Great Mell Fell and Little Mell Fell

Walk Date – 12th October 2015

Distance – 3 miles

Weather – heavy rain until 1.00 pm, then sunny and windy

 


Route – out and back for both

Red – Walk route. Blue – Car journey.

Autumn colours in the bracken as we climb up Great Mell Fell.

Looking back down the path towards Little Mell Fell.

Gowbarrow Fell across the sunlit fields below us.

On the skyline opposite us are Great Dodd on the left and Clough Head on the right.

No, it hasn’t fallen over, its just going with the flow of the prevailing westerly winds. There are quite a few like this up here.

Further up the steepish path and yet another leaning tree growing happily on the exposed fell side.

Little Mell Fell below some spectacular skies.

Still climbing. I liked the way the curve of the woodland was mirrored by the clouds above.

Looking eastwards, the thin blue line on the horizon is the Pennines. What a fantastic sky today.

A close up of an un-named tarn below Little Mell Fell.

More impressive cloud formations over to our right as we continue up Great Mell Fell.

In the middle foreground in Gowbarrow Fell and beyond are some of the far eastern fells. The dip in the skyline to the right of centre is Threshthwaite Mouth.

The wooded area just below the summit of Great Mell Fell.

Well it might be dead, but the way the light was illuminating the bleached trunk and branches seemed to give it a new lease of life, it absolutely sparkled in the sunshine.

We’re not sparkling in any sunshine though. Typically, the minute we reached the top large clouds passed across the sun. We weren’t expecting the very strong and cold north wind we got either, it was forecast to be a mild southerly one.

At least Blencathra was nicely lit, its not often we see it in such detail, and that cloud above it was just wonderful.

A longer view of Blencathra with its neighbouring northern fells.

At the summit cairn on Great Mell Fell and well wrapped up against the wind. We waited quite a while for the cloud to blow over but it stubbornly refused to do so until we were on our way back down.

Blencathra, beautifully detailed today with all the edges and ridges clearly defined.

Looking eastwards towards Rampsgill Head and High Raise.

In the middle foreground is Place Fell with just a smidge of Ullswater showing below it.

The light went out for a while as that big grey cloud moved across. The eastern fells still have a bit of sunshine.

We have sunshine once again as we go back down. We want to go up Little Mell Fell before the light begins to fade.

Sunlight bouncing off trunks and branches as we move back into the woodland.

Plenty of detail on Gowbarrow Fell now. Its a lovely afternoon and we’ve dropped down out of the wind so its nice and warm too.

The foreground fell is Gowbarrow, behind it is Beda Fell, just peeping out behind Beda is The Nab, then Rampsgill Head, and on the right skyline is High Street.

Back in the lane where we started from looking across the fields on the lower slopes of Great Mell Fell. Lakeland looking lovely in the late afternoon.

Our parking spot, the lane which leads to the path up Great Mell Fell. Now for short drive over to The Hause.

A five minute drive takes us to The Hause where we park up again. Now we’re going up there – Little Mell Fell.

Beyond the gate the path leads up to the summit. It doesn’t look much but it certainly has you puffing and panting. Its steep but mercifully short and 10-15 minutes later you are at the top.

13 minutes later and we’re at the trig point on Little Mell Fell, with a little of Ullswater showing behind.

Once again we reach the top and the sun goes in.

The wooded slopes of Great Mell Fell where we have just come from, with Blencathra and the northern fells behind.

Arthur’s Pike, on the left side of that deep gully. No-one sailing on Ullswater today.

On the other side of the gully is Bonscale Pike. The gully is Swarthbeck Ghyll.

A little further to the right and a view of all the fells to the east of Ullswater, far too many to name here.

Arthur’s Pike and Bonscale Pike across Ullswater.

Making our way down to The Hause where the car is parked.

One last shot looking over Ullswater before we’re back down …..

….. and another looking across at the eastern fells.

Almost back down at The Hause.

The path we’ve just come down, and as we’re not going to Lowthwaite we turn in the opposite direction and head back to the car.

Not many walkers venture here, these aren’t the big exciting fells that draw the crowds. We saw only one man and he seemed to be using Little Mell Fell as a training ground judging by the speed he was going. He was going up as we were coming down, and he came back down while we were still going down. He then crossed the road, continued up a hill on that side and then disappeared over the top, all in the space of the 15 minutes we took to walk down. Not a walker as such, more likely a fell runner doing a spot of speed walking. The Mell Fells are two small fells, and isolated from the all the rest, but even so they have something to offer, even if it is just peace and quiet for a while, and on such a good weather day a grand opportunity for some marvellous cloudscape photos.

An enjoyable 3 hours of wandering.