What a walk. First week of my holiday from work. We have
been staying at home and just having days out – cycling / walking etc. Anne was
going to be busy on Friday, so I decided on this walk. Conditions for walking –
perfect. Cloudy, clear visibility and no wind.
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| Badger Rock |
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| On the Garburn pass looking back to the start point |
Up at 4, and was
parked up at Kentmere church by 7.45. There is only room for a few cars, and by
the time I had got my boots on there were two other cars parked up. Payment is
via an honesty box. The first part of the walk was a bit confusing – from the
Church to Kentmere Hall (1 – 200 yards) and then right turn for a footpath. Trouble is the
footpath just disappeared in a wet / muddy field. After 10 minutes of wandering
around (there was another couple of walkers with the same problem). Eventually
I found a gate in the corner of the field, and the other side of the gate was a
signpost to the Garburn pass which is an old pony / miners track. After that
there were no more ‘navigation malfunctions’
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| Path up to Yoke |
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| Yoke Summit |
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| From Yoke looking to Ill Bell with Thornthwaite Crag in the distance |
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| Way up to Ill Bell |
It is quite a slog up the pass – well defined but rocky path. I was soon
sweating and removing my top layer. At the top of the Garburn pass turn right
which is the start of the Ill Bell ridge. From there it is a steady climb up to
the top of Yoke with amazing views all around. The path from there is well
defined onto Ill Bell , Frostwick and then Thornthwaite Crag. Although this is
classed as a ridge walk there are a lot of ups and downs , particularly down
from Ill Bell. Thornthwaite Carg summit is a nice place – brilliant views all
around and flat , with plenty of rocks
to sit on and a spectacular summit cairn.
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| Ill Bell summit |
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| Frostwick from Ill Bell |
Having got this far it was worth a slight detour to visit
the summit of High Street. As Wainwright describes it the summit isn’t that
exciting – a trig point at the side of the path. Amazing that this was
originally part of a Roman road. I then
followed the line of the wall before picking up the path to the left which
leads to Mardale Ill Bell. The section of the walk from Thornthwaite Crag to
here was the easiest, but after Mardale Ill Bell the traverse of the Nan
Bield Pass
an climb up to Harter fell was hard work. There is a lot of height loss to
reach the shelter which forms the cross roads between Kentmere and Mardale
vallies. Then the climb up to the summit of Harter fell was steep but with a
decent path which meandered its way up the fell.
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| Ill Bell from the top of Frostwick |
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| The path to Thornthwaite Crag |
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| Thornthwaite Crag - wainwright # 60 |
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| Kentmere resevoir |
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| High Street Summit |
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| Mardale Ill Bell Summit |
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| way up to Harter Fell |
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| Harter Fell summit |
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| Kentmere Pike summit |
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| Last pic of the day - nearly back |
A well deserved lunch sat near the summit cairn. By this
time I had seen only 7 fellow walkers. It is such a beautiful part of the lakes
….I felt very lucky to have the summit to myself. The path to kentmere Pike
then follows the fence , and then wall and is very similar to the descent on
the Fairfield Horseshoe walk – following a wall with detours around peat bogs.
After Kentmere Pike I started to tire as the loss in height accelerated down
some steep rocky paths. Shipman Knotts – the last summit of the day is just a
jumble of rocky crags which form the start of this ridge. The walk back into
the village (once I was off the fell) was about a mile and half and I was glad
to get back to the car by then.
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| First three peaks of the walk seen from the return ridge |
Possibly the best days walking I have had in the Lakes –
awesome , stunning , amazing….there must be some better adjectives!!
OS OL7 14 miles, 8 hours
