Looking down Halls Fell as cloud builds

Mist hung in the valley as I drove down St Johns in the Vale to the Blease Road carpark at Threlkeld which was bathed in sunshine.  A short walk above the intake wall (don't use the footpath below the wall unless you really like bulls!) brought me to Gategill and the start of the Halls Fell ridge.  Lovely sunshine and dry rock promised an enjoyable ascent.  And so it was until the cloud settled on the summit just before we reached there.  There had been a strong wind on the ascent but it felt reasonably warm until the cloud came down and the temperature dropped like a stone.

An easy walk westwards leads to Gategill Fell top and a steep gully leads down to the Gategill Ridge.  The gully isn't too bad in ascent but don't attempt the descent unless you are okay with steep drops.  A brief respite on a grassy saddle made it very tempting to follow the ridge to the viewpoint of Knott Halloo and descend from there, but I had set my heart on an "Unfrequented Wainwright Route" so I turned right and set foot on the steep scree slope leading into the canyon.  If Wainwright hadn't described the route I wouldn't have even contemplated it!  But it was quite enjoyable - in fact it is probably one of the last good, uneroded, scree runs in the Lakes.  The scree stones were a nice size and the steepness was just right to make for a trouble free and quick descent.

The walls narrow and before you realise it you are in the canyon where the angle of descent eases but the ground becomes more rough and knobbly.  At the foot of the canyon I moved to the west bank of the gill and I now know that should have taken a narrow but obvious sheep trod which (unknown to me) led to a good path through the bracken and finished down a wall.  But instead I moved back to the east bank as I had seen a ruined sheep fold and assumed there would be a good path leading down from it.  In the event it wasn't too bad a decision but the final bit was a rough steep traverse through heather and the west bank was a much better option as I could clearly see as I looked over.  In no time at all I was back at the carpark.

Conclusion:  Unlike some Unfrequented Wainwright Routes this was an enjoyable and rather spectacular way down.  Going up would be easy but strenuous at the top because of the scree shoot you HAVE to climb.  As a matter of interest a party left the summit at the same time as me and descended via the Blease Fell tourist route - we finished within minutes of one another.

Enjoy the pics.

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/561313991VVpQyb

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