Hartside South Side

Working through a specific hill-list can be a solitary pursuit.  Even when you’re on a club meet with others who enjoy mountain pursuits your friends don’t necessarily share your objectives.  But fair enough when I wanted to go to the boggier Pennines rather than enjoy the obvious wonders of Patterdale.  At least the drive up to the top of Hartside Pass was familiar.  But this time I was walking south, at least for the first half of the walk.

I followed some good tracks, constructed for the grouse shooting fraternity, before following a line of twelve shooting butts than gradually rose up the eastern slope of Fiend’s Fell.  At the final butt I changed my bearing across the heather moorland to reach the summit, adorned by a trig point and being a good viewpoint for the north and east of the Lake District.

the Lake District from Fiend's Fell summit

Looking ahead, I decided to head slightly east to avoid losing height in the grough to my right.  The ground wasn’t brilliant but at least I kept most of the height.  I passed over the top of Little Knapside Hill and battled the increasing winds to reach the welcome shelter of Knapside Hill’s cairn.  From here the walk, despite the wind, was quite easy on a good path to the obvious summit cairn of Melmerby Fell which lacked the stature to afford any shelter. 

Cross Fell from Melmerby Fell summit

The winds reached their peak here; averaging just over 40mph and gusting at 50mph.  No doubt that speeds would be higher on Cross Fell which dominated the view to the south.  I soon turned tail and beyond Little Knapside Hill I followed a track slightly to the west of the way I had taken on my outbound journey, making a beeline for a stile crossing the fence.  On reflection it was obvious that this was the trodden path and it took me to the grough where the height lost and regained was not as much as I had feared earlier in the day.

The rounded convex north-eastern slope of Fiend’s Fell did not  give me the view of the grouse butts that I had hoped for and I had to bushwhack through some deep heather.  But I eventually reached their line and was soon back at the car.

Even in the high winds and across some less than ideal ground I enjoyed this half day walk, taking satisfaction in the bagging of another two Nuttalls.