High Force

We followed the beck upwards towards High Force. There are many small cascades and is very pretty with sun beams streaming through the trees on to the water. Although High Force' drop isn't as much as Aira Force, it is still impressive. It wasn't long before the woodland ran out and the landscape opened up. It was a wonderful day with blue skies and sun. 

The path gradually bent its way around the north side of Gowbarrow Fell before flinging us out on to a single track road at Ulcat Row. There are a few houses scattered along this road and no apparent access to Gowbarrow Fell. We could see the lump of Great Mell Fell on our left but our target was Little Mell Fell, straight ahead.

Little Mell Fell

There is nothing fussy about the path up Little Mell Fell; it just goes straight to the top. Well there is a bit halfway up where it scoots off to the left for a while, to give you a rest before that final pull to the top. There is a trig at the summit. Due to the conical nature of the fell, you get a good view over to High Street, Helvellyn and Blencathra, but the nearby landscape is hidden.  For this reason we picked a spot a couple of minutes off the summit for our break.

We followed the road down and then took the footpath that goes below Priest Crag. This was a well made path that gradually made its way up to Swinburn's Park, a large woodland area. The path contoured around the hillside and it was nice to have the shade of the trees on such a hot day.

At one point we found a small scale model of a stile, placed on a tree trunk. Despite the copious amounts of glue on the joints, one of the stiles was broken. I wondered who had placed it there and for what reason. Eventually the woodland ran out we could see Gowbarrow Fell before us.

Gowbarrow Fell

There were plenty of people going up and coming down Gowbarrow Fell. I presume most people climb the fell by walking the circular route from the Aira Force car park. A couple walked by us with a small dog. The dog suddenly jumped into a muddy pool of water and shook himself about, presumably to cool off. He definitely came out dirtier than when he went in.

The summit of Gowbarrow was packed with people, many finding spots to sit down for their lunchbreak. We pressed forward and made the 15 minute walk over to Green Hill which has a view down to Ullswater. and makes for a much better place for a lunch spot. 

Aira Car Park

It is an easy and pleasant descent down from Green Hill. There were classic views down the Ullswater valley from Bernard Pike. By the time we reached Aira Force, tourists were out in numbers. Many looked like Aira Force was their target, a few might even walk up to High Force, but I'd guess that many wouldn't be doing the full Gowbarrow circular path.

We wanted an easier day today and this walk was ideal. Most of it seemed reasonably flat, or at least the ascents were gradual. The exception of course, was the ascent of Little Mell Fell, but this really didn't take that long to climb. In short it provided great views for minimum effort.