A Martindale Round

Monday 29th May 2006

This was another great walk in both excellent and awful weather. With no warning it could change from clear blue skies to heavy hail, raining off and on all day. I had planned this walk months before to start from Martindale but when I decided to spend the weekend in Patterdale I had to adapt the walk to start from there instead despite the extra climbing that would then be necessary. To start I walked up to Boredale Hause by the bridlepath,  with the rain starting soon after I left the hostel. Passing over the expansive saddle I climbed up to the ridge ahead following a bridlepath up to Bedafell. Continuing along the ridge in the rain I passed over Beda Head and as I descended into Martindale the rain stopped and the sun came out revealing a gorgeous view of Ullswater. Passing through the picturesque hamlet of Martindale I headed over the hill towards Howtown, but instead of going into the village I headed up the dramatic ridge to the south, slowly climbing past Steel End across the interesting rocky ridge up to Steel Knotts, with stunning views all the way. Beyond the summit I descended before climbed anew up a much less interesting ridge that crosses grassy plains up the side of Wether Hill and all the way up to the Roman road, High Street. The terrain was now typically English and boring with wide open moorland while heading over Red Crag and up to High Raise.

Once again the weather had changed and now it decided to start hailing, heavily and persistently. Eventually it stopped and I reached the summit of High Raise in sunshine, but that also didn't last long as it was soon raining again by the time I reached the head of Riggindale Beck. After passing over Rampsgill Head I joined the main path from the top of High Street, but rarely stayed on it. I immediately headed up to the top of the Knott and having bagged that I crossed over the path and climbed up to Rest Dodd. The Coast to Coast path climbs up to Kidsty Pike without going over any summits on the way, but I wanted to go over every single one of them so after slogging my way up Rest Dodd I picked a route that passed over every rise I could see. The rain that came and went throughout the afternoon but did little to dampen my enthusiasm. It was mostly bright and sunny with only brief showers and I was having such a whale of a time I hardly noticed.

Knowing that I had plenty of time I enjoyed myself while hopping from one top to another as I approached the Angletarn Pikes by a circuitous route. There were still many peaks that I had missed out on this walk, including the Nab, but I couldn't be bothered to go up that boggy mound just for the sake of going up it. In the past I had been obsessed with bagging peaks but I now consider it a waste of effort. I should be concentrating on good paths and routes rather than just trying to go up every hill whether they're good or not. The primary goal on this walk was the Bedafell ridge and the Steel Knotts ridge, which were both really enjoyable walks; my goal should always be to have a great time and any other concern is secondary. After enjoying myself on the Angletarn Pikes I reluctantly returned to the path and Boredale Hause from where I descended back down to Patterdale, but not before I had to endure one more hail shower. What an amazing day!