Start point: Car Park above The White Horse Inn (NY 349 272)
Scales – Sharp Edge – Blencathra (100 – 105) (Atkinson Pike – Hallsfell Top – Gategill Fell – Blease Fell – Doddick Fell – Scales Fell) – Souther Fell (106) – Scales
Weather: Overcast, raining by the end.
As it is the first day of the school summer holidays, today’s walk was chosen by my 13 year old – an ascent of Blencathra via Sharp Edge; an excellent choice, I must say.
Bill Birkett counts the 6 separate tops on Blencathra as individual fells, so after ascending Sharp Edge we traversed the full Blencathra ridge and then crossed over onto Souther Fell.
The path starts from the car park above The White Horse, just off the A66 and immediately it is straight into a cruelly steep climb until the col is reached overlooking Mousthwaite Comb.
Sharp Edge from the col. From the col, the path follows the contour along the valley of the River Glenderamackin and then climbs up with Scales Beck to Scales Tarn.
Sharp Edge from Scales Tarn. From Scales Tarn, there is an excellent profile of Sharp Edge which looms menacingly. A left turn up the side of the slope and the bottom of Sharp Edge is reached.
The start of Sharp Edge.
Onwards and upwards along the rocky traverse.
Scales Tarn from Sharp Edge.
Looking up Sharp Edge. The final part of the Edge is the steepest; it is an exhilarating feeling looking down from this climb.
Sharp Edge from the top. At the top of Sharp Edge, it was straight up to the highest point, Atkinson Pike.
Skiddaw from Atkinson Pike..
and Blease Fell. From Atkinson Pike, it is along 'the saddle' to the summit.
The highest point on Blencathra is Hallsfell Top. This view is from the summit overlooking Derwent Water with the rest of the Blencathra ridge to the right. Walking along the undulating ridge, the next top is Gategill Fell.
Skiddaw Forest and the Back O' Skiddaw fells from Gategill Fell Top.
St. John's in the Vale and Thirlmere from Gategill Fell. Traversing right to the end of the ridge, the farthest point is Blease Fell. From Blease Fell, we retraced our footsteps along to the main summit and the descended via Doddick Fell and Scales Fell.
Looking back to Hallsfell top from Doddick Fell
and Sharp Edge from Scales Fell, right. We walked back down to the col overlooking Mousthwaite Comb and then carried on up the grassy rise along the undulating Souther Fell. This is the fell where legend has it a Spectral Army was seen on Midsummer Day 1745 by the local population.
Great Mell Fell and Little Mell fell from Souther Fell summit. Immediately after we hit Souther Fell summit, the heavens opened so it was a soggy return to the col and descent by the same path we came up to reach the car.