Great Mell Fell

Thursday 12 February

Today being the occasion of a Significant Birthday, Mick got given the choice of what he wanted to do and the decision made was to go into Keswick to fondle gear – something we’ve not done for years.

Being the best weather day of the week so far, Mick was easily persuaded that a very quick hill en-route to Keswick was a good idea, and so an outing was had up Great Mell Fell (a hill which has always drawn my attention when travelling along the nearby section of the A66, as from that viewpoint it sits as a lone pimple in the landscape).

The top of Great Mell Fell was plain to see as we drove towards it, as were the tops of Little Mell Fell and Gowbarrow, which had been in cloud when we had stood atop them over the past couple of days. All of those hills were also clear to see when we finished the walk. It was a fluke of timing that the middle third of our walk was in the company of a snow shower, and whilst snow is preferable to rain from a getting-wet point of view, it does tend to rather restrict visibility and so, once again, we saw nothing from the top.

Aside from the snow shower and restricted views, it was a pleasant little circular outing, which we completed within an hour, with 2.2 miles walked and 950’ of up gained.

As for the trip to Keswick, Mick came away with a new pair of gloves (one can never have too many pairs of gloves!) and, even though I had no intention of buying anything, I came away happy with a new fleece and an insulated jacket.