🖐️Day 1 - Farewell to the Northern Fells

bootsandbanter
Jul 28
4 min read

Updated: Oct 1

Day 1 of 4 – Lake District Trip #6 of 2025

This was the start of my 6th trip to the Lakes this year — a self-declared 4-day feast of hiking, solo wandering, and questionable decisions.

Date: 24 July 2025

📍Route: Mungrisdale – Carrock Fell – High Pike – Loop Back via Tarmac Road

📏Distance: 18.1 km

⬆️Ascent: 662 m

⛰️ Wainwrights: 2

Birketts: 5

Northern Fells Completion: ✅

✨ A Typical Mira Beginning: Chaos

Let’s start strong: I forgot my poles in the parked up car. Again. And I realized about a kilometre in — which is, of course, too far gone to turn back unless you're into regret cardio.

But really, the route was doomed from the beginning. I abandoned my original plan before I even laced my shoes — because I refused to drive horrendous narrow roads into Mosedale or anywhere.

Hard no. Instead, I stopped at Mungrisdale and figured I’d wing it from there.

And honestly? That’s typical of me. I’ll gladly extend walk by 7 km on a nasty lane, but I won’t drive it. Not ever. Every time this happens, I choose feet over fear — and somehow end up accidentally extending the hike.😅

Then, true to form, I saw the nose of Carrock Fell from the village and thought, Yes. Straight up. No switchbacks. Not in the plan. Perfect. Classic.🤭

🌿 Heather, Buzzing, and Scratched Legs

The first stretch was a sweaty, humid, fern-filled haze, but once out of the bracken I emerged into what I can only describe as an extensive heather field. The kind that screams limited edition terrain, if terrain could scream in lavender.🪻

It was blooming everywhere, bees buzzing constantly. Beautiful — until the trail disappeared into the heather and I remembered I was wearing shorts. My legs quickly turned into a canvas of scratches.

But also blueberries! A whole patch of wild ones right before the heather wall. I stopped. I ate. They were perfect.🫐

⛰ Carrock Fell – 662 m

Time to summit: 1h 45m

Distance so far: ~5 km

I met an older gentleman up there and chatted for about 10-15 minutes. We talked hills and weather and probably life too, as you do on summits with strangers. There wasn’t a single drop of wind on the top — a rare stillness in the fells that made perfect time to take it all in.

⛰ High Pike – 658 m

Second and final peak of the day

Northern Fells: complete

This one meant something.

High Pike wasn’t just a summit — it was the end of the Northern Fells.

That hit me harder than expected. It wasn’t sadness exactly. More like a quiet clunk of finality. Another chapter closed.

I looked out across the skyline and realized: I’ve done everything I could see. Every single top. And I asked myself — will I come back here again? Was that the last time I’d stand on High Pike?

Maybe.

🪦 And Then… Ravens

Oh, and at some point on the way down, I spotted two ravens circling ahead. I thought ooh, mystical. Then I realized they were snacking on a dead sheep right on the path! A big one. Less mystical. More grim shepherd’s pie, but I suppose that’s nature for you.🐦‍⬛🐑

🚶‍♀️ The Long Road Back (and the Unexpected Joy of It)

Due to my wonderfully improvised route, I ended up returning on a quiet tarmac road — one that definitely wasn’t in the plan. Over 5 km of it. But honestly? I really loved it. Barely two cars passed in an hour. Just sheep, silence, and soft sun on my skin. It was the kind of stillness that makes you feel like you’re walking through the credits of your own movie.