Lake District Walks
Seatallan & Middle Fell
Date: 23rd August 2008
Distance: 6.2 miles
Ascent: 2476 feet
Time: 3 hours 40 minutes
With: On my own
Start Grid Ref: NY144056
Walk Summary:
A pleasant walk on a nice sunny day visiting Seatallan and Middle Fell, two of the less popular Western Fells.
Route Summary: Greendale - Gill Beck - Buckbarrow - Glade How - - Seatallan - Middle Fell - Greendale.
Pictures:
1. The dramatic profile of Buckbarrow
2. Middle Fell from Buckbarrow
3. The top of Buckbarrow
4. Seatallan from Glade How
5. Haycock
6. The top of Seatallan
7. The view towards Great Gable from Seatallan
8. Yewbarrow
9. Middle Fell
10. The top of Middle Fell
11. Seatallan from Middle Fell
12. Whin Rigg and Wastwater
13. Buckbarrow from the descent of Middle Fell
14. Illgill Head and Wastwater
Walk Detail: The forecast for the afternoon was for heavy rain so I made an early start. In fact first thing it was a beautifully clear day, indeed too clear for some of the pictures I wanted of Wastwater as I’d set off so early the sun was still quite low.
After the walk along the road from Greendale the climb to the top of Buckbarrow started fairly well before the path petered out. It was a fairly simple job though to make my way over the surprisingly damp ground in the area. Buckbarrow looks very impressive from the roadside but is not really distinctive enough from the slopes of Seatallan for it to be a great fell. The views of Wastwater were good though.
The climb to the top of Seatallan was fairly steady. I was quite surprised to find a large number of sheep congregating round the summit plateau. The view from Seatallan was a fine contrast in upland and lowland coastal scenery. The visibility was so good that I could quite distinctly make out individual towns on the Isle of Man.
The best views though were as I descended off the fell to the north east. The sweep of hills from the impressive looking Haycock round to Scafell was superb and with shafts of light breaking through the clouds to accentuate the view it was just magical. One of my best Lakeland ‘wow’ moments.
After that Middle Fell may have seemed a bit of an anti-climax, particularly as the cloud was starting to thicken and the sky got duller. I did enjoy my time on the fell though and the sun made another reappearance which enabled me to get some good photos of Buckbarrow, Wastwater and Whin Rigg on the way down. As it happened the rain didn’t arrive until much later than expected so I had a very relaxing day sipping wine and reading by my tent.
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