Hatteringill Head - Lake District Walk

Wednesday 7th July 2010

Another late afternoon start after a morning of showers saw us take a gentle and sunny walk to claim the one fell we had missed out a few years ago when we had last visited the Fellbarrow group. The introduction of Open Access since our previous visit meant that we could plan a circular route, rather than the out and back route that had previously been required in order to include the mighty summit of Hatteringill Head.

Start: Thackthwaite (NY 1482 2355)

Route: Thackthwaite - Sourfoot Fell - Smithy Fell - Fellbarrow - Hatteringill Head (296) - Thackthwaite

Distance: 3.5 miles     Ascent: 307 metres      Time Taken: 2 hours 30 ins

Terrain: Good paths.

Weather: Warm and sunny.

Pub Visited: Middle Ruddings, Braithwaite    Ale Drunk: Unknown

Route Map >>

 

Whinlatter Fells

Blue sky as we start to climb out of Thackthwaite and the Whinlatter Fells come into view.

Mellbreak

In the opposite direction Mellbreak and the High Stile ridge are visible.

Broadmoor Hill

Broadmoor Hill, which isn't part of our route today.

Low Fell

Having followed the path around Watching Crag we turn off and head for Sourfoot Fell rather than continue straight ahead to Low fell.

Carling Knott

Burnbank Fell and Carling Knott, seen across Darling Fell. The last time we were up here we were in the clouds and had no views so it's nice to see what we missed out on.

Sourfoot Fell's summit

Sourfoot Fell's summit.

Buttermere Valley

Looking back across Low Fell towards Rannerdale Knotts from the summit.

Whiteside & Grasmoor

Whiteside and Grasmoor dominate the view.

Smithy & Fellbarrow Fells

Fellbarrow seen across Smithy Fell, but first there was a surprisingly steep descent before the next summit could be reached.

Smithy Fell's summit

Smithy Fell's summit.

Fellbarrow

Getting to Fellbarrow from Smithy Fell is easy, just follow the fence.

Whiteside & Grasmoor

The path we followed at the start of the walk is clearly visible from the path up onto Fellbarrow.

Fellbarrow's summit trig

Fellbarrow's summit trig.

Hatteringill Head

Hatteringill Head from Fellbarrow, the black dots are cows.

Hatteringill Head's summit

The easy walk across to Hatteringill Head had us wondering why we'd missed it out last time.

Skiddaw

Looking across the Whinlatter Fells to Skiddaw from Hatteringill Head's summit.

The route up

All that remains now is to find the route down off the fell.

Broadmoor Hill

Not surprisingly it soon turned into a meander through ferns, which thankfully weren't yet at my head height.

Lorton Vale

A final look across Lorton Vale as we regain the path we used at the start of the walk.

Whiteside

Whiteside and Hopegill Head across the valley.

Crummock Water

Crummock Water comes into view as the clouds start to catch the tops of the higher fells.

 

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