| The Kentmere Horseshoe |
| Yoke 2309' (2:14 FRCC 88), Ill Bell 2476' ( 2:9 FRCC 63), Froswick 2359' (2:12 FRCC 80), Thornthwaite Crag 2569' (2:4 FRCC 46), High Street 2718' (2:1 FRCC 28), Mardale Ill Bell 2496' (2:8 FRCC 62), Harter Fell 2539' (2:6 FRCC 51), Kentmere Pike 2397' (2:11 FRCC 75), Shipman Knotts 1926' (2:24 FRCC 140) |
Wainwright No's 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101 & 102. Saturday 6th May 2006. |
Weather :- Warm but overcast, the odd sunny spell and a welcome breeze on the tops, very hazy. Accompanied by :- Members of the OFC. Helmut(all the way from Austria!), Roger and Ann Hiley plus dogs, Peter Rigg plus dogs, Jill R, Jo Hall plus dogs, Frances (all the way from Scotland), Tim Lummley, David Parry, Fred and of course Sam! The Kentmere Horseshoe......I decided to do this walk at the last minute. After suffering from Man Flu over the last few weeks I was only just feeling up to a big walk, and they dont come much bigger than this one! I knew it was going to be tough but I actually found it be easier than I expected. But saying that, it is a walk that once started and over the top of Yoke there are not many alternative routes to be taken, once started you are commited to complete it or face a very, very long return to the start point. In short make sure you have enough food and drink (very important) to last a full 8 hours at least! I am not going to write huge ammounts of words about it, after all I am going to have to return with John and Sarah at some point, and I am looking forwards to that, this is the most enjoyable Horseshoe walk that I have so far done. There are rather a lot of photos, but over 8 hours walking, 9 summits, 13 miles and nearly 4000 feet of ascent will do that! |
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| Badger Rock (Brock Stone) | Heading up the Garburn Pass Road |
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| Further up the Garburn Pass Road | Pondering a bouldering problem |
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| The top of Garburn Pass | Heading towards Yoke |
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| Pointing out the haze hidden views | Yoke |
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| The odd muddy bit needs carefull thought | Yoke |
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| Looking up and down the ascent of Yoke by the wall. Boggy in places but quite dry today. | |
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| Above the wall on a nice repaired path | Kentmere Pike across the valley, our penultimate summit today. |
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| Higher up the repaired path | Yoke summit coming into view |
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| Yoke summit with Ill Bell behind | Yoke summit cairn and assorted visitors |
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| Kentmere Reservoir | Ill Bell from Yoke |
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| Ill Bell from Yoke | |
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| Looking back to Yoke from col on the way to Ill Bell. The crags to the left are called Star Crag on the OS map | |
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| The path up to Ill Bell | |
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| Ill Bell summit cairns coming into sight | The author and Sam at Ill Bell summit |
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| Ill Bell summit with assorted visitors | |
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| Starting the steep descent towards Froswick. Thornthwaite Crag can be seen in the distance. | |
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| The head of Kentmere. Froswick, Thornthwaite Crag behind and to the left, High Street in the middle and Mardale Ill Bell on the left. | |
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| Froswick | |
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| Along the path to Froswick | |
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| Looking back to Ill Bell | Nearing the summit of Froswick |
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| Looking back to Ill Bell | |
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| Froswick summit with Thornthwaite Crag behind | |
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| Thornthwaite Crag from Froswick | |
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| Heading down to the col .....................................................and Sam finds a nice refreshing mud bath | |
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| Heading towards Thornthwaite Crag | |
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| Looking back to Froswick and Ill Bell | |
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| Looking down to Kentmere Reservoir | |
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| Looking back | |
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| Nearing Thornthwaite Crag summit | |
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| Lunch time, from L to R. David P, Fred, Jo H, Jill R, Ann H, Roger H, Helmut H, Peter R and Frances plus 5 of the 7 canine walkers ! | |
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| Thornthwaite Crag summit cairn / obelisk. They don't come much bigger than this! | |
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| The next 3 summits. High Street, Mardale Ill Bell and Harter Fell | |
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| Sam, not sharing a mud bath! | The wall points straight to the top of High Street |
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| Helmut does a spot of dog sitting at High Street summit | Harter Fell in the distance and Mardale Ill Bell in the foreground |
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| On the way to Mardale Ill Bell, a photo oportunity of Rough Crag | |
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| Approaching the summit of Mardale Ill Bell | |
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| Haweswater seen over Rough Crag | Mardale Ill Bell summit |
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| Small Water and Haweswaterthrough the haze. 700 feet altitude difference. | |
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| Nan Bield Pass and the route up Harter Fell | |
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| The shelter at Nan Bield Pass | Heading up from the pass |
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| Yoke, Ill Bell and Froswick | Further up from Nan Bield |
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| Nearing the summit of Harter Fell | Harter Fell summit with assorted visitors |
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| Heading towards Kentmere Pike. Most of the uphill bits are behind us now and it is downhill ish for the rest of the way | |
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| Kentmere Pike | |
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| The small ish up hill bit towards Kentmere Pike | |
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| Kentmere Pike summit trig point | Looking back to Kentmere Pike summit |
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| Heading towards Shipman Knotts | Kentmere |
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| Nearer Shipman Knotts | Looking back to Kentmere Pike |
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| Shipman Knotts Summit | Looking over Kentmere to the Garburn Pass Road, our route of ascent so many hours ago |
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| Looking back at the Kentmere Horseshoe skyline | |
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| Leaving Shipman Knotts | Kentmere |
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| Looking back to Shipman Knotts. The crags are called Wray Crag on the OS map | |
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| Looking down onto the Bridleway between Kentmere and Longsleddale | |
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| One last look back to the head of Kentmere | |
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| GPS track log from todays Walk | |