Middle Fell, Seatallan & Buckbarrow - May 14

Middle Fell, Seatallan & Buckbarrow - Monday 19 May 2014

Route

Greendale - Middle Fell - Seatallan - Cat Bields - Glade How - Buckbarrow - Joss Naylor's Cairn - Greendale Gill - Greendale

Parking

Greendale (Free) - Grid Ref NY144056

Mileage

6 miles

Terrain

Good mountain paths both stony and grass however in poor visibility care needs to be taken from the 465 spot height between Middle Fell & Seatallan as near here the path becomes intermittent. There is also an intermittent path over to Naylor's Cairn and from there to Greendale Gill.

Weather

Sunny but hazy at first, becoming overcast later. To be fair the visibility was fairly good throughout the walk.

Time Taken

3hrs 30mins

Total Ascent

2532ft (772m)

Wainwrights

3

Map

OL6 The English Lakes (South Western Area)

GPX File

gpx middle_fell.gpx

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Walk Description

Out and about in Wasdale again. We always enjoy coming over to this part of Lakeland, despite the fact it is always a pain to get to but oh so worth it. We have often tried to get up these 3 fells but the weather was never right but it looked like today would provide us with good visibility and all was looking promising as we set off.

The walk starts in Greendale and there is plenty of room for a few cars just off the road and there is no charge for parking. From the start the fells of Buckbarrow and Middle Fell are clearly visible and we headed up the hillside and gained the path to the right which ascends gradually and sometimes steeply to the summit. As we gained height we were able to look back over Wastwater to The Scafells with the view improving all the time. From the summit the path over to the huge grassy mass of Seatallan is clear and it is just a question of following the good path over to the 465 spot height and in good visibility heading steeply at times straight up the fell to the summit. Remember to look back when ascending as there are fantastic views back over to Middle Fell and also to Yewbarrow & The Scafell range.

From Seatallan there is a grassy path down over Cat Bields, continuing over to the large cairn on Glade How from where the summit of Buckbarrow can be gained. Although there are good views from the summit, it is best to seek out Bull Crag and Pike Crag for even better vistas. We then made our descent via Joss Naylor's Cairn and headed to from there to meet Greendale Gill from where there is a steep but easy descent back to Greendale.

This is another fantastic walk that is best completed on a clear day. We saw only 1 other walker.

The start of the walk at Greendale with Buckbarrow providing a beautiful backdrop

Middle Fell's South Ridge

On the ascent of Middle Fell - for the majority of the climb the views over Wast Water were fabulous

Hanging out already Fudgie?.......

..... clearly not.

The Scafells with the gap of Mickledore quite clear to see

Approaching the summit of Middle Fell

The summit of Middle Fell looking to Red Pike, Kirk Fell, Great Gable and Yewbarrow

Haycock and Scoat Fell in the distance

Yewbarrow, Wast Water, Lingmell & The Scafells

Whin Rigg, Wast Water and the Screes

Yewbarrow with Kirk Fell, Great Gable and The Scafell range to the rear

Heading off Middle Fell to Seatallan - the path is clear up to a point just below the crags on the left.
From there it is just a question of heading in the same direction to the summit