Date & Time: 1st April 2007. 11.30 am start.

Location of Start : The red phone box, Loweswater, Cumbria, Uk. ( NY 143 211 )

Places visited : Loweswater, High Nook Tarn, Blake Fell, Carling Knott, Holme Woods, Loweswater.

Walk details : 6 mls, 1880 ft of ascent , 4 hrs 15 mins.

Walked with : Catherine. Grand children Jack, Matthew, Sam and Alexander, Ann and the two dogs.

Weather : Sunny with the occasional high cloud, but a cool breeze on the tops.

The National Trust sign at Maggie's Bridge Car Park - but no car on our walk today.

 

Walk companions, Sam with a letter to post, Cathy and Alexander, Jack, Ann, and Matthew.

Cathy's looking quizzical at the fact that she is here in Loweswater and that the sun is shining too !

We walked to the top of the village and caught this view of Green Gable, Great Gable and Haystacks from above the Village Hall.

Turning left, we walked down towards Maggie's Bridge, the side road to Loweswater.

Our route up Blake Fell would take us up the lighter coloured rising ground between the two valleys in the centre of the photo.

Temperate rain forest - ferns growing on the horizontal branch of the Oak tree overhanging the river.

   
Sheep in the barn at High Nook Farm
The footpath takes us up through the old farm buildings.

High Nook has a new cattle barn with a traditional stone faced wall and hay store above.

   
Two black cattle and their calves, Low Fell behind.
Sam and the dogs reach High Nook Tarn.

With the dogs suitably cooled off in the tarn, we're off again.

Our route ahead up the zigzags is more obvious now.

Looking back over the old sheep fold, the views of the north western fells is improving all the time.

   
Alexander declining to walk, gets a ride up the steep fell path.
Matthew having a bad hair day in the increasing breeze.
   
   
Jack striding out above High Nook Tarn
Sam pleased now the main part of the climb is over.

 

North Face Scramble on Blake Fell

Matthew taking the scramble route

up the north face of Blake Fell.

 

 

(move the cursor over the picture to see his progress)

 

To those sufferers of vertigo

there is an easier grass route

to either side of this

significant (!) rock outcrop.

Sam, full of energy again, is ready for the race to the summit.

He made it, but Jack was there first ! Coats on due to the brisk summit breeze at Blake's summit shelter.

We decided to drop down below the top in order to get out of the breeze, and so enjoy a more sheltered and warmer lunch.

We also had a better view from down here.

   
Ennerdale from our lunch spot . . .
. . . and overlooking Cogra Moss.

Suitably refreshed we set off across the top towards Carling Knott.

Mellbreak is looking smaller than usual in front of the bulk of the Grasmoor fells.

   
Distant Fleetwith Pike above Black Crag.
A private helicopter passed quite low above us.

Carling Knott summit photo

Jack, Sam, Matthew, Cathy, Ann and myself.

Looking round from the end of Carling Knott.

Whiteside and Grasmoor and our Loweswater hamlet are laid out below us.

The southern end of Loweswater with Low Fell behind.

We would walk back along the grey farm road on our way home later.

The northern end of Loweswater and Holme Woods below.

Jack looking at the view, Cathy starting the steep descent to Holme Beck.

Sam's photo as we make our way down through the upper part of Holme woods.

The Larch sprouting into colour at the top of the woods.

All that remains is to walk the farm track from Watergate Farm back to the road, and home to Oak Cottage.

 

- - - o o o - - -

Technical note: Pictures taken with a Canon G7 Digital camera.

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

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Previous walk - 28th March 2007 From the Sublime to the Ridiculous - A March Medley

A previous time up here - 23rd January 2005 Bethan takes a first fellwalk on Blake

Previous walk - 2nd April 2007 Last one to the tree is a sissy