whinlatter. At this point I decided that 8 hours and 3700 feet of ascent was quite enough for one day and I therefore continued on past Whinlatter which will need to be climbed another day. 

This walk was hard work, mainly because of the considerable ups and downs which saps the strength. But unless each fell (other than Broom Fell, Lord's Seat and Barf - which link nicely together) is climbed on a different day, there is no easy way to link them together. These are very quiet fells though so for those seeking solitude they represent very good value. 

So thats 208 Wainwrights now climbed. Just 6 left to go.

Back O'Skiddaw

Dates: 19th & 20th May 2022

Wainwrights: Binsey (1467 ft), Bakestall (2208 ft), Great Cockup (1726 ft), Meal Fell (1804 ft), Great Scafell Fell (2136 ft), Brae Fell (1923 ft), Longhands Fell (1585 ft)

Total Distance: 13.6 miles  

Total Height Gained: 4000 feet

Time Taken: Day 1 = 1 hour.  Day 2 = 7 hours

                A 30 minute Video of the Trip

These are a difficult group of fells to link together in a single hike, mainly because Binsey is sat out on its own as the most northern of the wainwrights. I therefore decided to take the camper van and tackle Binsey on its own and then move closer to the other 6 fells which can be climbed easily as a group. 

Day 1 Route up and down Binsey

I set off straight after work and arrived at the foot of Binsey at about 18:30. It's a short climb with the summit reached in just 30 minutes. The summit has lovely uninterrupted views north and west towards Scotland and the Isle of Man. 

Binsey overlooking Over Water

Binsey Summit View over Bassenthwaite Lake

It would be great place to watch the sunset but I was about 2 hours too early so I headed down and then moved the van to a nice spot close to the start of tomorrows walk.

Day 2 Route

After a nice quiet night in the camper I set off up Bakestall at 5am, mindful of the weather forecast which had thundery showers heading my way in the early afternoon. The path heads up grassy tussocks on the right side of dead crags. The summit was reached almost exactly an hour after leaving the van.  

 

Bakestall 

Bakestall Summit

From Bakestall I headed down a path on the northern side of the fell picking up the Cumbria Way at Dash Falls and then heading westwards under dead crags before veering off north towards Dash Farm and then up onto Great Cockup. A cuckoo, the first I've heard this year, kept me company for most of the 2 hours between fell tops.

The Fells on the route ahead from the descent from Bakestall

A good path then leads on towards Meal Fell, then Great Sca Fell, Brae Fell and finally Longlands Fell. The whole of this region is a series of grassy mounds reminiscent of the Howgills. This section of walk was populated mainly be skylarks. I didn't see another person until descending off Longlands Fell. 

Longlands Fell summit view towards Over Water and Binsey

This trip took the Wainwright count to 194. Just 20 to go.

The Skiddaw Group

Date: 24th March 2022

Start/Finish: Millbeck Farm
Wainwrights: Dodd (1612ft) , Carl Side (2420ft), Long Side (2405ft), Ullock Pike (2230ft), Skiddaw (3053ft), Little Man (2837ft), Lonscale Fell (2344ft), Latrigg (1203ft)

Distance: 14 miles

Total Ascent: 4117ft
Time Taken: 8 hours

The Route : Clockwise from Millbeck

I'm finally back in the fells! It's certainly been a while since my last Lakeland Hike. The Wainwright count has been stalled on 179 for the past 2 years. It was time to restart the campaign.

                           A video of the hike

My focus for the next few hikes is going to be on the Northern Fells. I've plotted routes to complete them all in 4 day hikes. Today was the first such route and was centred around the Skiddaw group of fells. The northern fells are not a particularly easy group to link together efficiently and so I used routes based on those suggested by Stuart Marshall in his book, 'Walking the Wainwrights'.

Views towards the Newlands and Coledale Valleys from Millbeck

Millbeck

I started at Millbeck on a lovely spring morning and headed up Skiddaw Dodd along the meandering forestry paths which traverse the fell. There are many route options. A map helps but it's really just a case of heading upwards at every route choice until the summit is reached. 

The views get better with height

Early morning mist over Derwent Water

Forestry path leading up to Dodd

Dodd summit view west over Bassenthwaite Lake ...

... and south towards Derwent Water ...

... and finally north towards Ullock Pike and Long Side

Postcard view of the Coledale Fells

The summit view from Dodd is really quite something and far in excess of what could be expected from just one hour of fairly minimal effort. The next objective of Carl Side looms ominously to the north and involves a 10 minute retracing of steps before a path branches off downwards towards White Stones. Unfortunately about 400 feet of height is lost before the ascent returns with fury. An hour of hard labour results in the conquest of Carl Side which is a fairly unimpressive mound with a tiny cairn to denote the summit.    

Looking back to Dodd from the path up to Carl Side

Carl Side summit looking towards Skiddaw

Long Side looms to the west and an obvious path takes a direct course to its summit. A further narrow path continues towards Ullock Pike. The views down to Bassenthwaite Lake are stunning along the whole ridge. 

Ullock Pike view of Bassenthwaite Lake

From Ullock Pike, the route is retraced back over Long Side before a wide path veers off towards the ascent of Skiddaw. 

Long Side and Carl Side from the ascent path to Skiddaw

From the col at Carlside Tarn the route then steers north-eastwards up a steep shale path which eventually emerges onto a broad ridge leading gently up to Skiddaw summit. Of course the expected summit slugs were sat on the trig point enjoying their lunch. For the life of me I don't understand why people do this. Why sit on the very busiest point of a mountain, where everyone else wants to get to, surely knowing that your presence there is so obviously unwanted. Maybe they have no sense of self awareness ? 

Summit Slugs on Skiddaw

Little Man is the next objective and in clear view over to the south east. The summit is lovely place with fantastic views. A little grassy terrace a few steps down on the Keswick side is a great place for 10 minutes R&R.

The path to Little Man

Little Man summit view over Derwent Water

Little Man summit view back to Skiddaw

Little Man summit towards Lonscale Fell with Blencathra beyond

Lonscale Fell is clearly visible to the east and involves a fairly dreary trudge towards this expansive grassy plateau where the summit is marked by a small pile of stones.

Lonscale Fell summit view west back towards Skiddaw

Lonscale Fell summit view east towards Blencathra

It was now time to head downwards, initially re-tracing steps for 5 minutes before heading along a good path due south towards the car park on the Cumbria Way. From there, a path skirts Latrigg on the western side before looping round and approaching the summit from the south. Lovely views over Keswick towards Derwent Water and the Newlands Valley are ample reward from this last fell, the lowest of the day but perhaps the best viewpoint of them all. 

Views of Keswick from the descent path

Looking back along the descent path from the Hawell memorial

Latrigg 

Looking back along the route taken from the flanks of Latrigg

Latrigg summit view of Keswick and Derwent Water

It was then a case of picking a route back to the car by the avoidance of road walking as much as possible.

Next up, the fells north of Skiddaw, or perhaps the Blencathra Group. Hopefully not too long off.

Wainwright count 187/214