Troutbeck, Ill Bell, Stony Cove Pike, Wansfell Pike

Click for the interactive map

A superb sunny day, just right for a day in the Lake District, so up to car park of The Queen's Arms at Townhead, on the road from Windermere to Patterdale. There are a few parking spaces in a  lay-by before the pub, but these are quickly taken on a sunny Sunday.

I started by walking back down the road to Limefitt Park, walking through the site (there is a right of way), past the on-site pub to a footpath heading north east for 200m, then doubling back south on a footpath for 400m, then north east again to pick up Garburn Road.

Ill Bell in the distance

A few sections of this track have suffered from the heavy rain of the summer, and have been washed away. Following the Garburn Road north east for 2km to a junction, east leads to Kentmere, but I followed the path north to the roller coaster of three summits: Yoke, Ill Bell and Froswick, giving fantastic views to the west of the main body of the Lake District summits, including Scafell Pike, and views to the east of Kentmere Resevoir.

I carried on to the Beacon at Thornthwaite Crag, a popular place for a lunch break, overlooking Racecourse Hill and High Street. Normally on a Sunday there are a dozen or more people resting here, but today surprisingly there were only three other people. After lunch, I headed west down a steep descent to the hause at Threshthwaite Mouth and a steep ascent back up again, to Stony Cove Pike. It's hard to discern the summit of this peak, but on the summit I met a family with a boy of about five years old, who excitedly told me that he had just climbed his first mountain.

Kentmere Resevoir

Looking back towards Ill Bell

I followed the path south to the Kirkstone Pass Inn, always a popular pub at Sunday lunchtime, and had an excellent pint of the locally brewed bitter,Tirrel Old Faithful, sitting outside in the sunshine. I then headed down "The Struggle" for 400m to pick up a footpath heading south. I have never found a satisfactory route for the next section. The aim is to get onto the path that leads to Wansfell Pike. Following the path from The Struggle for about 1km, I then headed east up the hillside, to the western flank of Idle Hill, to pick up the path that heads south then veers west to Wansfell Pike. There are pleasant views overlooking Ambleside here, and I had a final rest on the summit before taking the path east to pick up Nanny Lane, back to the main road and the Queen's Arms car park.