Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crags walk

Walk : Bowscale Fell (2,306ft) and Bannerdale Crags (2,230ft) from Bowscale

Date : 30^th June 2016

Weather : Dry, cloudy @ 13 °C

Distance : 7 miles round trip

Difficulty : 1 to 2 – A gentle climb up to the Col. Good ridge walk to Bannerdale Crags

(1=easy 5=hard)

Which area of Lakeland is this walk situated?

Terrain Overview

3D view of the walk up to Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crags

Walk Overview

This walk was notable for me in that on Bannerdale Crags I completed my 100^th Wainwright Fell. Overall, it’s a really fine walk with

the gentle slope leading up to Bowscale Tarn taking away a lot of the labour from getting up to 2,00 feet

From the A66 heading away from Keswick, take the road signposted to Mungrisedale and head for the tiny hamlet of Bowscale
Just before a row of cottages there is space on the right for several cars to park freely

From the A66 heading away from Keswick, take the road signposted to Mungrisedale and head for the tiny hamlet of Bowscale

Just before a row of cottages there is space on the right for several cars to park freely

Take the stone track that leads past the farm building

Through the gate to gain access to the open fell side

An early view of Bowscale Fell from the track

The Caldew valley from the track

The track climbs very gently towards the Col that leads on to the Northern ridge of the Fell

Looking across the valley to Carrock Fell

Approaching the point where the track swings left towards Bowscale Tarn

Bowscale Tarn

Sue and Ste pause to take in the scenery

Sue thinks we are joking when we reveal the next part of the climb

Yep, that’s it Sue, 400 feet up there via the hairpin path. The path itself is very narrow in parts with a steep drop requiring some care

Half way up and a good view of Bowscale Tarn

The upper reaches of the track to gain the North ridge

The start of the North ridge leading to the summit

Looking over to Blencathra from the ridge

A clear track is easily followed to the summit

Looking towards Skiddaw

The summit shelter cairn on Bowscale Fell

Looking across to our next fell of the day … Bannerdale Crags

Looking towards Blencathra

Following the edge towards Bannerdale Crags

It’s quite a steep drop and the path does skirt the edge in some places

Ste on the summit of Bannerdale Crags

Profile of Blencathra

The personal milestone of having bagged 100 Wainwright summits