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A Walker's Blencathra

This is a stunning walk of really outstanding contrasts. A walker's journey to rival the scrambler's exhilaration of Sharp Edge. It starts at a small parking area above the tiny village of Scales. After climbing Blencathra by way of the wide grassy ridge of Scales Fell, which requires no scrambling or head for heights, it crosses the mossy expanse of Mungrisdale Common. Then taking a sweep over Bannerdale Crags and following for a short while close to the edge it returns via the splendid Glenderamackin river valley.

It is not recommended in poor weather or low visibility as you need to navigate the relatively featureless expanse of the Common, and of course the truly stunning views of the surrounding mountains would be lost. Even if you never want to climb Sharp Edge missing its dramatic setting would be a great shame.

The name Blencathra, popularised by Wainwright over the Ordnance Survey's Saddleback, is thought to derive from the old Cumbria words for hill top and chair, in reference to its shape.

The white cross on the saddle, which you pass on the walk, is a memorial to an unknown walker who died nearby.