Souther Fell, Bannerdale Crags, Mungrisdale Common and Bowscale Fell

First thing this morning we went to Keswick to get me some insoles for my new boots and Niki some walking poles to see if it helps her knee problem.

After our trip to Keswick, the three of us made our way over to Mungrisdale village to park up ready for our walk.

We set off heading up Souther Fell, which was relatively easy walking but not very fantastic in terms of the scenery. However, when we got to the top we could see Blencathra and Bannerdale Crags and the views were amazing. At this point in time we could have headed back down the way we came and then picked up the second path to Bannerdale Crags, but we decided to see if we could make our own way down the West side of Souther Fell and try and cut some distance off our journey. I don’t think we estimated how steep and long the descent would be, but it was worth it when we got to the bottom.

We then picked up the main path and worked our way up, and around the top of the basin of Bannerdale Crags, from here we could see how dramatic our descent of Souther Fell had actually been. The view of Blencathra and the infamous Sharp Edge was also in very clear view.

From here we made our way over to Mungrisdale common and to be honest I wish we hadn’t bothered!!! It was a really tiring walk through tundra ground and when we got there it was just a biggish hill. Nothing very spectacular but at least we’d managed to incorporate it in this walk, rather than making a special journey to see it.

From here we headed over to Bowscale fell. The summit was already in view and by this point we were both feeling really weary. My feet had also started to hurt in my new boots, but at least the last summit was in sight and then it was downhill all the way to the car. It didn’t really take us very long to get to the summit and from here we could see each of the other fells that we had conquered today.

We then made our way slowly and wearily back to the car. Molly was looking really dirty and I was starting to worry about the cream carpets in our cottage! But luckily there was a stream right next to our car and so a quick game of throwing stones in here for her, meant she was as clean as a whistle.
And, another plus point. Niki’s knees hadn’t bothered her all day. It seemed that the walking poles worked!!