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| The start of Hard Knott pass |
The old pack horse bridge |
We set off back towards the foot of Hard
Knott pass. I had to run back to the car as I had forgotten the spare
battery for the camera, but apart from that it was a good start to the
walk. Sarah and John had done a few stretching exercises whilst telling
Nikki about some of the steep starts to some of the walks, I as usual
did not partake in any of this! Passing the entrance to Brotherkield
Farm we told Nikki about that day when we ended up here and the farmer
gave us a lift back to Wyrnose Pass. I don't think this gave Nikki much
confidence! Anyway, once past the cattle grid we crossed over a small
pack horse bridge that was very picturesque and started to follow the
old peat track that would take us up to the area between Harter Fell
and Green Crag. |
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| Looking along the old peat road |
A likely looking gully! |
As soon as we reached a gate in the path
John did one of his “aye aye, look at that” routines. He had spotted
a gully that ran up the fell side that looked like it might offer some
fun. I got the map out and discussed the possibilities with everyone.
I was a bit taken aback by how quickly my plan to walk along the old
peat track was discarded in favour of the gully! Nikki looked on with
a bemused look that asked lots of questions! We explained how much fun
could be had in these gully's and although she seemed to be unsure about
it all she agreed to it, good girl! |
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The gully started of quite
interesting with lots of rock on either side to walk up. The only problem
was that it was quite slippy due to all the previous rain, oh well! John
and Sarah made steady progress but Nikki seemed to really be taking her
time. I was beginning to think that it was a bit of a mistake coming
up here, Nikki seemed to be wary of where she was walking i.e. not wanting
to get her boots dirty! It was either that or she just did not feel confidant
in what she was doing. Only time would tell. To be honest I was feeling
a bit the same, out of the water there was no rock but plenty of vegetation! |
| Looking up the gully from the old peat road |
| This made it a bit of a problem as the stream
bed was quite deep and did not have any dry rock to step on so it was a
case of following by the side. As soon as the gully started to steepen
this meant using hands to grab onto chunks of vegetation to help upwards
progress, not the ideal situation! |
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| The joys of walking up gully's, any way you choose will do! |
| I think that me, John and Sarah were enjoying
this as we had a choice of routes but Nikki started to go even slower than
before. I put this down to her not wanting to get her hands dirty! I Know
that this seems a really harsh thing to say but that is how I felt. A look
at Sarah confirmed my thoughts on this. I soon changed my mind though as
the gully started to steepen and we still had no rock to scramble on. |
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| The first waterfall.....................................................and
John choosing his route up! |
| It was a case of using the vegetation again
and I started to feel a bit insecure. Bearing in mind that we three have
done quite a bit of this before and sort of know our limits and capabilities,
things like grip factors of our boots, tensile strength of grass roots,
slippage factors of mud underfoot and grip factors of our hands as we hold
on for dear life to a clump of grass! If I was feeling a bit iffy it was
no wonder that Nikki was taking her time ! I apologize profusely for any
implied slur on Nikki's bottle and ability to get her boots and hands dirty!
(sorry Nik!) On the other hand John seemed
to relish the challenge and invariable made his way up the side that no
one else dared! |
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| Nikki having fun.....................ish! |
Some helpful advice from John |
| As we got further into the gully it turned out
to be a gully of two half's(football pun!) John
chose the half (side) that
was the most difficult whilst Sarah, Nikki and myself tried to keep some
semblance of dignity as we pulled our way up the easy half (side).
Not that this side was easy, it was steep grass, loose soil and loads of
biting midges ! John, after his exciting detours would rejoin us and offer
advice. |
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At times the routes that John took scared me (it
must be my age!) I started to worry about him as well as Nikki!
I had to sort of kick myself and try and concentrate on what I was doing
as I was not finding it easy. If I stopped worrying about other people
and concentrated on what I was doing I would have probably enjoyed this
more. As it was I spent so much time thinking and not enjoying that I
was getting myself all stressed out! Why, they are all adults, they know
there abilities and I really should stop thinking! (Thinking
is dangerous for me!) I had just about sorted my head out when
we were confronted with another waterfall. |
| The second waterfall |
| I looked at the rock by the side of the waterfall
and thought it was too wet, too slippy and too dangerous, John looked at
it and thought "yes please!" I found a route up by the side,
the steepest grassy slope that I have ever come across, it made me think
about every foot hold and hand hold, far more than on any climb or scramble
that I have done before, I was thinking that much about myself that I forgot
about Sarah and Nikki for the time being! |
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| John making his way up the side ........................before
having to use an escape route! |
| I was able to look directly down and see John
make his way up, at least he seemed to be having fun! He soon disappeared
from view and into some trees so I was able to watch Sarah and Nikki struggle
upwards. Before too long John had to escape and join us, see I was right
after all! |
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For a while things got allot easier now. For
the most part we were able to make our way directly up the stream bed.
For me this was an enjoyable section, even if it meant wet feet for most
of the way at least I was not grappling with the vegetation! But soon the
midges came out in force and started biting away at any and all exposed
skin, it got much warmer and even though I was able to make quick progress
I was really wishing that it would all come to an end soon. I found myself
confronted with a section of rock that the water traveled over. On either
side the routes looked difficult so I decided that it wa time to go straight
up! |
| Contemplating the way forward |
| There was an inviting hand hold that I took
a firm grip of, as soon as I started to put some weight on it the flake
of rock just came away in my hand! I stood looking at the rock in my hand
and then looked back at the cascade, was there any other "easy" way up?
For me this was one of those moments that can only come under the heading
of "Sod it!" |
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| Straight up the water is sometimes the easiest! |
Another cascade |
| I decided that enough was enough. The midges,
the grass and the lack of rock all helped me think that it was time to
leave the gully! There was a sort of cutting on the right that offered
some escape so I persuaded Sarah and Nikki to follow me out, John of course,
carried straight up! Getting out was easier said than done. Steep, loose
soil, lots of slippy grass, fallen trees blocking the way and those bloody
midges! John eventually rejoined us after admitting defeat and we slowly
made our way out of the gully at last. |
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| Escape from the gorge at last |
And John with a different route |
| I felt really happy to be out of the gully at
last. I still can't decide which was worse, the midges or the lack of solid
rock. Once out of the gully we headed upwards towards a rocky outcrop and
decided to have a spot of lunch. A peek over the outcrop showed a view
of a waterfall that John could not have scaled, perhaps that was why he
rejoined with us! Out here in the open and in a slight breeze the midges
disappeared, maybe there is some truth in the story about wind speed above
5mph is too much for midges to cope with! |
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| The final waterfall |
Looking over towards Hard Knott with Bow Fell in the distance |
| As we sat and had lunch we had a grandstand
view overlooking the old roman fort on Hard Knott and a fine view looking
up towards Bow Fell. It was quite surprising how much height we had actually
gained. This was definitely a good spot for lunch, no midges and great
views! |
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| A panorama over looking upper Eskdale. From the left, Scafell,
Scafell Pike (in cloud), Ill Crag, Esk Pike, Bow Fell, Crinkle Crags (in
cloud) and Hard Knott |
| We sat for a while and chatted away. I was surprised
with the weather now, I was expecting to get soaked today but now it was
getting warm and the sun was even trying to pop out from behind the clouds.
Having something to eat and drink, getting out of that gully and now the
great views and better weather cheered me up, I think that applied to everyone
else as well! |
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| Looking up towards Harter Fell |
| Looking upwards we were confronted with an
interesting choice of routes. Harter Fell seemed to offer all sorts of
scrambling opportunity's, but which one would we choose? It was still too
early to decide so we had to just head upwards and figure our route out
later on. It got warmer as we headed upwards, no paths and plenty of downs
as well as ups made it much harder work than it looked! |
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| Looking back the way we have come |
Heading upwards across the tussocks |
| Heading upwards was definitely hard work. The
way up led across those annoying little hummocks of grass or through growing
bracken. It was a case of the bracken dragging your feet at every step
or the tussocks threatening to turn your ankle every other step. Hard work!
When you chose to leave the well trodden paths and make your own way upwards
this is what happens, we should know better by now shouldn't we! |
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| The first of the little crags |
John giving some advice |
| At last we came upon our chosen route. At least
I think it was as everywhere looked the same, rocky outcrops between bracken
and other such vegetation! There did not seem to be any obvious route straight
up so we had to make our way up to the left. We had an interesting time
on some of the rocky slabs, nothing seemed to be going right! I put my
foot through what I thought was solid ground, all the way up to my knee!
It took some time to drag myself out of the hole. After that I scrambled
up a rock slab and had to wait 10 minutes for Sarah and Nikki, with John's
help to catch up, nothing was easy up here! |
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| Nikki definitely having fun |
A relaxing moment or two |
| But.... the sun was out, we were having a laugh,
and everyone was smiling, smiling when not trying to figure out how
to make our way upwards that is! To be honest, all of the rocky scrambles
that we thought we could see turned out to be either too short, too steep,
or did not have any holds on them when we got below them, very frustrating!
We had no choice but to continue upwards below the crags, all the time
heading to the left, at least we were still going upwards! |
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| More fun on the odd bit of rock before more grassy bits |
| This again turned out to be an interesting choice
in routes. There seemed to be large amounts of boulders that we could
use to "hop" upwards on. Between these boulders was not grass but heather
and the like, this actually meant that what you would think was the ground
was actually roots and under the heather there were more little rocks,
all ankle breaking, uneven stuff. Still it was better than the gully! |
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| Looking back the way we have come |
Ever upwards |
| Nikki got a phone call about double glazing
now. I think she was actually supposed to be house sitting at the moment
but had decided to volunteer another family member to do this whilst she
came for a walk, I like the way she thinks! |
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| The scenery got better and better |
Contemplating the way we have come |
| After her phone call we found ourselves quite
away behind John and Sarah.By the time we caught up we had arrived at a
place where we could start to head straight up the fell side. This was
more like it! Little outcrops that could be climbed, interspersed with
little grassy walkways, much more fun! |
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| The final crags, we thought! |
Having a laugh! |
| I think that Nikki liked it up here, she somehow
managed to get the conversation turned into something about Hagen Das ice
cream and having a nice quiet place to spend some quality time with a partner,
I think that Nikki was missing Gary by now! From my point of view all
thought of the struggles up the gully and then across all of the tussocks
and bracken disappeared now, this was much better. |
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| As John said, "It's one of them!" |
Looking towards Green Crag |
| John had managed to get in front of us as we
made our way up. All of a sudden he turned round and said that it was one
of those hills! By this he meant that he had seen the summit, but it was
a lot further away than he had thought it would be! All the time we had
been climbing up here we had thought that the summit would be quite near,
alas it was not! |
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| The summit |
The others from the ridge |
| There was a way forward that involved clambering
onto a little ridge, this was better! I made my way up but when I turned
around to chat with the others I realized that they had taken a more leisurely
route along a sort of path below the rock. Oh well! They seemed to be deep
in conversation so I left them to it! I continued on along this ridge thing
for a while before rejoining them just below the summit. I had spotted
a couple of lady's walking along a path that lay beyond where the others
had been walking but they soon disappeared from sight. Perhaps that was
the path that I had intended to walk up? |
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| Nearing the summit |
The summit trig point |
| At last we reached the summit, or to more correct
we reached a point between the two summits! There was a trig column away
to our left and away to the right a large rocky outcrop that was obviously
higher! The two lady's that I had spotted before joined us and we had a
chat about the summit area. |
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| The "true" summit |
Looking back to the "official" summit from the true summit |
| I found the summit to be very interesting. AW
rated this as one of the best summits, who am I to disagree! The highest
point could only be reached by a bit of a scramble whilst the trig point
was set amongst another high point amidst some rocky protrusions, it was
unusual to say the least. |
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| 360 degree panorama from the "true" summit of Harter Fell |
| John and myself made our way up to the "proper"
summit, more out of wanting to do some proper scrambling than any thing
else, we deserved some fun by now! So far this had been the most difficult
summit to reach on our quest, there was really only room for one person
at a time up here at the actual "top"! |
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| The terrible trio plus one at Harter Fell summit |
The "true" and the "official" summit |
| After taking a panoramic photo I headed back
to the trig point to take a group photo. Looking around at the view my
eyes were mainly drawn to either the Scafell's or the Coniston Fells. Looking
from this direction it took a while to make out Dow Crag. Once
this was recognized with the help of the sight of the Walna Scar Road it
became easier to pick out Coniston Old Man and Brim Fell. They look totally
different from this side! |
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| Starting the return journey |
Looking down on the descent route |
| We watched the two lady's try to get to the
"top" but they soon retreated with shrug of their shoulders! After a few
minutes discussion about what to do next we decided that we would head
back towards Hard Knott and visit the old Roman Fort. The trudge across
to Green Crag did not seem to appeal to us today. This would mean another
trip just to "bag" that one at a later date, it did not seem important
or worthwhile to do it today! A steep initial descent took us down towards
the path that led towards Hard Knott. |
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| Looking back to the summit |
Looking towards Wrynose Bottom |
| There was no path here, the path lay over to
our right and as we came up to it we met the two lady's once again. The
sun was out and it felt warm, it was a nice time to be walking now. In
front of us the Scafell's dominated the skyline, in fact the whole skyline
around to Crinkle Crags looked very impressive indeed. |
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A panorama of the Southern Fells. From left to right, Scafell,
Scafell Pike, Broad Crag,
Ill Crag,
Esk Pike, Bow Fell, Crinkle Crags, Cold Pike, and
in the foreground Hard Knott. |
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| Heading down |
Looking over to Brim Fell, Coniston Old Man and Dow Crag (L-R) |
| The two lady's disappeared into the distance
whilst we made our way down. It was one of those times that seem to call
for just putting one foot in front of the other and chatting away. Well
that is what Sarah and Nikki did, nail jobs, hair do's, make over's and
god alone knows what else! Nikki did break the conversation once or twice
to enquire about if we knew where we were and where we were going, I did
my best to convince her that I did actually know exactly where we were.....she
still didn't seem convinced! |
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| Hard Knott from the side of the trees |
Looking back to Harter Fell |
| As we reached the woods and started to follow
them John
came up to me and started talking about football. Now this struck me as
strange thing for for John to do but I soon realized that he was just trying
to talk about something else apart from "woman's talk"! This
made me chuckle but we soon agreed that it must be a really nice change
for Sarah to talk about such "stuff" with someone who knew what
she was talking about! Looking back towards Harter Fell I was surprised
to see how different it looked from down here. From here it looked very
shapely, something that a "proper"
mountain should look like. |
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| A sign that says it all on the electric fence |
Back at the road |
| We had been walking for what seemed like ages
now and a quick drink break was called for, by now I think that Sarah was
the only one left with any liquid, Nikki had only brought a small bottle
of water, long ago used, I had run out and John was dry as well!. Sarah
saved the day!. John had a wander over to a sign on an electric fence whilst
Nikki again seemed to loose her faith in my navigation. I convinced Nikki
that a road was not far away, this would lead us back to the car eventually,
honest! John came back and started to inform us about the sign. He started
telling us about the efforts underway after the Foot and Mouth epidemic
to try and reintroduce "native" sheep
back into the fells. He told us about the efforts underway to prevent interbreeding
and I am still not sure whether to believe him or not, he had that look
in his eye, but then again it did make sense! |
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| Eskdale |
Harter Fell |
| Once back at the road Nikki seemed to believe
me and my navigation once again! We had a couple of great views of Harter
Fell and Hard Knott, how totally different from when we drove over here
earlier on in the day! Heading down the road we tried to follow a footpath
by the side of the road but until we came to a zig zag in the road this
was hard work. From the zig zag a path led down towards the old roman fort
which we took. One thing that I remember about this road was the smell.
Being a smoker I do not have the best sense of smell, but the smell of
burning brake pads and complaining clutches seemed to stand out. That road
really did smell! |
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| Hard Knott from the Roman Fort |
The Bath House |
| At the old roman fort Nikki and John went into
archeologist mode. The National Trust had graciously put little signs
up next to each ruin in an attempt to explain what each was and the function
it served. They seemed to look at every building and read every sign. |
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| A NT sign that explains about the Bath House |
This looks interesting! |
| The bath house was first, John and Nikki exploring
it whilst Sarah and myself looked on. This was not even inside the walls
of the fort, they seemed to spend an eternity here. Eventually we made
our way up to the entrance to the old fort. |
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| John and Nikki have some history lessons |
Another NT sign |
| Once inside the old walls I had a quick look
around to satisfy my curiosity whilst the others studied everything in
detail. Perhaps I have seen two many old castles and stuff in years gone
by with my parents on holiday in Scotland. Perhaps I really needed that
bottle of water that was in the car as I had run out of liquid refreshment.
Either way I made my way to the exit and waited for the others. |
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| The entrance to the Roman Fort |
Another NT sign |
| And waited........... |
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| Inside the Roman Fort |
Another NT sign |
| And waited......... |
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| Another NT sign |
Looking towards the Scafell's from the fort |
| And waited.... |
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| Inside the fort |
The old walls |
| And waited..... In fact I waited that long as
the others went from one pile of ruins to another that I started to wonder
what life must have been like for the romans up here. Did they look out
and see the fantastic views of the Scafell's that I saw or did they wish
to somewhere else? Did they wonder what on earth they were doing here or
did they think that the pub down the road was calling us for a pint and
some food? Wishful thinking on my part! Don't get me wrong, this was a
great place to look around but I just felt that John over did it slightly!
John loved it and found it fascinating so I was happy for him, meanwhile
I was still thirsty! |
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| Postman Pat on his rounds |
Looking over to the gully that we climbed |
| Leaving the fort we followed a footpath that
rejoined the road. A post office van passed us and I was once again surprised
by the smell! Maybe Hard Knott Pass is a bit harsh on motor vehicles,
or maybe most roads smell like this and I have never noticed this before,
either way it definitely was not the smell of the countryside! |
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| The GPS track log from todays walk |
Once back at the car I had my water, for some reason it was
not as ice cold as I thought it was going to be! It was decision time now,
food and drink was needed. We retraced our journey back to Coniston and
ended up not in the Black Bull but the other pub, The Crown? The last time
I was here it was on the first of what turned out to be the annual camping
trips. Back then it was a pub and restaurant that looked like a converted
house. Now all the internal walls had been knocked down and it looked like
any other town centre pub. The food when it came was excellent and I was
pleasantly surprised by it. Coniston now has two good pubs for food that
I recommend!
And so ended the walk up Harter Fell. As I sit here finishing writing this
it is August! Two months to write a trip report, not good! I did have one
or two excuses but now I have just one day left to write about the next
walk we did in Snowdonia before our next walk in the Lakes, i'd better
get on with it then!!! |