| Date: | 16th Feb 2008 | ||
| Stats: | 8.0 miles, 2300 feet | ||
| Weather: | Very cold, sunny, clear, with winds on top | ||
| Trig Points: | 1: TP4166 – Kentmere Pike | ||
| Wainwrights: | 3: Shipman Knotts, Kentmere Pike, Harter Fell | ||
| Other Info: | Parking at Sadgill very restricted, arrive early | ||
| Summary: | Sadgill, Wray Crag, Shipman Knotts, Kentmere Pike, Harter Fell, Gatesgarth Pass, lane thru Longsleddale valley, Sadgill | ||
Key to symbols:
= Trig Point 
= Wainwright Summit
Shipman Knotts and Kentmere Pike from the road into Sadgill. The temp gauge in the car said minus 5 when I arrived at Sadgill. I was glad I’d put my long-johns on.
Sleddale Fells from the car park at Sadgill. I use the word car park loosely. Its really just a widening of the road next to the bridge leading to the farm. Room for maybe 4 or 5 cars at a push, so its best to arrive early.
The path, beyond the farm, up the fellside from Sadgill
Looking back up Longsleddale from the path out of Sadgill
At various places the path was completely frozen solid, it would have been much harder coming downhill here.
The path up to Wray Crag mainly follows the wall.
First view of Shipman Knotts. Despite the cold I was sweating profusely at this point and I felt the long-johns were restricting movement and not really necessary anymore, so I took the opportunity to strip them off. A tricky job without getting your feet wet and cold.
The path leading up to Kentmere Pike. I spotted a walker ahead of me, it’s always nice to have a target to aim for on a climb. I did make up most of the distance on him in the end.
A frozen pool and remaining snow beside the wall on the way up to Kentmere Pike. You can see the trig point on the skyline, just to the right of the wall, with the walker I saw previously, standing next to it.
The Ill Bell ridge and Kentmere Reservoir. There is a purple haze hanging over the hills here, but a few hundred feet above them it clears. This made camera work very tricky.
The summit cairn on Kentmere Pike. This is much smaller than the last time I was here. Along with the cairn on Shipman Knotts, which seems to have disappeared completely, someone has been attacking these.
Trig point on Kentmere Pike with Harter Fell behind. I had to put my coat on at this point, the temperature had dropped significantly as the wind had increased and I was beginning to wish I hadn’t removed my long-johns.
Harter Fell summit cairn. Since my last visit, the cairn seems to have grown a pair of steel horns. The wind at this stage was becoming quite strong and I was feeling quite cold, particularly on my top half. I was trying a new base layer top today and I don’t think it’s anything like as effective as my old one. It doesn’t wick the moisture away as well and that was causing me to feel cold. I have walked in much worse conditions than this and felt much more comfortable.
The long flat summit of Harter Fell looking towards the double cairn at the northern most tip.
Blea Water with High Street behind
Branstree and Gatesgarth Pass.
I have almost no will power at all. The purpose of this walk was two-fold. To revisit and photograph the summits of Shipman Knotts and Kentmere Pike without the low cloud cover I had last time and then to ascend to Tarn Crag and Grey Crag on the other side of the valley. When I got to Brownhowe Bottom though, the place where the track heads up the hillside, I decided I didn’t fancy another 700 feet of climb and opted for the easy walk down Longsleddale. I will now have to return and make sure next time I climb directly from Sadgill up to Grey Crag. What a wuss!
I stopped for a bite to eat at the Sheepfold at Brownhowe Bottom and in a gap between passing walkers I removed my fleece and new base layer top and donned by spare set. My old base layer, which I was carrying as a spare felt much warmer.
Waterfalls in Longsleddale. This is my favourite valley in the Lakes, at least so far, I probably haven’t seen enough of the Lakes to make that decision just yet. It has the most glorious crags on either side with a wonderful meandering lane down the valley and beautiful waterfalls. Absolutely wonderful.
Buckbarrow Crag – one of the most spectacular in the valley.
A view back up the length of Longsleddale. The walled lane is clearly visible, flanked by towering crags. The sheep were all excited by the farmer who was delivering feed to a neighbouring field, but it does look like they are menacing me in this shot.
What did I say about car parking at Sadgill? Room for 4 or 5 cars? With the Landrover Discovery that was parked behind me and the car that was about to park beside the bridge, there were 25 cars parked here when I returned. Total mayhem!