Right from the start the path was fairly steep, and after going up through an area of gorse bushes I emerged onto a grassy plateau with other paths going left and right. I took the left hand one and continued climbing, stopping a couple of times to get a shot of the views and for us all to have a quick drink of water. The day was extremely warm and getting even warmer but a distance up the hill the path turned a corner and I was met by a very welcome breeze which helped to cool things down a bit.
At one point I heard a panting noise behind me and expected to be passed by someone walking very quickly, however it turned out to be a young man on a mountain bike. Presumably he had cycled all the way up from the bottom, in which case he must have been either very keen, very fit or completely mad as the path really was very steep.
Eventually I reached the point where I could see Bassenthwaite Lake in its entirety, but far from being clear like it had been when I was down at the lakeside there was a heat haze over most of it. Photography-wise I was a bit disappointed as I'd been hoping to get some really good clear shots but the views were still good, and having found a nice flat piece of rock embedded in the grass I sat for a while just taking in the scenery in front of me.
Eventually though it was time to make a move and after another drink of water the three of us set off back down the hill. Needless to say it was easier going down than it had been going up though it was still warm work, so when we got back to the plateau we had a couple of minutes rest and another drink before heading down the last section of path and back to the van.
The walk up Sale Fell and back had taken a couple of hours, and though I could have gone further to get views over the bottom end of the lake there didn't seem to be much point when everything was so hazy, however a return visit is definitely something to think about for another time, when hopefully the views will be much clearer.
