Lake District Walks
Troutbeck Tongue
Date: 14th November 2011
Distance: 7.1 miles
Ascent: 1164 feet
Time: 3 hours 20 mins
With: Lisa
Start Grid Ref: NY411026
Walk Summary:
A nice little walk to the modest height of Troutbeck Tongue with great views of the valleys of Trout Beck and Hagg Gill.
Route Summary: Church Bridge - Town Head - Ing Lane - Hagg Bridge - Troutbeck Tongue - Hagg Gill - Ing - Limefitt Park - Church Bridge
Pictures:
1. The Ill Bell ridge from the top of Ing Lane
2. Looking across the valley to the flanks of Sour Howes
3. Approaching Troutbeck Tongue along Ings Lane
4. Wansfell from Troutbeck Tongue
5. Lisa climbing Troutbeck Tongue
6. Ill Bell
7. On the summit of Troutbeck Tongue
8. On Troutbeck Tongue
9. Looking north to the head of the Trout Beck valley
10. Lisa on the path above Hagg Gill
11. Hagg Gill
12. Looking back at Troutbeck Tongue
Walk Detail: Troutbeck Tongue is one of the lower fells in the Lake District and is completely overshadowed by its neigbours, particularly the Ill Bell ridge to the east. However it was the fell's relative lack of height that made this walk just about right in terms of distance and effort on our first walk together, just the two of us, since August.
This was one of those rare days where I seemed to find one of the few places where the weather was actually bright and sunny, quite often I seem to have a knack of finding the low cloud and / or rain. It probably helped that I didn't take my sunglasses as that usually means that the sun stays hidden away.
For the most part this has to be one of the easiest Wainwright bagging walks you can do in the Lake District. The paths, especially Ing Lane which is actually a very minor road, were perfect for getting a good pace going and, of course, there wasn't a huge amount of climbing involved. The climb itself was short but steep enough to make us feel we'd had to put in a bit of effort.
I was pleasantly surprised at the view from the summit, particularly good was the view north along the length of Troutbeck Tongue towards Caudale Moor and Thornthwaite Crag at the head of the valley. Had the sun not been quite so low and bright then we'd also have had a good view south to Windermere - not that I was complaining given how lucky we were to be actually out in the sun.
We sat just below the summit to eat our lunch before continuing north along the crest of the fell before finally taking a broad path that doubled back down into Hagg Gill. From there it was a very straightforward walk back to Church Bridge.
As I get closer to completing the Wainwrights I've begun to think about ensuring that my final Wainwright is one of the more impressive fells that I've yet to do (Scafell for example). One fell I didn't want to be my last was Troutbeck Tongue, having said that this proved to be a very enjoyable excursion and one that was probably better than I had anticipated. More importantly it was just nice for Lisa and I to spend some time together on our own.
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