Hiking the Howgills. . .

If you ever take the Settle to Carlisle railway, or travel up to Scotland on the west coast lines, you'll inevitably pass by the Howgills. These are a gorgeous series of hills that are just a wee bit east of the Lake District and much less populated.  They are a great place to head on a holiday weekend as there are lots of great hiking trails and open spaces, and you'll likely not encounter a soul.

I've previously hiked these hills from Sedbergh (a village well worth a visit in its own right), but on Easter Sunday, the Liverpud and I decided to tackle them from the north side and we parked at Ravenstonedale instead. The beginning of our ten mile circular walk was through lovely fields.

With the hills beckoning in the distance.

The sheep were all enjoying the sunshine and so were we.

The paths up are quite gradual and a lot less steep than some of the Lakeland fells. Apart from a few boggy bits lower down, by the time you are on the top, the paths are dry and springy underfoot.

This is the view from our first summit - Green Bell Hill.

I have nicknamed these hills "the Pillows" because they do have that look of soft, slightly crumpled, slightly squishy, dishevelled bedlinen.

My camera couldn't really capture it, but when on the top of the Howgills you do get marvellous views. The Lake District is to the west, the Pennines are to the north and to the east you can see the Yorkshire Dales.

We came down via Hooksey and found a field full of happy Herdies.  What a nice way to end a walk.