Difficulty: Easy-Moderate
Wainwright Guide: Book Two – The Far Eastern Fells
Sallows and Sour Howes are a pleasant pair of fells to summit. Although small they provide lovely views of the surrounding area and make for a lovely couple of hours out walking. I must admit that they are fairly bleak in the wet weather and the mist. Try and choose a clear view to make the most of them!
Jonny and I undertook this hike with Jonnys brother and Emi still able to fit into the backpack. The autumn weather was reasonable to start with, however we did get a little windswept towards the end. Luckily we had prepared ourselves for all weather eventualities, including having a backpack cover for Emi.
Where to Start?
There are a few different routes up this pair of fells with various starting locations on either side. We chose to start the walk from Troutbeck, near to the church. The route from here is circular and you can summit either fell first.
I would recommend getting here early to park. As with most places in the Lake District the parking fills up pretty quickly, especially as in this location it’s free.
From our parking spot we looked towards the main road and turned right.
You immediately cross a small bridge and continue a small way up the road.
On the other side of the road you will come across a fairly obvious footpath. Cross over carefully and head up this track. Here your ascent begins.
Ascent
We headed up the path, through a wooden gate and alongside a fairly large house.
The path becomes cobbled and just past the house takes a 90 degree turn. Continue to follow it round, making sure to watch your footing on the uneven surface.
The cobbles do disappear and the path becomes more of a gravel track, still easy enough to follow. The incline is gentle at this point as it heads up the hillside.
Looking over the wall to the left you get nice views of the valley, including Troutbeck Tongue.
Continuing up the track you come to a small “crossroads” where you need to continue heading straight ahead on the main track.
As the path starts to get a little steeper and you come towards a small wooden section on the right you have a choice to make about which fell out of Sallows and Sour Howes you wish to summit first! Continuing on the main track will take you to Sallows. A large stile to your right will take you towards Sour Howes. This is the route we chose.
Sour Howes
A grassy path heads fairly steeply uphill to meet another wooden stile.
This stile brings you onto another track.
There is another large stile directly opposite the one you have just come across. Continue over this.
There is an obvious path from here through the bracken. Continue to follow this over the changing landscape. Looking backwards you start to get nice views of Windermere in the distance.
The landscape then begins to change into rolling grassy bumps. Keep following the path through them.
The tallest of these bumps marks the summit of the fell.
There is no cairn here to mark the spot but the unobstructed 360 view is enough to know you are in the right location. There are certainly much better views in the Lakes but it is pleasant enough and you can see for miles.
Sallows
At this point the weather started to get fairly bleak so we made a swift exit towards the North. The path is fairly obvious however it would likely be difficult to navigate in the mist.
The path itself can get fairly boggy in places so make sure you are in appropriate footwear! It takes a very slight dip and follows along a stone wall gradually inclining again.
You will eventually come to a small gap in the wall where there is a stile. Cross over here.
From here just keep on following the path as it inclines gradually. It does occasionally diverge but all the ascending paths lead to the same destination.
Once along the top ridge the summit is fairly obvious from a distance, although again no cairn is present.
From the summit you can take a nice look back on that of Sour Howes and see how far you’ve come.
We did not stay for long on the summit as by this point the wind had picked up.
Descent
We started to head down on a path heading North. This became a fairly steep decline pretty quickly so take care in slippy wet weather. Ahead of us we could see the beginnings of the Kentmere Horseshoe.
From this steep path we could see the track we had separated from earlier, otherwise known as the Garburn track.
We did have to find a way over a stone wall in order to get onto the track.
We then turned left and headed through a wooden gate. Turning right takes you down into Kentmere, which is another place you can start the hike up both Sallows and Sour Howes from.
The track from here is very easy to follow.
As it turns the corner and starts the gentle decline back towards Troutbeck you start to get glimpses on Windermere again in the distance.
There is a small fork in the road. Take the right-hand path keeping the wooded area on your left.
You do eventually come back to the stile where you would have headed off to the summit of Sour Howes. From here the descent is pretty self-explanatory. Just retrace your steps back down into Troutbeck.
Once back to the car the nearest pub is the Queens Head, which is a short drive back towards Windermere. A lovely place to stop in for a celebratory pint and warm up from the wind chill.
All in all a fairly easy walk but a bit bleak in the wet weather. Much better when the view is unobstructed. A nice warm-up walk before undertaking some of the bigger nearby fells.
Have you completed the hike up Sallows and Sour Howes yet? Let me know in the comments!
