Lake District Walks
Great Mell Fell & Little Mell Fell
Date: 9th December 2007
Distance: 6.3 miles
Ascent: 1827 feet
Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
With: On my own
Start Grid Ref: NY423235
Walk Summary:
A fair bit of road walking was necessary to create a walk linking Great Mell Fell and Little Mell Fell.
Route Summary: The Hause - Little Mell Fell - Nabend - Great Mell Fell - Goosegreen - The Hause
Pictures:
1. Place Fell
2. The top of Little Mell Fell
3. Little Mell Fell
4. The Dodds ridge
5. Mist on Great Mell Fell
6. Little Mell Fell
7. Little Mell Fell again
8. The top of Great Mell Fell
9. Blencathra
10. Clough Head
11. Place Fell
12. Great Mell Fell
Walk Detail: I had originally planned to do this as two short walks in one day using the car to get between the two start points. Perhaps fortuitously I missed the parking space for Great Mell Fell and so parked at the top of The Hause and once I was on Little Mell Fell I just decided to link the two by a bit of road walking.
The climb up Little Mell Fell was short but quite steep and as there was not a breeze it was not long before I was puffing quite hard. Despite the blue sky above I was not rewarded with the views I’d hoped for as there was lots of patches of mist floating about and obscuring most of the fells. With nothing much to see I headed down the northern slopes of the fell and found a slanting path through the gorse that ultimately led to Nabend.
By this time the mist was beginning to clear in patches and I had firmly decided to do Great Mell Fell and then walk back to the car. The initial path on Great Mell Fell was slippy with mud and leaves but once open fell was reached the gradient eased and there were some nice views out to the Dodd Fells. A lady descending with her dog told me how exquisite the view was from the summit but when I got there the dreaded mist had returned and I had to wait a while before getting an amazing view of Blencathra with patches of mist clinging to the many snowy ridges.
The path at the top of the fell was really quite juicy but it was still much easier to walk on than the slippier paths lower down and after much sliding about I was relieved to reach the road with only the barest twinge in my knee. I ate up the couple of miles along the road but by this time the sky had clouded over and it just began to rain before I made it back to the car.
This was hardly a classic walk but the country lanes were quite pleasant and the views of the Eastern and Northern Fells were often dramatic. Great Mell Fell in particular was much better as a viewpoint than I had expected.
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