Route: Rannerdale Knotts
Area: Western Lake District
Date of walk: 14th October 2016
Walkers: Andrew
Distance: 3.0 miles
Weather: Mixed cloud and sun
For anyone who only has a couple of hours to spare yet wants to climb a lakeland fell, Rannerdale Knotts is a good choice. Its lowly stature is belied by its rugged and rocky nature. When seen from the north an ascent of the fell appears to be a dangerous undertaking. Rannerdale Knotts is a Scafell in miniature and there is a sense of climbing a mountain rather than a hill, but there are no dangers at all
I parked in the small car park by Hause Point and walked along the Buttermere road for a few yards before turning off to follow a steep path uphill to the north top of the fell. Progress has been made easier in recent years by the addition of a rocky staircase. After reaching the north top of the fell I followed the path along the summit ridge, known as Low Bank, before descending into Rannerdale
The valley is famous for its bluebells (click here to see this spectacle). It’s an easy descent down the valley beside Squat Beck and as there were no bluebells to slow my progress today I was soon back to the start of a short but very sweet walk
For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
Just after dawn on the morning of the walk I visited the head of Crummock Water, and was lucky to catch some good reflections…
Back home, a nuthatch in the garden…
…and a red squirrel
Later that day, the start of the walk as I follow the rocky staircase up the toe of Rannerdale Knotts
Looking back along Crummock Water and the road I’d taken to get here
Wood House at the head of Crummock Water
Herdy
Foot of Mellbreak, Loweswater and Low Fell
Whiteless Pike and Wandope as I gain the summit ridge
Looking down to the Buttermere road again
The head of Crummock Water from the summit of Rannerdale Knotts
...and a wider view, this time including Buttermere
Buttermere, with Haystacks and Great Gable in the background
The head of Crummock Water
I make my way along the knobbly summit ridge
Waiting for the light
At the head of the lake are Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks, which we’d climbed the day before yesterday
Further along the ridge, known as Low Bank
The foot of Grasmoor
Further along Low Bank
Buttermere
Near the end of Low Bank I turn off to follow the path on the left down Rannerdale
Further down the valley, the bridge over Squat Back
The bluebell area - an astonishing sight in May when the fellside is covered in a sheet of blue
I follow a path beneath Rannerdale Knotts back towards Crummock Water
Rannerdale Farm, and Mellbreak beyond
Looking back along the path
The end of a short but very sweet walk as I arrive back at Hause Point
