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It was a lovely winter's day and the sky was blue, the visibility superb, the air crisp and the walking easy,

apart from the occasional ice where the ground had been wet or where a culvert had overflowed.

After a late breakfast it was time for a walk . . . we drove over to Wythop.

The view from Hundeth Hill looking back at the Lorton Valley, with Grasmoor as the highest peak left of centre.

The fells dirctly under the sun are Low Fell and Fellbarrow.

" May sheep safely graze "

A lowland flock adjacent to the road towards Wythop Mill.

We parked at Brumston Bridge in the Wythop Valley.

Across the way is Ling Fell and Eskin Farm, the higher one being Burthwaite Farm.

The amount of white on the fields shows how the slight wintery shower of snow often stays for days in the shadow of Ling Fell.

The gate on the road to Kelswick Farm is open . . .

but there's a deal of water flowing down the road from a blocked culvert somewhere further up.

No immediate problem there . . . but the damp areas close to the water have turned to black ice.

Better  safe than sorry . . . we walk up the verge to stay off the slippery surface.

The cause of the problem  . . . the roadside culvert is blocked with gravel and the drain water floods over the roadway.

Attempts have been made to exit the water on the opposite side, but most of it flows down the roadway.

Kelswick Farm a little further up is looking good in this lovely sunshine.

We don't take the path to Old Scales . . . but follow the other finger post towards Chapel Woods.

Harry going well . . . he's fourteen years old in a couple of weeks time.

Wythop's old church was built on this side of the fell as it was close to Wythop Hall

but the replacement was built alongside the road on the opposite side of Sale Fell . . . easier for more people to reach..

The old church is not forgotten however.

The walk continues on a good track through Chapel Wood.

There's been a lot of clearance of the oak woodland in  recent months . . . stumps on the left . . . brash on the right.

When you get to look at the woodland you notice that it has been coppiced before . . . each trunk has several new trunks from one root system.

Not so clear in the photo but evident in the raw, is the level area below the central tree . . . which would have been a charcoal burning area.

The trees must have been coppiced in order to produce charcoal for metal smelting.

The cold temperatures mean the normally muddy path is easy to walk along today.

Out through the deer fencing gate and out onto the open fellside of Lothwaite Fell.

An old hawthorn adorns the path but the land over the fence has been improved over the years to provide reasonable grazing for the sheep.

Although the curving line of the fence catches the eye, it is the snow on Ullock Pike that calls for the camera.

Only on closer observation do we see the outline of Skiddaw, lost in a margin of cloud behind.

Helvellyn however is very clear at the head of the valley .

The snow is down to about the 2,000 ft level, so that includes Clough Head and the Dodds.

We follow the track up,

but as it starts to drop towards the Wythop / Routenbeck woodlands, we make a break for the summit.

It doesn't mean we can't stop to enjoy the view . . .

The path spirals round towards the minor summit of Lothwaite.

Ann captures a silhouette of myself and the dogs on the top.

Time to look around . . . that's Binsey to the north.

Below us on the side of Bassenthwaite Lake, is the chalet park at Scarness.

We actually stayed there with our touring caravan in the last century !

An ash tree and its storm-damaged neighbour catch the eye . . . but then it might have been the curve of the dry stone wall ?

Raising our eyes, the Ullock Pike ridge rises into the snow.

A wider view of the ridge along Longside Edge and to the Skiddaw massif behind.

The water levels must be high after Christmas as there's some minor flooding at the head of the lake.

One of the beauties of Lothwaite Fell however is the wider view across Bassenthwaite Lake and up to the high fells.

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

Dylan sits and patiently waits while we take photos.

. . . or was he sunbathing ?

Moving on . . . our next object of desire is Sale Fell summit . . . always nice to include a summit !

Looking across . . . is that a new trig point on the top ?

No . . . just a couple of fellow walkers stopping to enjoy the view.

Harry plods happily on like the old man he is.

Dylan however is rushing round like a teenager . . . but he does come back if we call or whistle.

In no time we are on the top . . a bare summit for Sale Fell but it is none the worse for that.

Two other fell walkers join us on the top for a short while.

I continue on to the minor summit a short distance away to get a view of Bass Lake

but the view back into the sun has more attractions.

Say no more . . .

Time to be moving on  . . . as the sun is setting despite the early hour.

It gets hidden behind a cloud which gives a dramatic, if false, sunset effect.

However as we descend, the sun does set behind Ling Fell . . . but the cloud to the west retains a silver lining.

If you look carefully you can see a trig point on the top of this fell . . . it has been there a long time.

A subdued light of sunset rather than being in any particular shadow.

The fell runner behind climbs up towards the moon . . . but we descend to the valley below.

It looks cold down there.

Never mind, the car's not far away.

 - - - o o o - -

On returning to the car I put the dogs in the back of the car and turned to look for Ann.

She was sitting in the road by the gate !