I must confess that the Ullswater district is not one of my favourites although it is without doubt a lovely area; it's just that it doesn't feel quintessentially Lake District. It has, if you will, a Scottish feel which is an admirable quality if you are in Scotland!
Despite the above reservations we decided to drive over to Patterdale and, if we could park, have a walk somewhere as yet undecided. Guess what? Couldn't park anywhere it being a Saturday - now that has a very un-Scottish feel to it. It was a pity but.....
never fear, all was not lost. The quiet(er) northern fells beckoned so we took the Mungrisedale road, eventually parking at Mosedale. It was barely one o'clock, plenty of time for a leisurely ascent of Bowscale Fell.
This would be my third* ascent of the fell, once with my brother and his wife on a second holiday in 1969 and once with Lynne a few years later. On the 1969 visit we'd stopped at Bowscale Tarn on a wet day and fished for perch and caught enough for tea! Unfortunately we did not catch sight of the two immortal trout.
Today a strong wind was whipping up the waters and yet a few metres higher up it was virtually calm and a perfect spot for a late lunch of ginger bread and biscuits.
Stepping out of the corrie onto the broad ridge we were hit again by the strong wind and had we wanted to stay at the cairn for any length of time our Rab Neutrinos would have been needed. It is July after all and winter looms....
A few photos and we made a quick escape back into the corrie to regain the calm, and eventually the warmth, of lower ground and another stop.
We met a few people on our way down but by and large I suspect these 'Northern Fells' still remain a refuge for those seeking solitude on busy summer weekends and especially on bank holidays.
There's no doubt that we will go back to these peaceful hills, so very different from the rest of the Lake District, and yet so obviously part of it.
*I am not certain we went to the summit in 1969 and it is even possible that we fished in Scales Tarn on Blencathra. It's all so long ago...
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2 comments:
Just checked my book. I haven't been up Bowscale Fell. For some reason it hasn't been on my radar.although I have done the tops around it.
It's not perhaps one you'd choose to do on a fine day with so much else on offer but we enjoyed it al the same.
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