Day 1
We got off the bus at Brampton on Saturday. We were a bit late starting, 2.40pm as we had a slight diversion to Newcastle and back first.
We walked down the Dandie Dinmont Railway path toward Brampton railway station. There was some blue sky and although a bit breezy it wasn't a bad day.
View from the railway path
Trees on the path
Talkin Tarn
It was freezing near the tarn, we didn't go around it, we took the shorter route in the woods on the east side to reach the footpath to Farlam. There was 2 miles of road walking now to Talkin Head Farm, the road was quiet though so it was pleasant enough.
Castle Carrock Fell from the path that leads to The Greens
The Greens is a house in Geltsdale, there is a vehicle parked outside so we think it is inhabited
Talkin Fell seen on the way up
Geltsdale
Almost at The Greens
We filled our water bladders at the beck. The water looked awful, brown with peat but there was no other water available, it would have to do.
Looking back from the climb up Talkin Fell
It is also known as Kelky Fell
Tindale Tarn in view from near the top of Talkin Fell
On Talkin Fell summit
There are lots of curricks on the top as you can see
It was very windy up here on the top so pitching the tent here wasn't possible, although there were quite a few flattish places. We ended up pitching in a shake hole below the summit to get out of the wind as the gusts of wind were so strong we thought we might end up with a damaged tent. It was 5.40 by the time we got the tent up and 6.30 by the time we were eating our tea. The water once filtered tasted fine. We were keeping an eye on the sunset time which was 6.53pm. We were inside the tent because it was freezing in the wind, more like winter than autumn.
The sunset shot
The sun had been out while we were eating our tea but it had disappeared almost and this is the only shot I got before it sank into cloud. Beefy had set his camera time lapsing so he has a time lapse, not sure if he will do a vid this week though he didn't take much footage.
Here is the timelapse
https://youtu.be/BHDef9CTETEBlencathra and the northern fells seen from Talkin Fell
It was quite comfortable where we'd pitched, flat and out of the wind, just missing a view! We had the rest of our tea and opened the wine, listening to the wind howling above us.
Day 1 route was Brampton - Brampton railway station via Dandie Dinmont railway path - Talkin Tarn - Farlam - Talkin Head Farm - The Greens - pitch below Kelky Fell 10km with 280m ascent.
Day 2
It had got very windy overnight and we were pleased we'd pitched where we had. After breakfast we packed away and I looked at the map to plan a route for the day, I'd not planned anything as we hadn't known exactly where we would pitch. The wind had died down a bit and it was quite nice to start, bits of blue sky and a few sunny spells
The morning view from Talkin Fell
On the way to Simmerson Hill
A walled shelter on the way up Simmerson Hill
Looking across at The Greens
This is a very remote place to live. There are other buildings on the other side of the river Gelt which are even more remote.
Talkin Fell from Simmerson Hill
Beefy on Simmerson Hill summit
Gairs
We took a cow avoidance route to get across to the footpath to the left of Gairs. There were some cattle on the side of Simmerson Hill and after our scare last week we didn't want to get too close to them. However they showed no interest in us at all and we got safely across to the path.
Looking back at Simmerson Hill
Looking back at Gairs
On the path that leads to Howgill
We took a signed path left on the Forest Head Quarry Trail
Forest Head Quarry
We stopped for brew and some food behind one of the quarry building ruins. It was really windy again and it was really cold when the sun went in.
Tortie Hill from our brew stop
We took a footpath to Forest Head. I'd realised we still had over six miles plus to walk to get to Brampton.
Looking back at Tortie Hill from the road to Farlam
The road to Farlam
The road wasn't busy so it was pleasant walking just like the day before's road walking.
Talkin Tarn in view
It had started raining so we got our waterproofs on. It didn't last long though.
A yacht on Talkin Tarn
We had a rest in the woods near Talkin Tarn before making our way back along the old railway line path to Brampton to get our bus. Day 2 was Pitch - Simmerson Hill - Gairs - Forest Head Quarry - Forest Head - Farlam - Talkin Tarn - Brampton via the Dandie Dinmont railway path. 18.5km with 190m ascent. Not a bad couple of days despite the late start on Saturday and it was nice to explore places and paths we'd not been on before on the second day.