Walk

Walk : Hen Comb (1,661 ft) from The Kirkstile Inn, Loweswater via the North ridge

Date : 5^th March 2020

Weather : Dry, cold cloud cover moving in

Distance : 4.5 miles round trip

Time Taken : 1 hour 30 mins to summit

Which part of Lakeland is this walk situated

This walk is dedicated to Jones (the Bastard) our beloved member of the

the family who we lost on 1^st February 2020. Rest peacefully you stroppy git

Terrain Overview

Overview

Our first fell walk of the new year. After various interruptions / distractions with work, flu or both at last a chance to get the old Fell legs working again

Hen Comb in the remote area near Loweswater stands at just over 1600 feet. Route finding presents no difficulty as it sits the opposite side of

Mosedale Beck from the towering Mellbreak. Be aware that crossing the Beck after periods of heavy rain like we have had recently can present

a little difficulty. The final pull to the summit for a small fell is quite steep

We chose to journey from Merseyside up the M6 to Junction 40 and then across towards Keswick on the A66. After passing Keswick / Braithwaite look for the

signs for Lorton and Buttermere on the left and from then on follow the signs to Loweswater. The walk starts at the phone booth (now a defibrillator station) just

before you reach the Kirkstile Inn

Looking over to Grasmoor from the start of the walk

As we set off down the lane towards Church Bridge the north face of Mellbreak dominates the view

The imposing north face of Mellbreak

The lane passes the Inn and the Church and leads out to a small wooded area

Looking across Crummock Water to Whiteside and Grasmoor from the track

The path eventually leads to a gate and swings round to the right. The firebreak between the trees can be followed to climb Mellbreak. We swing round right

Looking across to Loweswater with Low Fell beyond

From the path through the gate after about a quarter of a mile a grass track branches off to the right which leads down to Mosedale Beck

Mosedale Beck in full speight after the recent and sustained heavy rain can present some difficulty. Crossing on the ascent – we took our boots off and dried

off on the other side before continuing

Go for it Sue !!!

From the Beck follow the grass track that runs parallel with the wooded area to gain the higher ground and a path leading up to Little Dodd

Looking back towards the massive bulk of Grasmoor

A close up view of the scree path that leads up the north tower of Mellbreak

Having reached the ridge line swing left and follow the grass track

There is a choice of tracks to follow both heading in the same direction, we chose the lower track which is largely pathless across thick grass

Looking back towards Loweswater

The first clear view of Hen Comb beyond Little Dodd. Its worth pointing out that if you initially climb the ridge line a little higher that we chose to there is a more

well defined track to journey along. We opted to cross along on the flank – either way leads you in the same direction with no difficulties

Looking south over to the snow capped Red Pike, High Stile range

We continue over pathless grass and skirt by the lower slopes of Little Dodd

At the point where you come to a wire fence running down the slope in the foreground and Fleetwith Pike (in the far distance) becomes visible, signals the point

at which to veer right and aim towards the start of the stiff climb up to the summit of Hen Comb

The full extent of the neighbouring Mellbreak across Mosedale Beck

After a tussle up the steep sided grass flank a more well trodden path makes the last few minutes of the walk to the summit a little easier

The summit of Hen Comb looking towards Buttermere

Click here for a 360 degree view from the summit of Hen Comb ... https://youtu.be/1f71kfNjFyg

Grasmoor over the top of Mellbreak

Sue on the summit of Hen Comb and yes it was COLD !!!

On the return journey we decided to head straight down the slope towards the Beck which we hoped was easier to cross – it wasn’t L However the level footpath

skirting the base of Mellbreak is an excellent way back to the Kirkstile Inn

This time we chose not to remove the boots and hence a squelchy tramp back to the car !!!