Grey Friar and Harter Fell - Photo Gallery

When I parked close to Cockley Beck Bridge, it was sunny again but the mist covering on the tops of the hills suggested it might be cool again. There is a signpost showing a right of way behind Cockley Beck farm, but I could see no visible signs of a footpath; I walked over to a small conifer plantation, and then followed an adjoining fence slightly uphill. I found the stile that I suspected would be there, and having crossed the fence there, I saw a few hints hint of a path. I didn't find enough path to follow, but headed upwards, aiming to climb up between the outcrops I could see ahead; on steadily rising ground there was no more sign of a path.

Having got above the outcrops, I climbed a bit further and reached a flatter area where there was a small cairn on a small outcrop; a little further on I found a muddy path. I could see a fence coming uphill on the left, it looked quite far away but suddenly it was in front of me; there was a gap in the fence and signs of a path on the other side of it. There was of course no path uphill, but a steep scramble on grass between rocks and boulders; after a fairly strenuous climb I eventually reached the summit plateau of Grey Friar at the slightly lower cairn.

From the summit, I walked down the reasonably straightforward grassy ridge to Troutal Fell, and found a more obvious path downhill near to the shore of Seathwaite Tarn. I followed a muddy path towards the Duddon valley, it was difficult to follow and frequently disappeared into swamp, until I started walking steeply downhill, and found multiple paths; I picked one that I though would get me down to the road.

I reached the road at a signpost to Hinning House, I didn't follow it but turned left towards where I though Troutal Farm would be. After walking for a few minutes I started to think I might have been walking in the wrong direction; I decided to walk to the next house to try to get my bearings, and it was Troutal Farm that I had been aiming for. There is a footpath leading to a bridge across River Duddon, and after crossing it I turned left on an obvious path beside the river, until it was obvious that I was not getting where I wanted to be.

I turned back along the path to the bridge, and took the extremely un-obvious looking scramble up wet rocks; there is a faint path through the replanted forest, it will surely overwhelm the small path in due course. I eventually reached Birks, a former farmhouse but now some kind of outdoor centre; It took a couple of minutes to work out where I was, at a crossroads of very obvious tracks, I took the signposted but not very obvious faint path uphill.

I followed the small path up the harvested forestry hillside, it was very warm on steady climb up the steep grassy slope. I eventually reached the first of the rocky tors that are a feature of Harter Fell's summit; I clambered up to the bare rock summit of Harter Fell and then had an easier walk to the triangulation column on the slightly lower subsidiary. There was a cold wind on the exposed summit, once again I was wearing gloves and shorts. There was quite a crowd up on the summit, all looking at the yellow rescue helicopter parked on the road at the summit of the Hard Knott Pass.

I descended the broad north eastern ridge, heading towards Hard Knott Pass, until I reached a fence that I followed on fairly level ground to the road; I walked down the road back to Cockley Beck.

© Andy Wallace 15th May 2010