Route: Sale Fell
Area: North Western Lake District
Date of walk: 17th February 2018
Walkers: Andrew, Gilly and David
Distance: 3.0 miles
Ascent: 800 feet
Weather: Cloudy with sunny spells and some light showers
In a bid to secure a hat trick of Wainwrights for our nephew David in the space of three days we drove to Fleetwith Pike, but on arrival it was raining and the fell was obscured by low cloud. Not to worry, we had Barrow as our Plan B and Great Mell Fell as Plan C but again the weather was poor and so we decided to return to base and abandon the idea of a fell walk. As we were driving back however there seemed to be some blue skies in the north of the district, so we diverted to the quiet Wythop Valley and hoped that the weather would hold for our new Plan D – Sale Fell
With no particular route in mind at this stage we parked in one of the roadside spaces below the fell, and from there the gentle climb up the grassy flanks of the fell started immediately. Before long we were at the top, and decided to extend the walk by following the easy path down via Rivings and Lothwaite. This was a good decision as we enjoyed some wonderful views in good light over Bassenthwaite Lake towards the Skiddaw Fells
We descended the easy slopes and rejoined our earlier path, and from here retraced our steps back to the start
It was a great little walk, all the more enjoyable for being unexpected and unplanned
For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
Red squirrel before we set off this morning
The start of the walk as we follow a path through the gorse
Bassenthwaite Lake comes into view as we reach a small bench
A vivid partial rainbow over the lake
Looking back down our track to St Margaret's Church Wythop
Bonnie
David consults the OS map as we decide on our route
Bassenthwaite beyond Wythop Woods
We continue gently uphill past a small waterfall to a gate by the dry stone wall
We turn right at the gate to ascend Sale Fell
Looking back as the Skiddaw Fells come into view
Our return route will be along the top of the hills in front of Skiddaw
Summit of Sale Fell...
We follow the grassy path away from the summit and will fork right a little further along
Looking across to Lord's Seat
We continue through the gate below
David and Gilly follow the path in the direction of Skiddaw
The path contours around the top of the hills
Wythop Woods and Dodd
We head towards the summit of Lothwaite, which is not a Wainwright, although the views are better than those from Sale Fell, which is
Bench just below the summit
Lovely light on the fields by Bassenthwaite Lake
Skiddaw Fells
David and Gilly on Lothwaite
Bonnie's ear indicates the strength and direction of the wind
View along Bassenthwaite Lake
Looking back along our path, with Sale Fell far right
More views of Bassenthwaite as we continue to the end of the ridge...
We bid goodbye to the lake and start to descend in the other direction on reaching this line of trees
Skiddaw beyond the trees
Sale Fell ahead of us as we descend
We arrive at the gate which had marked the start of our earlier ascent, and from here we retrace our steps...
St Margaret's Church again
The end of a wonderful little walk, and one that I'm sure we'll repeat in the future
