Date & Time: Wednesday 13th September 2006. 1 pm start. ( NY 395 159 )

Location of Start : Opposite the Patterdale Hotel, Patterdale, Cunbria, Uk.

Places visited : White Lion, Mill Moss, Arnison Crag, Glemara Park, Birks, St Sunday Crag, Gavel Pike, Thornhow end, Glemara Park and back to the car park.

Walk details : 6.02 mls, 2650 ft of ascent , 4 hrs 50 mins.

Walked with : Ann and the dogs.

Weather : Hazy, rather overcast, but dry throughout.

The White Lion Pub, at the start of the walk.

( Picture for Lance !)

 

Due to evening commitments we picked the shorter of our remaining planned walks for today.

Encompassed in this one picture, we hoped to climb Arnison Crag (the crinckled summit on the left) Birks, the shoulder of its higher neighbour St Sunday Crag, which is the high ground to the right. There just remained the delightful if rather busy roadsection round the lakeside before we started.

We parked in the Patterdale Hotel car park and took the public footpath from opposite the White Lion up past Mill Moss. This was presumably an old mill tarn but is now well hidden by the trees and considerably overgrown with vegetation - hence the name Mill Moss !

   
The gated entrance to Glemara Park where we turned uphill.
Views of Ullswater regained as we climbed.

Sunshine now as we rapidly gain height along the wall.

. Glemara Park is no more than an overgrown intake field now and bracken covers much of the higher slopes. Our ascent was easier than expected as last time we climbed up through the park area itself, struggled on its steeper top slopes and then had to negotiate the wall. This time, by staying outside the wall, we found a good path and a relatively easy ascent.

Arnison Crag summit in view.

A sheep stands sentinel on the lower peak, Bethan stands copy-cat (or is that copy-sheep?) on the higher top.

The summit view

with Ullswater below and Place Fell to the right.

Turning round we have the prosect of our route ahead, and some slight concern about the cloud on St Sunday Crag itself..

Birks however, is enjoying good sunshine, and that was our next summit to attain.

The sunlight was also shining on Hartsop Village with dramatic effect.

The top of Arnison is quite undulating, and the wall reflects this with its many twists and turns.

 

After crossing Trough Head at the end of Arnison's, we decided to follow an old wall, marked on the map, up the steep left hand side of Black Crag.

 

Like all direct approaches it was rather steep, as the picture suggests !

The flat summit of Birks with St Sunday Crag ahead.

Click here or on photo for a wider panorama.

   
Ann makes her way over from Birks,
and we contemplate the route ahead.

Fortunately the weather is kind and the cloud lifts to maintain our view of Ullswater as we reach the last section of the climb.

Bethan shares the summit of St Sunday Crag with an high altitude sheep.

It's a breezy summit, but the air temperature was warm.

The changing view of Helvellyn was our lunchtime entertainment, as the clouds and shadows pass quickly across the fells.

A slight diversion on the way down as we followed the east ridge to Gavel Pike.

The clouds stay high but the haze obscures the view of the Langdale Fells beyond Seat Sandal.

From Gavel Pike, we crossed back to the Birks path we used on the ascent.

Rather than re-climb Birks we took the lower path down towards Thornhow End and the Grisedale Valley below.

During the day we had only met seven other people on the fells, despite all the cars we had seen on the roads below.

Four of the seven can be seen below us, while Ann talks to a fifth guy we first met on the summit at lunchtime.

Bethan takes a quick break on the way down.

Bright red Rowans abound this year, like this one on the hillside above Patterdale.

Autumn is the season of toadstools and mushrooms.

A fine Fly Agaric grows here near the trees.

A flat topped Fly Agaric in great condition, but beware, they are poisonous !

There just remained the walk back through Glemara Park to rejoin the path at Mill Moss.

 

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Technical note: Pictures taken with a Canon IXUS 400 Digital camera.

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

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Previous walk - 5th Sepember 2006 A circular walk of Beda and Place Fells

Previous time up here - 13th August 1999 - ( Sorry no pictures on line )