Save it for a rainy day - No photos today
Not really saved for a rainy day but it was a rainy day anyway.
Starting from the Forestry Commission car park at Birks Bridge to the west of Harter Fell, cross the bridge and follow the forest road towards Birks. Just after the turn off to Birks on the left is a little blue way-marking arrow labelled Harter Fell, I wouldn’t have found the path without this clue.
Initially a path leads up through the muddy forest, when a large cliff face bars the way cross a bouldery stream to the left, maybe just boulders in dry weather, until a better (and wetter) path is found. Soon afterwards the path splits, follow the right hand branch up through the tall trees and after a short climb another blue arrow points the way up through the trees on the right.
This leads to a more obvious path following a small boulder filled valley more steeply up hill until the gradient eases and what looked like a two peaked large boulder appeared out of the mist on the left. Having decided to take a closer look at the strange boulder it turned out to be the top of a steep rocky declivity – good job I walked around the side of it and not straight over it.
The rest of the walk to the summit was easy enough, the rain was coming down very heavily and there wasn’t much to see. After a number of false summits the real one appeared with its various rocky turrets, the one containing the triangulation pillar was obviously not the highest point. Scrambling over the exposed cold, slippery rocks in the wind and rain wasn’t ideal but I couldn’t tell which was the highest and I couldn’t find a cairn. It was only after I got home and read Wainright’s description that I realised that I had actually reached the highest point – it wasn’t at all obvious at the time.
The path going westwards was easily found, an excellent multi-cairned path leading to a delightful little waterfall at Spothow Gill. After a couple of false starts I found the path on the Harter Fell side of the gill, eventually leading to an easy path overlooking Eskdale and leading to the car parking area by the cattle grid at the bottom of Hard Knott pass.
Then followed a grinding walk almost up to the summit of Hard Knott Pass, visiting the old Roman Fort on the way in the worst visibility of the day, not raining but very heavy, wet mist. After the waterfall on the right hand side of the road near the top of the pass is a sign-posted Public Footpath, complete with a warning to cross the electrified fence only at the stiles.
The path passes to the right of the first conifer plantation, I passed to the left over the electrified fence into a swamp before I realised I was going the wrong way. I saw the first bit of blue sky at this point and within minutes Harter Fell was completely clear of mist.
I reached a gate in the fence of the Hard Knott Forest showing me which way to go complete with map, if its orientation had matched the direction of the path it would have been quite useful. Through the sodden ground near the gate and across a swollen stream on to a unlikely looking path through the trees that resembled the bottom of a bouldery stream and there was plenty of water making it feel like a stream. Crossed a swollen stream in a very inelegant manner and came to a harvested area of the forest, the debris of wet tree branches and mud requiring some care to avoid slipping.
The harvested area finished where a newly planted area began, I could see the car park far below but I couldn’t see any means of getting down to it. I came across a path of sorts after 50 yards of walking through that most hazardous of terrain containing newly planted trees. By the time I reached the car the sky was blue and the sun was beating down.
Andy Wallace 3rd June 2002