The Mardale Horseshoe plus one!

A cracking and hard day on the fells, with 8 Wainwrights done. My Garmin gave the stats as 3400 feet of ascent and then descent, over 12 miles. The Mardale Horseshoe includes Harter Fell (2555 ft), Mardale Ill Bell (2490), High Street (2718), The Knott (2330), Rampsgill Head (2598), High Raise (2500) and Kidsty Pike (2560)...we did also add in Thornthwaite Crag (2572) due to a 'slight' navigational error by me! But it was a nice place to have lunch! Steves iphone gave the distance as a bit further - what ever it was - it was a good walk in perfect weather! 

Looking across near the beginning of t he walk, at Mardale Head, towards High Street.

From Harter Fell over Haweswater.

Harter Fell Summit.

Panorama. 

From Mardale Ill Bell looking back at Harter Fell.

A fly-past.

From High Street across to Thornthwaite Crag with the towering summit cairn.

Descending from High Street towards The Knott.

Looking across to the Knott.

Looking down onto the Nab- that peat-bog of a fell!

Rampsgill Head. 

 

The view from Kidsty Pike.

And finally back to the valley. 

Would I repeat the walk - Oh Yes!.. may be not today though!

Red-necked Phalarope

Well we took the dogs down Wedholme Flow this morning and to our surprise there was a lovely Red-necked Phalarope pootling round on one of the pools! To make it even better it was in amongst some very nice Ruff.

Autumnal colours.

The paths have all been recently mown.

Autumn...plenty of dragon and damselflies too...

The pond....

The Red-necked Phalarope.

Mawbray's Roman Weights

Occasionally, we are lucky enough to find Roman weights on the beach - they may be fishing weights or warp weights and I refer you to Ann Lingard's blog on this for more information click here . Which ever they are, there is always a real buzz when you find one, yet alone two on the same day! Today we were lucky. 

Primarily this was a dog walk, but it soon changed focus....

Looking across the Solway.

Bonkers dog - ours was more restrained!

The first find...it was partly exposed so I dug it out not thinking to take a photo first...

The second find in situ....

Together...

This one was particularly large and unworn. As it was found lower down the beach than normal, I wonder if it has just been sat in the sediment for longer with less exposure to erosion.

And is this a finger print? It certainly fits my thumb nicely and the lines align perfectly with the lines of my thumb print. Who held this last? 

Closer in...

Fledgling Ospreys...

 We have been really privileged over the past weeks to be able to watch the three Osprey chicks preparing to fledge at Campfield Marsh,  down on the Solway Plain. A quick visit last week in the sunshine was good for butterflies too! 

The adults Ospreys were sat on the fence...

While the young were clearly visible.

Small Tortoiseshell.

Red Admiral.

Peacock.

Speckled Wood.

Wall Brown.

Flying Ant Season

Well it's that time of year on the fells - as we found out on Stone Arthur: Flying Ant season!  

An early start: a) to get parking and b) as it was forecast to be 25 degrees, we wanted to be heading down before it got too hot. Stone Arthur is a Wainwright that gives a nice view out across to Crinkle Crags and Harrison Stickle, over Rydal Water and Grasmere. It is however, very much a straight up and then a straight down route if you do it from Grasmere (parking at the bottom of Dunmail Raise), which we did as it was just a single Wainwright that I needed to pick off on my second round. 

Looking across to Stone Arthur from the roadside parking.

After walking round behind the Swan Hotel there is a finger post to the track that leads to the fell and onto Stone Arthur, but the finger has fallen off! Dried up beck - note the nice Chicken of the Woods on the distant tree.

A steep stepped path leads up onto the fell.

The view soon begins to open out.

The summit - note the 'ant-haze' around the stone.

Ants!

More ants..

And on the way back down a Golden-ringed Dragonfly.

Selside and Branstree

When much of the UK is sweltering, it's a real treat to be able to have perfect conditions on the fell tops. Rocky did really well as we did Selside and  Branstree, he's not getting any younger, - both above Haweswater. We arrived at about 9:15 to find parking to be relatively easy at Mardale Head - it soon filled up after that! Walking back down the road for a mile we soon came to the signed Corpse Road that takes you from the village of Mardale (under the reservoir) over to Swindale Head and then on, although the exact route isn't known, to Shap. Before you drop down at all, the path to Selside peels off to the right and takes the broad ridge across upland grassland to the summit and on to Branstree. A very pleasant walk, especially as it was so dry underfoot. After Branstree we dropped down to Gatesgarth Pass and back down to the carpark, leaving Harter Fell and beyond for another day. 

Some of the walls beginning to emerge from Haweswater.

On the way up the Corpse Road, looking up towards Harter Fell.

The path to Selside is on the horizon.

Selside top.

Rocky still likes to be first! Not quite the top of Branstree, but a better cairn than the one on the summit! 

And back down...

And home!