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" Middle Fell with Jenna "

Date & start time:      29th October 2019.    12.30 pm start.

Location of Start :     Roadside at Greendale, Wasdale , Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 145 056 ).

Places visited :          Greendale Gill, Tarn and Middle Fell summit, back to the Greendale hamlet.

Walk details :             3.75 miles, 1675 feet of ascent, 4 hours, incl lunch.

Highest point :          Middle Fell summit  1,908ft - 582m.

Walked with :             Jenna, Ann and our dogs, Dylan and Dougal.

Weather :                    Sunshine and blue skies ... a cool breeze at times.

© Crown copyright. All rights reserved. Licence number PU 100034184.

 

A grand second day out with excellent weather, blue skies and a pleasant breeze to keep us cool, but one we could escape from when needed.

Wasdale calls us to see the same high fells as yesterday, but this time from the northern side.  

Afterwards our second daughter Paula and family make an appearance as they visited us here in Loweswater a few days later.

The lovely view ahead, pausing as we pass Buckbarrow Farm and looking to our first clear views of the Scafells.

Buckbarrow Crags behind the houses that make up the Greendale hamlet . . . we park on the grass by the roadside.

There is a large private car park in front of the houses but the owners don't want you to use it, not even for money.

The grass it is then !

Youngest daughter Jenna and Ann make their way up the fell path.

It started gently enough but now we are climbing up the steep side of Middle Fell itself.

The view across to Scafell is a delight and as we climb the summit of Scafell Pike is appearing from behind it.

   
When the path becomes too steep, the route has been pitched with stone.
Climbing fast quickly improves the views !

So much so that it seemed worth a stop on the grass knoll for a wider panorama.

On the curve of the spur down from Middle Fell the path splits . . .

right takes you directly to the top (our return route down) and left takes you up alongside Greendale Gill.

Several tributaries of the stream flow down from Buckbarrow Moss and join us on the left.

We follow the main stream up the valley, the path follows closely up past several shallow rocky pools.

Looking back down, the colours washed out slightly by looking into the sun.

Greendale Gill . . . becoming gradually narrower as we climb.

At times the path moves away from the stream.

At points like this we could head off towards the summit, but we'll make a change today and stay with the stream.

That allows us to rediscover the tarn tucked under the rocky crags of the fell.

Onward and upward, we are walking grassy moorland paths now.

Occasionally the less used pathway gets lost in the damp environment . . . good to have waterproof footwear here.

Time to start climbing again as we pass a split boulder and head up onto the northern flanks of the fell.

Beyond the wide hause that joins Middle Fell to Seatallan we can see Haycock, Scoat Fell and Red Pike.

Jenna walking up a re-established path as we are now on the more popular route between the two summits.

- - - o o o - - -

 

 

Striving for a different view

I climb the first of the rocky outcrops,

that's a dog's tail with me not one of my own !

 

Ann catches the sun just

as it shines through a gap in the rock.

 

 

- - - o o o - - -

   

Jenna stops below to shed a layer of clothing.

The warm sun, the climb and the lack of breeze makes her quilted jacket superfluous.

Also from up here I get a view over to the summit of England.

Our route ahead can be seen quite well from up here too.

All this hanging about has allowed Ann to get ahead of us.

As we walk higher up the fell and and approach the flatter ground the surrounding fells reveal themselves.

To our right, the Isle of Man, always a good indicator of long distance visibility.

The summit ahead, the sky a little more clouded than yesterday.

- - - o o o - - -

 

It is always nice to reach the top of the fell

and this one has a classic stone cairn

rather than a trig point.

 

The views across from here are superb,

but the breeze is up and the layers are back on.

 

 

So you can appreciate them too . . .

Click here or on the photo above for a 360 degree annotated panorama.

 

 

- - - o o o - - -

   

The Scafells, Gable and Kirk Fell over Yewbarrow and the Helvellyn Range through the gap.

Zooming onto the Coniston Fells with the Old Man centre stage and Dow Crag to the right.

The classic photo of Mickledore Gap between the Pikes of the Scafell Range.

It has gone 3 o'clock and the afternoon sun is casting shadows across the Hollow Stones basin.

Zooming over Yewbarrow to Gable.

We pass on the classic view and chose the sheltered side of the cairn for somewhere to eat a late lunch.

   
Ann in close up for Jenna's WhatsApp conversation with our family.
Smile . . . they wanted a more cheerful photo of me too.

A final one of Jenna as she had posted the summit pictures in the first place.

   
Mustn't forget these two . . . Dougal
. . . and Dylan pose for the camera.

Perhaps it was the dog treat balanced on the top of the zoom lens that caught their eye.

Jenna surveys the scene and looks for the start of the path off the fell top.

The map mentions a cairn on the way down but we didn't spot it.

The dogs and I did divert to another rock outcrop where they climbed onto the boulders again.

The sun has moved around and now the face of the Wasdale Screes is starting to be illuminated.

   
White Van Man parked on the road to Greendale.
The viewpoint shelter and lake behind.
   
   
I really love the texture and drama of the screes. . .
. . . as they plunge down toward the lake.

There is a path along the other side of the lake. 

It can be seen reasonably close to the water in the second photo, but it is a long and arduous crossing from one end to the other.

In contrast, our descent is relatively easy . . . across the way are the Greendale Gill tributaries again

and if you look carefully on the skyline you can see Joss Naylor's "Queen Mother's Cairn"

The sun dips behind a cloud and the colour goes from the scene.

In a few minutes we'll rejoin our upward path and follow it back to the car.

An action shot now we are back on the main path.

The panorama of the screes is ahead of us once again.

By the time we reach the grassy knoll fifty yards further on the sun comes out and the colour returns and shows the valley in all its glory.

Click here or on the photo above for a wider Loweswatercam annotated panorama.

The Scafells seen from below once again.

The late autumn bracken . . . looking golden but not yet beaten down by the winter weather.

Jenna's ahead with Dylan this time as Dougal holds back for us.

But by the time I reach the car the dogs are in and the sheep return to graze the grass.

- - - o o o - - -

In the evening we settle back to watch some television (Simon Reeves's America),

but Dougal settles himself somewhere comfortable to watch the insides of his eyelids !

- - - o o o - - -

Jenna said her farewell next morning and returned home.

Time passes and it is Halloween . . . thanks to Gareth for his pumpkin pictures from Wales on WhatsApp.

I think someone has been enjoying themselves with a pumpkin decorating kit !

As it is still half term week our middle daughter Paula, husband Al and our granddaughter Abi

have travelled over to Loweswater for a couple of days.

The larger tables in the main pub are fully booked so we opt for the luxury of the Kirkstile Inn's dining room.

   
Paula, pleased to be here.
Abi, even more pleased with her cheesecake dessert.

Back home the Mah Jong set is brought out and the table cleared for play.

We know the rules but have to check the book to get the scoring correct . . . in the end we adopt "house rules" but I still don't win !

- - - o o o - - -

 

Paula and family were only able to stay a couple of nights

and sadly the spell of fine weather had broken

along with the spells of Halloween.

 

Consequently there were no big walk to enjoy

as the weather was not conducive to such a thing on the Friday.

 

Still, we had a local walk down to the lake

with a family friend Pat (who was also saying locally)

and the cosy fire made for a warm

and comfortable evening in.

 

- - - o o o - -

   

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Panasonic Lumix TZ60, or my Panasonic Lumix Gx8 Camera.

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

This site best viewed with . . . the feeling that we are a little more fell-fit after our climbs.

Go to Top . . . © RmH . . . Email me here

Previous walk - 28th October - Hard Knott with Jenna

A previous time up here - 4th May 2007 Two Fells but Four Cairns in Wasdale

Next walk - 10th November - Castle Crag Remembrance Sunday 2019

 

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