Meet time: 9.15am
Start time: 9.30am
Estimated finish time: 1pm to 1.30pm.
Distance: About 6.4 miles (kilometres).
Ascent: About 2450 feet (meters).
Ramblers walk grading: A (Strenuous).
Start point: The phone box with graffiti and stickers close to Jubilee Bridge! There is a gravel track next to it that joins the road.
Google coordinates: https://maps.app.goo.gl/t4qpKMKaaauv35Hg9
Postcode: CA19 1TH
Car parking: There are three lay-bys within a few hundred of the start point. The ones west of the start point look like wide grassy patches but you can park there.
It is the responsibility of each walker to make sure they understand where to park. If you are not sure where the car parking/meeting point is, you must contact the walk leader at the latest the day before the walk. You should not rely on mobile phones or postcodes. There is often no mobile reception near walk meeting points and postcodes are for the nearest place nearby but should only serve as a guideline. Please allow plenty of time to find a parking space so that walks can start promptly.
Description: Starting from the phone box we go up a little bit of the Hard Knott Pass road before turning right for a path that curves around the base of Harter Fell and gradually gains height. When the path levels out there is a forest ahead, Green Crag to our right and to our left the steeper part of Harter Fell. There is a crossroads of paths and we take the one going left that goes straight up to the summit. This ascent is moderately steep and has a tiny bit of scrabbling close to the summit.
Now the summit of Harter Fell is a unique because the trig point top comes in at 649 meters but the true rocky top comes in at 653 meters. There is a way to the true top without rock-climbing though with a bit of scrambling there are others way to the true top.
I can’t think of any hill or mountain in the Lake District that has a conical top like Harter Fell and this makes the views truly special for a mountain that divides the two valleys of Eskdale and Dunnerdale. In every direction there are incredible and different views from the mountains of upper Eskdale, to the Coniston Fells, to looking down Dunnerdale itself to the coast, to the obscure hills stretching from Green Crag to Black Combe, and so forth. If you have never been to this mountain before then you are in a for a treat!
We head northwards and follow some rather obscure and faded trods to descend towards Hard Knott Pass. This gives an amazing view of Hard Knott Fell itself and, for most of the descent, views of the Scafells and Eskdale mountains. Coming to the top of the road, and the top of Hard Knott Pass, we are greeted by the cliffs immediately north of the pass. But we go around via a grassy slope and pick up more faint trods through admittedly rather boggy areas as part of the ascent to Hard Knott Fell. It’s an easy ascent but the bogs are surprisingly treacherous and a bane to dry boots.
Once at the top of Hard Knott Fell all eyes are drawn to an incredible line of mountains from Slight Side, Sca Fell, Scafell Pike, Ill Crag, Great End, Esk Pike and Bow Fell. This is easily one of the top 10 views of the Lake District and perhaps the best vantage point to admire the Scafells (the Crinkle Crags one is very awesome too!).
For the return we head back to Hard Knott Pass and go down some of the road before picking up some paths to visit the Hardknott Roman Fort. After that it’s a quick walk back to the phone box. For a place to eat there is the Woolpack Inn about a mile and a half away and a very quick drive.
This may be quite a drive for those living in the northern and eastern parts of the Lake District, but these two Wainwrights are something truly unique and probably the closest England will come to looking like the Scottish Highlands!
Please contact Miles on 07842 783319 by 10pm on Saturday 4 October if you are coming on this walk (text or phone, WhatsApp, or message on Facebook (Miles Saunders-Priem)).
Please check the weather and bring appropriate clothing (waterproofs and spare warm clothing), footwear and enough food and water. The leader reserves the right to turn away any walker not suitably equipped. The leader may cancel the walk or modify the route dependent on conditions.
Car sharing may be possible – please contact the walk leader to arrange.
New members: please note the walk leader may ask for more information about your walking experience. This is to ensure you have the fitness required to complete the walk that is planned safely.