Lord's Seat, Broom Hill and Graystones

It was blowing hard on Lord's Seat and we struggled to put on extra layers. Looking west we could see the large pillar on Broom Hill and further along Graystones. The walk looked fairly easy from Lord's Seat but in reality we found it much more undulating that its appearance. It was really boggy in places too.

We were lucky to find the stone shelter unoccupied on Broom Hill and so we hunkered down in it, out of the strong wind, to eat our lunch. Within minutes we were joined by several people who peered into the shelter with obvious visible disappointment to find us nestled in there. They grabbed what shelter they could in lee of Broom Hill's pillar. One youngster had an improvised repair to his boot that involved wrapping gaffer tape around the toe. It didn't appear to affect his enthusiasm though.

On Graystones there was some confusion as to the actual summit. The highest point appeared west of a derelict stone wall. It was on the top of a small rock outcrop and had a cairn on it. On the OS map, the summit appears east of it.  We visited both summits just to be sure. As I studied the map we were hit by a shower and a rainbow materialised over Wythop Moss. That was our next destination and so we headed for the end of the rainbow.

Ling Fell

We could see Ling Fell on the other side of Wythop Moss. There seemed to be some sketchy paths crossing the area and so we headed for one of them. As we were heading down, some farmers were rounding sheep up and herding them across the moss. There are quite a few wired fences across the moss but these are unbarbed and fairly easy to step over. There seemed to be a lack of stiles. The sketchy paths that had seemed obvious from the flanks of Graystones had now disappeared.  We plodded on over tufty moor and eventually got to the skirts of Ling Mell. We headed up. The weather was now superb with sun and blue skies. Ling Fell has a trig on top and a wonderful all round view.

Sale Fell

There is a surprising amount of descent from Ling Fell before the ascent to Sale Fell can be made. The first part of the climb  to Sale Fell was steep and a chore for our tired limbs. Eventually it reduced to a more enjoyable slope. After a couple of false summits we reached the top and spent a few moments absorbing the tremendous view of Skiddaw.

We descended from the summit towards Wythop Woods. This included an occasionally painful wade through some gorse bushes that had encroached on to the path. After crossing some fields we continued on a good path downwards through Wythop Woods. The traffic noise of the A66 became increasingly intrusive. We eventually reached the A66 at Beck Wythop.

Bassenthwaite Lake

The route follows a tarmaced road that runs parallel to the A66. This must be the old road since there is the odd cats-eye still in the middle of the road.

At Woodend Brow we crossed the A66 and followed the path alongside Lake Bassenthwaite. There were great views across the lake to Skiddaw. The lake looks quite shallow near to the shore. In fact we could see the bottom of the lake near the western shore when we looked down from Barf. It must make it easier for the nearby Ospreys to find a fish meal. They nest on the marshes on the southern end of the lake. A man with a tripod and telescopic lens was looking in that direction but there was no sign of the elusive Ospreys.

We crossed under the A66 and a short walk along the edge of Powter Wood brought us back to the car park.

This was the first time I'd climbed these fells. They might not be the highest fells but they punch well above their weight in terms of views.