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| on the Bishop of Barf |
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| looking south |
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| and from the opposite side with the steep climb up Barf |
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on Lothwaite - an area near Sale Fell with Bassenthwaite
and Skiddaw behind. |
It looked like ideal conditions on Sunday for getting a decent run in. It was a bit windy when we got out of the car but besides that, it was lovely and sunny.
We have done loads of runs over Sale Fell and Ling Fell. More recently, we had a run over Broom Fell from Graystones. Today was an attempt to link up these two routes. I first had the idea when we looked back from Broom Fell and could see Sale Fell across Whythop.
I was sure that there would be a way to Barf through the woods. I wasn't so sure about the way back from either Lords Seat, Broom Fell or Graystones but I took a map and figured that one way or another, we would get back.
We took the usual route up to the top of Sale Fell. Actually, I took a bit of a short cut as I was struggling a bit with tight leg muscles and wanted to see if I could power hike up faster that Jonathan could run up. I couldn't.
On the top of Sale Fell, I was feeling pretty ropey and thought about heading home but after running down and back up to Rivings and Lothwaite (both Birketts) then down to the main path that we usually take out of the woods, I was feeling better and decided to carry on but take it easy.
We followed the C2C cycle route which took a really nice path down through the woods, eventually coming out on the old road to the side of the A66. We followed this until we got to the old Swan Hotel where we found the path to the Clerk and then headed up the steep scree to the Bishop.
The Bishop is the big white rock you can see from the A66. Legend has it that it is where the Bishop of Derry got to when he attempted to ride his horse up the scree. The Clerk is supposedly where the bishop and his horse are buried!
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| Jonathan atop the Bishop |
After monkeying around on the Bishop for quite some time, we carried on up to the top of Barf. It's a steep climb up. We chose a route that involved some scrambling including crossing the big flat face of rock that always reminds me of the Chrysler Building in New York. Eventually we topped out and had a chat with a nice couple who had come up the same way and kindly took our picture.
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| fun looking rock face - there is a path through to the left |
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| bit of climbing |
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| top of Barf |
From Barf it was a nice run over to Lords Seat and then Broom Fell. We could see Sale Fell and decided to just head towards it. The double track on the map turned out to be a rotten surface to run on so we just headed across the fields, picking up sheep trods (and plenty of thorns) on the way. Once we crossed over the top of Burnthwaite Heights (Birkett) we picked up the road and headed around to climb the col of Sale Fell, back around the front to the car.
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| From Lords Seat's uninspiring summit marker looking back to Barf and Skiddaw group beyond |
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| Broom Fell - nice cairn |
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