A walk up Blencathra (via Sharp Edge)

We’ve had a fair few emails from people staying in our Lake District cottages saying which mountains they’ve enjoyed over the Summer.  One of the more popular ones for people staying in our Keswick cottages is Blencathra – drive along the A66 from Keswick towards Penrith & Ullswater and park just beyond Threlkeld and up you go.  

Heading up Blencathra
 

We decided to tootle up the mountain as many people had said many great things about it.  One of the more exciting and challenging paths up is over Sharp Edge.  When we were going up we met a fair few nervous ramblers and indeed, the local paper (The Keswick Reminder) occasionally has articles about people falling off and either injuring themselves or worse, so it’s not a route to be taken lightly.  Fortunately Rob has honed his climbing skills over the years and it looks like Daisy is planning to follow suit as she fairly skipped up, safe in the knowledge that Daddy was spotting her.  You’ll see in the video that Julia in the backpack is taking close notes as to how to do it when she’s a bit bigger.  

At the top of Blencathra

Blencathra is one of the more interesting mountains and it’s good because it’s manageable in a few hours, leaving plenty of time to lie in the grass and watch the clouds.  
 

Do you remember the days when Hula Hoops fitted on your fingers?

The mountain is also known as Saddleback because of its shape when you see it on your way to Keswick from Ullswater.  Many cottages in the area are called Saddleback or Blencathra after the mountain, and indeed here at Sally’s Cottages we have Blencathra, Blencathra View and Saddleback all nearby available for holiday lets.  Talking of cottage names, we ascended Blencathra via Scales Fell – walking past Scales View holiday cottage to get there.  Bannerdale Fell is just behind Blencathra (by Mungrisdale Common), the name of another of our Keswick Cottages.  

If you would like a cottage right by Blencathra, then Scales View, Clough View, Blencathra View, Arndale Cottage and Glendale Cottage are all under Blencathra with walks up the mountain right from the door.  All welcome dogs and pets.