" Caravans and Little Mell Fell "

Date & start time: Sunday 22nd July 2012 . . . four o'clock for the walk.

Location of Start : The Hause at Lowthwaite near Watermillock, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 424 253 )

Places visited : Little Mell Fell.

Walk details :   Nearly a mile and over 400 ft of ascent in under 40 mins.

Highest point : Little Mell Fell,1,657ft - 505m.

Walked with : Jo, Ann and the dogs, Amber, Harry and Bethan.

Weather : Overcast and threatening rain.  Some sun but with a strong, cold breeze on the fell.

"Come over to the van" she said "and we'll have lunch and a walk ". . . but nothing is ever that simple . . .

An old gortex jacket comes out of retirement today for a special task before we take to the hill.

Jo keeps her caravan on a site overlooking Ullswater but due to being tucked away under the trees

the roof and sides tend to gather dirt and moss over the winter . . . it was time to offer a hand and help clean the 'van.

A little caravan cleaner . . . the bottle not the person in purple !	The job made easier with a ladder and hosepipe.

[ There's no hosepipe ban here this summer for obvious reasons ]

A final spray and a clean under the covers and we're done.

No sign of Ann working . . . not true, she was the one taking the pictures as well as cleaning !

"The car's dirty too . . . I hope they're going to clean it afterwards"

- - - o o o - - -

Washing chores finished and lunch over . . . fortunately the weather held so we didn't get too wet.

Now we had a chance to climb the local fell in order to stretch our legs and exercise the dogs . . . who had sat and dozed while we worked.

The Hause between Watermillock and Lowthwaite.

" You're right . . . they haven't cleaned the car ! "

Parking near the small covered reservoir by the roadside, we strode out towards the steep slopes of Little Mell Fell.

The forecast "clearer in the east of the Park" was accurate today.

The sun is shining on Askham Fell on the other side of Ullswater but unfortunately not on us here.

The ascent of Mell Fell from The Hause is a small but spectacular one.

The views south are extensive and include the fells from Arthur's Pike and Ullswater on the left, round to the Helvellyn and the Dodds on the right.

The local fells in the foreground are Watermillock Fell, Little Meldrum and beyond the forestry, Great Meldrum and Gowbarrow .

"Up" the Permitted Path towards the summit then "up" again.	It's one long false summit due to the curvature of the fell.

A brief respite as we cross a horizontal trackway . . .	. . . then it's onward and upward again.

One final "along" and we're there.

Ann has her paramo fleece and Jo a paramo gillet to keep away the cold wind.

The summit reached in no time at all . . . or rather, after about a brief 20 minutes after the start.

Hold your cursor over the picture to say "Hello" to Jo who's already there !

Looking round at that sunshine still over the Askham fells and Pooley Bridge.

The Pennines and ourselves are feeling somewhat deprived.

The cloud base to the north is sitting at about 2200ft . . .

obscuring the summit of Blencathra behind Great Mell Fell but leaving distant Carrock Fell with a clear top.

To the west, Clough Head is clear but there's rain in the air and it is heading slowly this way.

Back down the same way after a great little climb.

The light is fading but we're ahead of the rain so that's ok.

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon Sureshot SX220 or my G10 digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . a large bottle of Caravan Cleaner.

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Previous walk - 21st July 2012 Seathwaite Fell to Allen Crags

A previous time up here - 21st February 2009 Up and down Little Mell Fell

Next walk - 26th July 2012 Swindale and its Waterfalls