Loadpot Hill 6th May 2016

The next chapter of my Lake District adventure covering the Fells in the North Eastern corner of the national park.

A little hazy at times , but otherwise perfect walking weather.

I drove up the A1 and left the car at Wetherby were I met with Richard who drove the rest of the way to the Church at Howtown.

North end of the route

South end of the route

The church at Howtown is a wonderful, beautiful and peaceful spot. We walked back along the single track road for a short distance and then picked up the path to the steamer landing stage. From there we picked up the gradually rising path along the flank of Barton Fell. With Barton Park to the left the path takes a hairpin turn to get onto the ridge up to Arthurs Pike. The advice in the guides (Wainwright and Mark Richards) is to avoid this ridge in the mist and I can understand why. It is more like gently rolling moorland than a ridge with the path indistinct at times. It would be easy to get lost in mist. Not today as the conditions were perfect.

Start of the walk

Soon we arrived at Arthurs Pike via whinny Crag (the view from here across Ullswater was stunning).

View from Whinny Crag

Arthurs Pike

From there it was a south west route across grassy paths (indistinct in places) to Bonscale Pike, again with great views across Ullswater, From here the path crosses Barton Fell South and then South East to the High Street ridge where the trig point at the summit of Loadpot Hill is easily located.

Loadpot Hill Summit

I predict a diet

Wether hill is a further 3/4 mile south with a dip around Howe Grain / White Bog.

Wether Hill- not much of a summit cairn

Steel Knotts

Steel Knotts Summit

The last part of the walk drops down from the High Street ridge in a North Westerley direction towards the lower ridge of Steel Knotts. From a distance this looked like quite a proposition but once at the foot of the ridge the climb to the top was quite straightforward. Great views all around from the summit.

From there the path drops down to the road a short distance south of the starting point.

We stopped at a pub in Pooley Bridge for a meal before the drive back....fish and chips  for me , pie and chips for Richard ...lovely

An excellent day out. The combination of hard work (jelly legs at times), fantastic views, and good company is (in my view) unbeatable.

Around 12 Miles. 2600 feet of ascent. OS OL 5