Routes in the Northern Fells–Part 2 of many

In my first post I mentioned that I nearly completed a challenge to run all of the Northern Fells of the Lake District by the end of 2012. The relatively unimposing Meal Fell still eludes me. Here are some brief descriptions of the routes I followed with some helpful tips. For the most part they are around 10km with varying ascent apart from the Old Crown Round which I would highly recommend as a whistle stop tour of the Northern Fells.

Obviously I do not provide any guarantee for the accuracy or current safety of these routes. They are simply a record of my own endeavours and if you decide to adopt them you do so at your own risk.

Great Calva

Watching the rain clouds rapidly approach across Skiddaw Forrest from a vantage point on Great Calva is motivation enough for anyone to start running in the opposite direction. Dash Falls is spectacular after there has been some rain.

Statistics

• Distance: 10.5km
• Ascent: 480m
• Summits: 1
• Difficulty: Medium
• Comments: Don’t jump Dash Beck at the top of Dash Falls as I did. If you continue but 10m you will cross the beck on a bridge! Great Calva can be boggy after heavy or prolonged rain.

Route

• Park in the layby opposite Peter House Farm (NY249323).
• Follow the Cumbria Way signpost Keswick and Threlkeld ignoring the left turn (NY261319).
• Continue to the unmistakeable top of Dash Falls (NY272312).
• After you have crossed the beck follow the fence to your left steeply up with Dry Gill on your left.
• Use the fence as a rail until you reach the Little Calva summit plateau (NY282315).
• Follow the contours round to avoid losing height and head for Great Calva summit (NY290311).
• On a clear day you can enjoy spectacular views of the Northern Fells from the ‘inside’.
• From Great Calva summit head SW to re-join the Cumbria Way at its intersection with Dead Beck (NY283303). This can often be very wet underfoot.
• Follow the Cumbria Way back to Peter House Farm.

More to come…

Techy Geek Corner

I am still trying to work out a decent way of getting OS Map extracts on here without having to pay large sums of money for Memory Map or the like. If anyone has any ideas, please tweet me @mcinsley83.