Place Fell walk - Ullswater walk - eastern Lake District walks

Route: Place Fell

Area: Far Eastern Lake District

Date of walk: 25th January 2014

Walkers: Andrew and James

Distance: 5.2 miles

Ascent: 2,000 feet

We parked in the hamlet of Sandwick near the southern end of Ullswater. The weather looked to be reasonably clear and there were good views back over the lake as we started to climb up the nose of the fell – little did we know what awaited

After a while, it started to drizzle. We carried on, hoping it was a passing shower. The further we progressed the worse it got, and by the time we were near the summit of Place Fell the conditions were horrendous – horizontal torrential rain, borne on a gale force wind. The wind was so strong that we had to crawl on hands and knees over the final few rocks to the summit. If there had been any sheer drops, we’d have retreated as there was a real risk of being blown over

We’d planned to continue to Boredale Hause and then on to Beda Fell, but in these conditions it was impossible. We beat a hasty retreat back down the way we’d come. This time the wind was at our backs, which made the descent tricky – but quick!

We were relieved to get back down to valley level. Despite having all the right gear, we were completely soaked. It had been an adventure at least

The camera had to be stowed in the rucksack for most of the walk, so today’s offering is a limited one. Click here to see Place Fell in a better light

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)