Today I ended up on a fell I hadn’t set out to climb – I had in mind to climb Great Gable but when I climbed to Beck Head I remembered that Kirk Fell was one of the ones that Dougal hasn’t yet done (there aren’t many!) so as it was so near I decided to go for it…
Height: 802 metres / 2631 feet Grid reference: NY 19498 10485 Category: The Western Fells
Kirk Fell has two separate tops, the main and highest one being the south top with the north top across the hollow containing Kirkfell Tarn.
North Top […]
I would have liked to have made it to Great Gable yesterday as it was the FRCC annual Armistice Day service up there, but not to worry as I had my own service in solitude today. It was really icy ad cold when I set off and that soon gave way to sunshine and clear blue skies. I descended Great Gable by way of the Westmorland Cairn and down to the rough and rocky Great Napes descending Great Hell Gate and traversing to Napes Needle and Sphinx Rock.
It was a funny old day today, weather-wise. When I set off from Overbeck Bridge, it was raining and showers continued over Yewbarrow with the odd ominous rumble of thunder. When the rain stopped, it became very hazy and warm and by the time I got to Pillar it was sunny, but with gale force winds which were present until I got back to valley level where it became almost unbearably hot. Angus and Casper were resplendent with new summer haircuts – it takes years off Angus, I think. It was quite an arduous round this one – a new one for Casper as it was very rocky with a few scrambles, Angus of course, took it all in his stride.
Today’s walk was a visit to two of the giants of Wasdale – Kirk Fell and Great Gable. I took the direct route up to Kirk Fell from Wasdale Head, a sickeningly steep climb, ‘the steepest in Lakeland’ as Wainwright described it.
Wasdale Head – Black Sails Pass – Kirk Fell (93) – Great Gable (94) – Green Gable (95) – Windy Gap – Styhead Tarn – Wasdale Head
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