Devoke Water

Devoke Water is in the Western Part of the Lake District, a place I’ve been meaning to visit for years but hardly ever go over this far West. Devoke Water is best reached from Birker Fell, again a place I’ve never been until July 2011.

Birker Fell’s a beautiful stretch of easy going fell reaching from the small village of Ulpha over to Eskdale Green at the foot of the Hardknott Pass. I was in the area delivering the Large Framed Wastwater print to Irton Hall and thought I’d pass over Birker Fell instead of my usual route Hardknott Pass. Given the size of the picture in the car I didn’t fancy Hardknott.

After dropping the print off I paid a visit to Wastwater only a few miles away. Here you can see my Wastwater photos from the same day here.

On the way back over to Kendal I had some spare time and parked up on Birker Fell and took the 1/2 mile walk up to Devoke Water. I knew the Sun wasn’t going to do me any favours at Devoke Water at this time of day, but you take your chances, anyway it was such a lovely day it seemed a shame to spend the majority of it in the car.

The first sight of Devoke Water along the track.

Seat How, small summit to the East, could be worth a climb to get a better vantage point of the great scenery on offer in this part of the Lake District.

Getting closer to the boathouse.

Great light at this time of day casts long shadows even off of the smallest of protrusions.

Don’t walk directly to the boathouse form the path like I did. Unless you have waterproof boots on….

See what I mean about the suns location.

Only enough height for a small boat here.

You have to get to the edge, mind you I didn’t fancy falling in at this point, the waters pretty dark and as wet as my feet.

That’s better, the Sun on the right side makes for a better photo.

Boat house explored, time for a walk up the hill to see how things look from a distance.

It’s pretty steep going up this front face, there must be an easier way up. Maybe I’ll find it on the way down….

Lovely summer evening light on the distant fells. Hesk Fell above Woodend and Rough How.

Devoke Water and the Irish Sea, You can just about make out the Isle of Man in the Haze.

Cracking views over the Distant Lakeland Fells. Kirk Fell, Scafell, and round to Bowfell and Crinkle Crags all visible.

You can’t beat the light at this time of day. This neat pile of stones marks the summit of Seat How.

Great light on the rolling fells to the South of Devoke Water.

Devoke Water and The Irish Sea beyond. Sellafield is just visible through the haze on the West Coast, such a contrast to this natural beauty.

Scafell Pike, Esk Pike, Bowfell and Crinkle Crags. You can see the dirt track cutting through the foreground. The red dot at the end of the track in the middel of the shot is a car I parked next to. All the ground this side of the track looks pretty boggy. Time to head back now. Need to eat in the next hour or so before I pass out.

Finally back on the path, the descent of this minor mound was pretty tough, I headed straight for the track, and tackled some fairly steep steps on the way down, I reckon they’d be an easier way round the back. Sometimes though your focus is taken away by other factors. Feeling rushed I headed straight down, however and in hindsight, if I’d of come unstuck here, reckon I’d have been out here a long time before anyone else had of come this way.