Mellbreak

Difficulty: Easy-Moderate
Wainwright: Book Seven – The Western Fells

Mellbreak Fell

Looming over the Western shoreline of Crummock Water, Mellbreak is a distinctive feature of the landscape. It’s a nice stand alone warm-up walk before attempting some of the taller fells in the region such as High Stile Ridge or Grasmoor, but it can also be combined with some of the Loweswater Fells behind.

There are various routes to the summit of Mellbreak, some easier than others. This means you can easily tailor your hike to your level of fitness and ability. Whether you’re a seasoned walker or a beginner, the views from the summit of the Buttermere Valley are absolutely incredible. Well worth the ascent!

Getting There…

Depending on which route you want to take over Mellbreak there are various places to start. I would suggest either starting from Buttermere Court Hotel (previously The Fish Inn), or from The Kirkstile Inn in the village of Loweswater.

NB: Both of these pubs offer a fantastic lunch menu and are great for a post walk pint!

Ascent

I would suggest ascending from the Kirkstile Inn. It’s a more exciting ascent and fairly scrambly so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend coming down it. Possibly not the best ascent if you’re four months pregnant at the time but we managed!

Starting from the Kirkstile Inn you want to follow the road the passes by the beer garden at the back. A signpost for Mosedale Beck will point you in the right direction.

This will lead you through a farm to a stony track. This will zig and zag a couple of times before bringing you through a gate into a small area of trees.

You have a few options here but the most direct route is straight up through the trees.

Coming out through the trees you will find yourself on a grassy path. This is a fairly steep ascent and you will quickly be able to gain fantastic views of Loweswater and the surrounding fells.

Eventually the path will develop into more of a scree slope. This is where it got fairly interesting.

Although I wasn’t showing, pregnancy was throwing my body off in more ways than one so I was glad to have walking sticks for this part. Jonny on the other hand spent a lot of time sliding back down the bits he had climbed up! Very amusing.

Once you’ve reached the top of the scree you’ll be able to rest on the hillside and take in the view. The various plateaus you reach each offer stunning visuals of the scenery.

Notably, there is a small path round to the left on one of these plateaus where you can look down over Crummock Water into the Buttermere Valley.

Mellbreak: One Fell, Two Summits

Once you reach the heather covered hill top head towards the well defined cairn. This marks the north summit of Mellbreak. Although not the true summit it is often referred to as the prettier of the two summits. The colours in the heather make it more visually appealing than it’s Southern counterpart.

Reaching the Southern summit is fairly self explanatory from here. Just following the well marked path across the grassy dip between the two peaks.

The Southern summit is not as well marked out at all. A small cluster of rocks defines the tallest point on the fell. Easy to see why people tend to prefer the Northern summit.

The panoramic views from both summits are phenomenal so spend a little time taking in the view from both. On a clear day the Isle of Man is even visible!

Descent

The path that descends is fairly well defined in the grass and easy under foot. It takes you down into a small valley with Red Pike on the other side. From here a short stop off at Scale Force is easy enough. As the tallest waterfall in the Lake District it is a very popular spot for a rest and a quick snack.

To get yourself back to the Kirkstile Inn you have a few options. A well marked path through the valley between Mellbreak and Hen Comb will take you right back to the small area of trees you started your ascent at. This is also the same for the path on the lower slopes of Mellbreak along the edge of Crummock Water.

Crummock Water

If you’re looking for a slightly more extended walk you can follow the Crummock shoreline in the other direction and head around the lake that way. This path offers glorious views of the fell you’ll have just climbed and on a clear day the reflections in the lake are incredible. The only problem with this route is that you will have to walk along the road around the head of Rannerdale Knotts. There is no path that runs around the entirety of Crummock Water.

Whichever route you use to get back to your start point a refreshing drink and a well earned dinner will be waiting for you in the pub.

Although Mellbreak is not a particularly large or difficult fell it offers phenomenal views all around. A fantastic walk for all abilities and well worth the ramble!

Have you climbed Mellbreak yet? Which route did you take? Let me know in the comments below!