We got the first Caldbeck Rambler bus of the year to Keswick and it is great to have it back running. It was nice to see all the regulars get on it too. We were going wild camping and we got off at Castle Inn to catch the X4 to Brathay Hill
Babby lambs at Brathay Hill
We walked to Dubwath and by the Pheasant Inn toward Routenbeck. We were doing Sale Fell first. We had a lovely day for walking, sunny and hardly any wind.
Beefy at the start of the climb up sale Fell
We had been going to ascend the Dodd Crag path but I spotted this track going up the northern slopes. We'd not done it before so we thought why not? It was a great route up, if a bit steep in places. We were very hot with the sun so we were down to our base layer, the first time this year!
The route we took up to Sale Fell
We didn't get very long on the summit to take pictures, it was busy with other walkers.
Ling Fell and Graystones from Sale Fell
We were planning on pitching near Graystones later on
Beefy on Sale Fell summit
We dropped down to Kelswick and onto Eskin and up to the Corpse Road start where we turned left toward Wythop Moss. We stopped for lunch beside the start of the path that leads to Ling Fell from the east.
A kestrel
We were lucky to spot this kestrel that had landed in a tree nearby and it stayed still long enough to get a photo.
We decided to go straight on to Broom Fell and miss out Ling Fell. Our legs were feeling a bit tired with carrying the camping stuff.
Broom Fell across Wythop Moss
Wythop Moss was as wet as usual but our feet were still dry when we got to the other side. It is a bit of a slog up Broom Fell from this side. Some sheep thought we had food for them and followed us up for a while before they realised we had nothing for them.
Beefy on Broom Fell
The shelter on Broom Fell has been rebuilt and is very nicely done, thank you to whoever did it.
Beefy getting Willo in the air
Toward Grisedale Pike from Broom Fell
Not that far to go now, over to Graystones we went.
A hurried summit shot on Graystones
A couple who had been behind us on the way from Broom Fell gave us about one second to take a photo. They did move away again though so I could have taken the shot again if I wanted to.
We wandered over to Kirk Fell and looked around for places to pitch. There were still a few people about as it was only 3.30. We collected some water to filter from Sware Gill first then we found the perfect pitch below Kirk Fell. The people had gone so we got the tent up by 4pm
The MSR with Whinlatter behind
The view toward Grisedale Pike and Hopegill Head from our pitch
We had already started our water filtering while we were waiting for the people to go. I got the tea stuff ready while Beefy got Willo in the air.
We had some tea and relaxed, what a wonderful place to pitch. The wind had been about 10 mile an hour when we pitched but it dropped altogether by 6pm. The air temperature dropped very quickly as the sun went down and we got some extra layers on.
The sun begins to set
We had some wine and watched. It was a bit cold outside the tent but it was looking like a pretty good sunset so we braved it!
The cloud enhanced the sunset
The sun almost gone
What a great day, lots of sunshine, a kestrel, a lovely pitch and a great sunset. We had more wine and went to sleep very happy. Our route was Brathay Hill - Routenbeck - Sale Fell - Kelswick - Eskin - Wythop Moss - Broom Fell - Graystones - Kirk Fell - pitch below Kirk Fell 13.7km with 670m ascent. Day 2 to follow.