Topography
In plan section the summit area forms a horseshoe, open to the south east. This ridge is narrow and grassy, with a relatively new fence in place. There are subsidiary tops on both horns of the horseshoe. The southern ridge passes over The Knowe and then Brown Howe, before connecting to Kentmere Pike. The eastern branch includes the rocky top of Little Harter Fell (2,234 ft), and Adam Seat (2,185 ft) which is marked by a prominent boundary stone. This ridge continues down to Gatescarth Pass before rising again to Branstree.
Connecting to the centre of the summit horseshoe, producing a shape not unlike a tuning fork in plan, is Harter Fell's third ridge. This starts lower down the fell-side and cannot be seen from the summit. This ridge is all together rockier in character and leads swiftly down to Nan Bield Pass for onward connections to Mardale Ill Bell and High Street.
The western slopes of the fell above Kentmere Reservoir are moderately steep, with an area of historic landslip surrounding Dry Gill. A low subsidiary ridge juts out into Kentmere, separating it from the valley of Ullstone Gill. This is named for The Ullstone, a prominent erratic boulder.
The summit horseshoe of Harter Fell forms the head of Wren Gill, the main headwater of the River Sprint in Longsleddale. At Wrengill Quarry near the base of the slope, the Gill drops into sinkholes, reappearing from the ground a few yards lower down. The slopes on this south eastern side of the fell are gentle and generally grassy.
To the north above the head of Mardale, Harter Fell shows a different character. Extensive crags, unnamed on Ordnance Survey maps, drop 1,300 ft to the valley. Further crags fringe the descending ridge to Nan Bield. Below these is the beautiful mountain tarn of Small Water. This corrie tarn, with a depth of around 50 ft has brown trout and perch.
Read more about this topic: Harter Fell (Mardale)
Famous quotes containing the word topography:
“That the mere matter of a poem, for instance—its subject, its given incidents or situation; that the mere matter of a picture—the actual circumstances of an event, the actual topography of a landscape—should be nothing without the form, the spirit of the handling, that this form, this mode of handling, should become an end in itself, should penetrate every part of the matter;Mthis is what all art constantly strives after, and achieves in different degrees.”
—Walter Pater (1839–1894)