I set off early and reached Green Quarter just after 9 a.m. It took a little while to park as there is very little parking in Kentmere and Green Quarter but I managed to tuck it in on a very quiet road. The forecast had said “slight chance of rain” which was why I’d picked today to whizz up some hills.
I walked down to Kentmere church and to the end of the road and then got onto Garburn Pass. This is a mountain road that goes across to Troutbeck. It rises gently for a couple of kilometres and then I headed off north on a good path across some boggy terrain. It was quite warm and a bit muggy. This path also rose gently although when I came back down it seemed much steeper so I can only conclude that I wasn’t really feeling the climb. I got all the way up to Yoke and had a short break there. The weather started to close in a bit and there was a lot of low cloud around. Then onto Ill Bell through the gloom. Ill Bell (no sickness, no bells) has 3 cairns which were reminiscent of the Nine Standards in construction.
From Ill Bell you have to drop down quite a bit and then go up again to reach Froswick, Wainwright didn’t seem to think you would go there unless you were going somewhere else but I didn’t really want to keep going as had already been to the hills you can reach easily from there, also my route was not a circuit. So I had my lunch and looked across to Thornthwaite Beacon, High Street, Mardale Ill Bell and Harter Fell.
I turned back and retraced my steps. There was a shower on Ill Bell and a much bigger one as I got back to the Garburn Pass, my head felt like it was being massaged under the hood of my coat!
The Garburn Pass had got a lot wetter and what with my thin summer socks, gave my feet a terrible pummeling. I got back to Green Quarter at last, actually much more quickly than I’d thought, and had a delicious slice of my own home made shortbread!
Feels like my exercise regime and losing a few pounds has been worth the effort. Home before 6 p.m. And 3 more Wainwrights bagged!
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Cairns on Ill Bell |
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Ill Bell |
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Lake Windybum |
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Kentmere Reservoir, Harter Fell above |
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I like these cairns |
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All three on Ill Bell |
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Kentmere Reservoir looking south |
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Flew over my head |
[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Ill+Bell,+Kentmere,+South+Lakeland+District,+United+Kingdom&aq=1&oq=Ill+Bell&sll=53.7924,-2.105684&sspn=0.018151,0.060339&t=p&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Bell,+Illinois&ll=54.449981,-2.866745&spn=0.029942,0.051498&z=13&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]
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looks great Jak I did this very walk a few years ago and saw absolutely nothing, mist all day, you look like you had a good day for it.Are you doing peak bagging with John and Ann Nuttall's book? Cath
Hi CathNo just with Wainwright, but there is a book which does them in about 30 odd walks, some of which would be pretty gruelling.How are you getting on? Jak xxx