Blake Fell, High Pen and Low Pen
Walk date – 20th April 2026
Distance – 5 miles
Weather – sunny start, increasing cloud cover, hail shower when back in car, no breeze
We’ve had this walk in mind for some time and with today’s reasonable forecast we decided to give it a go. Over here in the east the day dawned sunny but there was lots of fair weather cloud around although it was well broken. We made an early start and when we reached the A66 and began heading westward we could see that the cloud was even more broken up and there was much more blue sky the further west we travelled. Unfortunately our early start was nullified to some extent when we joined a queue of traffic as we approached the section of the A66 below Blencathra. A couple of vehicles peeled off down into St John’s in the Vale which cut the queue down a little but we remained stuck in a line of traffic behind a large lorry which only turned off at the Cockermouth roundabout. We turned off at the same time but in the opposite direction to the lorry and made our way over to Cauda Brow above the village of Croasdale. We were just about to get under way when a car pulled up behind us and a female passenger got out, walked over to us and asked us if we knew where Ennerdale Water was. I pointed out on our road map where their car was parked and pointed out where Ennerdale Water was. All they needed to do was turn the car around and head down the lane back to Croasdale, turn left into the hamlet and follow the road from there down to the parking area at Bowness Knott beside Ennerdale Water. We hoped they eventually managed to find it. After that we were finally able to get on with our walk.
Route
Cauda Brow – Kelton Fell – Saddler’s Knott – Blake Fell – High Pen – Low Pen – Kelton Fell – Cauda Brow
The gate leading to the start of today’s walk, We are parked in a lay-by more or less opposite the gate and the road opposite the gate leads down to Kirkland.
Once through the gate we take to the track across Kelton Fell from which we get a long distance view of the route we’ll be taking.
Further along the track now and still walking across Kelton Fell. Over on the left is the silhouette of Blake Fell and below that is Low Pen.
A look across to the left at the forested slopes of Knock Murton.
A very wet and very boggy area greeted us after passing through a gate below Kelton Fell. The alternative route over to the right of the shot was just as soggy. We ploughed through it all with much cursing and eventually reached the uphill path through the heather at the top of which was another gate where we turned left and followed the path over Saddler’s Knott. The hill beyond the path going up through the heather is known as Godworth but its name isn’t shown on our route map. It can be located on our route map though, its the small circle between Kelton Fell and Saddler’s Knott.
As we began walking up the hill towards the next gate we caught sight of Angler’s Crag and Crag Hill above Ennerdale Water. The reflections created in the still water below Angler’s Crag were particularly striking.
A look back when we reached the gate at the top of the hill. Over on the left is Kelton Fell, on the right is the boggy morass we’ve just walked through and shows the two paths going across it. It didn’t matter which one was chosen as they were both as bad as each other.
We followed the path going off left from the gate and began the walk across Saddler’s Knott. That too was a boggy mess initially but as the path reached higher ground the wetness was gradually left behind. I was concentrating so much on not walking into ankle deep wetness that the ‘Hi’ called out by a runner who passed us made me jump, he splashed through all the soggy wet stuff without a moment’s hesitation.
From the steadily climbing path across Saddler’s Knott these fells in the distance caught my eye. I recognised Pillar immediately, over on the right, but I had to have a think abour the other two as I didn’t recognise them from this viewpoint. I think they are Starling Dodd, in the centre, and over on the left is the Red Pike-High Stile-High Crag ridge above Buttermere. Don’t take that as correct though as I may be completely wrong.
On the skyline is Great Borne (L) tapering down to Herdus over on the right. Between them and us is Banna Fell.
As we climbed higher the views gradually became more extensive and now we could see Crag Fell behind which is Grike, and behind that is Heckbarley.
The path eventually led us across the shoulder coming down from High Pen and we began the climb up to Blake Fell summit. At this path junction we took the path on the left, the one on the right leads over to Gavel Fell which we won’t be visiting today.
As we continued up the path some familiar shapes began appearing, I’ll leave you to identify them for the time being and put names to them a little later on.
A view of Knock Murton and Cogra Moss as we walk along.
We’ve rounded the bend now and begin the climb up to the summit of Blake Fell. The above shot is looking across the Blakefell Screes on the western face of Blake Fell.
Over the stile and keep on walking!
Just when you’re thinking you must be almost on the summit and haven’t much further to go some more ‘up’ appears! Onwards and upwards, as the saying goes.
We’ve reached the fence line now so I took a few shots on the way to the summit just in case some of the bigger clouds came along and blotted out the sun when we reached the top. The shot above looks towards Fleetwith Pike in the centre with just a tiny part of Buttermere on view below it.
Behind the dip in the middle of Mellbreak, and on the left side, are Grasmoor, Wandope, Whiteless Edge and Whiteless Pike. On the right are the three Newlands giants – Robinson, Hindscarth and Dale Head. Between the two sets of fells, in the far distance, are some of the fells belonging to the Helvellyn group.
The view across Lorton Vale towards some more giants. In the distance on the left is the Skiddaw group of fells, across the centre of the shot are Whiteside and its ridge over to Hopegill Head, below which is Sand Hill. The big ‘un’ over on the right is Grasmoor.
Another shot looking beyond the fence line towards Fleetwith Pike. Just in front of Mellbreak is the green and brown top of Hen Comb. Also in the shot is Red Pike (R) overlooking Buttermere. On the way up to the summit J had a chat with a solo walker who had reached the top earlier and who was now beginning to make his way down. I was too far away to hear the substance of the conversation but J later told me that each of them had arrived at the top via different routes although he couldn’t remember which route the other chap had taken.
The shelter marking the summit of Blake Fell plus a glimpse of the Solway Firth in the distance. As you can see the fair weather cloud is gradually drifting westwards and away from us but for the time being we are still in the sunlight. I took a few more views from the summit area …..
….. the view down to Knock Murton and Cogra Moss …..
….. Carling Knott, currently cloud shaded …..
….. another look across Lorton Vale for another view of the ‘big uns’ …..
….. the view looking east where all that cloud is coming from …..
….. and the fells around Buttermere which gradually became a patchwork of sun and shadow. J had a chat with a couple of walkers who wandered up to the summit as I was taking photos so I don’t know what they talked about, and they had disappeared by the time I’d finished so I’ve no idea where they went afterwards. While we were up here we also were plunged into shadow by an enormous cloud which lowered the temperature by a few degrees so the jackets and jumpers went back on sharpish.
The views from Blake Fell are extensive but were a little on the shadowy side today as there was so much cloud around. On the centre skyline in the above shot is Pillar, and to its right are Black Crag and Scoat Fell. I think the flat topped fell to its left is Great End with a sunny Kirk Fell below it.
As we began our descent I noticed Haycock, with the pimple of Little Gowder Crag next to it, on the left skyline. The long ridge eventually drops down to Caw Fell. Below are a couple of shots taken as we descended …..
….. Gavel Fell immediately below us gets a splash of sunlight …..
….. and just peeping through the gap between Black Crag and Pillar is Scafell. (I think!)
On the centre skyline, and immediately above a sunlit Starling Dodd, is Pillar now with just a hint of sunlight on it.
Gavel Fell below as we drop down to the bend in the path beside the fence line which will lead us down between Gavel Fell and Blake Fell to the path over High Pen.
Pillar gets its ration of sunlight at last.
We’ve rounded the bend at this point and are making our way down to the path leading over High and Low Pen.
We keep the fence line to our left as we make our way over to High Pen from where we have …..
….. this slightly shaded view of the Blakefell Screes and the two paths going across them. Why would anyone to choose to walk across them when scree, which slithers and slides beneath your feet, is such awful stuff to walk across?
Jackets just had to come off when we reached High Pen. The sun was blazing from the sky and with the loss of height came an increase in temperature. Having made ourselves comfortable again and taken some liquid on board we began dropping down to Low Pen. We met two people as we descended, a youngish woman, who was running up, and stopped to have a chat while she waited for her dad to catch up. He had stopped running by now and walked up instead so we all had a chat while he got his breath back.
The view back to High Pen from Low Pen where we stopped to remove our jumpers and have another drink.
The view of Knock Murton from Low Pen where it looks like a bit of tree felling has taken place on part of the slope. The descent was very steep so its not surprising that the runner’s dad was so far behind her. Good on him for even attempting it.
J made his way down the steep path carefully, and so did I! We kept the fence line to our left, there is a path over on the other side but it swings away from Low Pen and doesn’t go over the top of it. As we got nearer the tree line we kept a lookout for a metal double gate which we needed to pass through. We found the gate, no problem on that score, but the area around the gate was a) very wet and messy as it was close to a junction of two lttle becks and b) the gate was had been fastened with baler twine which had been in situ long enough for all the threads of it to become entangled with each other. No way could we untangle it so we didn’t bother and climbed over the gate instead.
The path from the gate led us down to the crossing of this little beck …..
….. and once across I took the above shot to show the path leading down to it.
From the beck the path led back to the gate at the top of the hill we climbed at the start. We got another view of Angler’s Crag but it wasn’t a sunny one. We will have to negotiate the soggy, boggy field once more when we reach the bottom of the hill, not something we were looking forward to!
At the end of the soggy field below Kelton Fell where we got wet boots all over again. Having passed through the gate I took a look back at where we had been. We’ve been under a huge dark cloud since we crossed the beck and gone is the sunlit view we had when we started out. Now everything is darkly shaded and the temperature has dropped a few degrees but we only had a short distance to go before we reached the car so we quickened the pace rather than stopping to put jackets back on. It was almost one o’clock by this time so we were getting hungry too, breakfast was a long time ago!
The last photo of today’s walk shows some of the windblown trees beside the track we walked when we first started out. To the west the sky was still blue and the sun was still blazing down but we were beneath a very large cloud and it was quite cold as we walked quickly back to the car. We had just begun to eat our sandwiches when I noticed a large drop of water land on the windscreen, as I watched it dribble slowly down, another one fell and then another. It happened slowly to begin with but the rate increased rapidly. Then we saw and heard blobs of ice landing on the car, skittering across the bonnet as they landed, or hitting the windscreen and slithering slowly down it. That also began slowly with the rate rapidly increasing until we were in a full blown hailstorm. We had made it back to the car just in time. The hailstorm eventually stopped but the dark clouds remained threateningly overhead, but we had no more rain/hail on the long drive back to the Eden Valley.