A Harter Fell Round from Sadgill

It’s the second day of my stay in the little hamlet of Sadgill and I had another silent and restful nights sleep in the van. Yesterday afternoon I walked down Gatescarth pass and this morning I’ll be retracing my steps as I make my way to Harter fell. From there I’ll essentially be walking along the eastern section of the Kentmere horseshoe taking in Kentmere Pike and Shipman Knotts before following the old cart track back to Sadgill.

I can’t get an up to date forecast as there’s no signal in the valley but the last one I read said there may be rain, but also sun, a hedging your bets forecast. Sure enough, when I set off up the pass it starts to drizzle, light at first but then becoming heavier. I’m not one for walking in bad weather these days and one of my golden rules on this journey is that I will get a view from each summit. So I put my raincoat on, keep an eye on the cloud base and hope for that sun.

After half an hour or so the rain slows and then peters out and although it’s still a blanket of dullness the sky seems to be brightening from the North. I pass the spot where I joined the track yesterday coming down off Tarn Crag and then the path angles upwards, past a sheepfold and the old mine workings and through a gate marked ‘Gatescarth Pass’. The gate has a sign prohibiting cars and motorcycles beyond that point which I think at the time is a little bizarre but more on that later.

The route continues upwards on a good stone/grassy path and when I look back I can see the progress I have made as the track snakes down the length of the valley and into the green cultivated fields of Longsleddale and Sadgill far in the distance. When I finally reach the top of the Gatescarth Pass I’m encouraged to see blue patches appearing in the grey blanket of murk above my head and rays of sunshine are breaking through. It seems like the sun has won the battle over the rain for the weather of the day and the tops will be clear just as I will be reaching them.

I hadn’t seen anybody on the the long walk up Longsleddale but as soon as I reach the top of the pass, three or four groups arrive almost simultaneously having walked up from Haweswater. I am standing by the sign post eating and say hello to each group as they pass me by, like a vicar at the end of the service saying hello to parishioners. All of them bar non are heading up the path to Harter Fell.

After eating and drinking I tag along behind the last group who are ascending steadily up the hillside. The gradient is kind and the path is good and it isn’t long before I arrive at the viewpoint overlooking Haweswater described as ‘magnificent’ by Wainwright. I’m surprised how low the reservoir is having been there a few months ago. It’s dry almost down to the Rigg and the old walls of Mardale Green can be seen rising out of the mud.

I take a picture by the rock that Wainwright is seen resting against in a self portrait drawn in his chapter on this Fell and imagine the old man sitting in this very spot, sometime in the mid 1950’s. I wonder, as I often do on my walks what he would have thought of Lakeland in 2022 and the idea of ‘Wainwright Bagging’.

From here, the ‘third cairn’ as Wainwright describes it, it’s a slight uphill to another cairn from which Blea Water can be seen and then finally onto the broad, grassy, flattish summit of Harter Fell. There are good views over to the whaleback of High Street and it’s connecting hills across the Nan Bield pass and down to Haweswater. The summit cairn is embedded with rusting iron work from long dismantled structures giving the cairn a kind of ‘Art Installation’ feel to it.

I have a chat to the group I followed up the hill and when they head off down to Nan Bield I have the hills to myself again. From the summit of Harter Fell it’s a pleasant walk on grass, with only a slight boggy depression at Browne Howe to my second summit of the day, Kentmere Pike.

The predominant view from the summit is over the Kentmere valley to the trio of hills making up the western side of the Kentmere horseshoe, Yoke, Ill Bell and Froswick. I must admit I was so focussed on this view that it was only when I looked at the map a short while later I realised I had completely missed the Trig Point which sits on the other side of the wall to the summit cairn.

From Kentmere Pike the ground starts to angle down, following the wall towards Shipman Knotts. The view from Shipman Knotts is similar to Kentmere Pike but there is a clearer view along the Kentmere valley and the three peaks across the valley seem to be gaining height as I lose mine.

Wray Crag comes as a bit of a shock. There is a short section down the crag which is quite steep and scrambly and a bit of care and hands are required to negotiate some of the rock steps in between the crag outcrops. Once at the bottom it’s a short walk over boggy grass to arrive at the old cart track that joins Kentmere to Sadgill.

Walking back to Sadgill I’m surprised how rough the track is, particularly on the upper stages. rocks and loose stones litter the path making for hard walking and it’s only when the gradient eases through Sadgill wood that the path improves. An impressive and ancient looking Sycamore tree greets me at the start of the wood and the afternoon sunshine dancing through the leaves onto the path provides a late highlight to the day.

Closing the gate at Sadgill farm I see a sign similar to the one I saw on the gate leading to Gatescarth Pass, this time saying that cars and bikes were allowed on the old cart track I had just walked down. Within a couple of minutes, the reason for the rough and broken up track becomes apparent as four off road motorcyclists ride past me and make there way up the track. I looked it up later and see that the cart track is a ‘Green Lane’ which I know is a controversial subject in the Lakes, particularly in Langdale where Land Rovers regularly use Green Lanes. I know people have different hobbies and off roaders have as much right to ride on that track as I have to walk on it as it’s a Green Lane but I can’t help thinking that the damage done by boots on these tracks is multiplied tenfold by the tyres of off roaders, making the paths pretty unpleasant to walk on.

I finish the day sitting on the bench by Sadgill Bridge in the afternoon sunshine, mug of tea in hand, looking up the length of Longsleddale and reflecting on two good days spent in this remote and beautiful Lakeland valley.

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