Hot Stuff Around Troutbeck

On the occasion of one of our regular visits to the Kendal sept of Clan Knipe, We  (me, LTD and The Bro) parked pretilly and Very Cheaply (i.e. freely) near Troutbeck Church, as opposed to the eight quid that everybody else was paying… and wandered up through Limefitt Park to climb Troutbeck Tongue, which we soon had licked.
There was shouting on the hill. We’ll have no shouting here, thius is a local hill for local people. The shouting turned out to be a gathering of herdwicks on the flanks of Ill Bell. We continued…

….  and climbed the wide corrie leading up to Stoney Cove Pike. This was a sweaty, drippy, heatful trial. LTD’s tongue grew to eleven feet and dripped dogsweat. I just panted and tried to wag my tail., but it was too hot.


We descended via Pike How and Hart Crag towards a long ridge pointing approximately to Morecambe. There was a lack of gates and/or stiles, so we teetered over wobbly walls and, finally, into steep and deep bracken – all of eight feet high in places. This descent took a while but eventually, a clapper-style ancient bridge was crossed and all we had to do was to plod the final three steamy miles back through narrow ways to the car, which was exactly where we’d left it.

In the sky, the clouds had built into towers. LTD sang “There may be trouble ahead” but, luckily, nothing happened till we were fully committed to the fast bit of the A66 back to Barnard Castle, where the heavens were opening, quite noisily and with lots of flashing.
We did 11 miles and about 3000 feet of up.
Phew, worrascorcher…