Hindscarth & Dale Head

Tuesday 30th December 2008

I was back in the Lake District again over the New Year and I spent a total of six days in the Lakes, more time than I’ve spent there since Easter 2006. However on the first day, Monday, I didn't do much walking as I had caught a later, cheaper train and didn't get to Keswick until 3.15, sunset was at 4. Despite this I took a walk out to Friar's Crag, a viewpoint across Derwent Water and a popular tourist attraction. It's popular with young families as the paths are easy with no climbing necessary and it’s only a couple of minutes from Keswick. The following morning I was eager to set off as soon as possible as the weather was perfect; it was very cold and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The prospect of another walk in Lake District was filling me with joy just at the thought of it, which shows how much one can love being in the Lake District. Scotland could never match that sort of love; it may be a wonderful challenge with stunning scenery, but it’s not easy; the Lake District is relaxing, great fun and always really enjoyable. For the first hour out of Keswick,  I walked through Portinscale and south through Fawe Park to the foot of Cat Bells. This is usually considered a family fell, and you do get children and grandparents going up there, but it’s a really rugged mountain; there are a number of rock steps that have to be climbed but they are great fun going up, and it’s really steep in places; the only reason it’s considered family-friendly is because it’s not very high. A true family fell is something like Loughrigg or Latrigg, while Cat Bells is a real mountain, but in miniature. Coming down to Hause Gate I took a path on the right through disused spoil heaps and mines, and is a great path that I’d never been on before, though it was a little tricky due to stretches of ice on the path. Once at the bottom of the valley I went past the tiny village of Little Town (seriously, that’s its name – it’s a wonderfully small place, and I couldn’t help thinking “O Little Town of Little Town” as I passed!) and walked along the picturesque Newlands valley until I found a way across the beck.

I was now at the foot of the great northern ridge of Hindscarth that was wonderfully rugged and narrow in its early section as I passed over Scope End but later widened to become rather tedious. I have been on this ridge just once before back in 2002 on my very first visit to the Lake District and in rather poor weather with heavy rain, but now I was walking in much better weather. When I reached the summit of Hindscarth I had my lunch and basked in the bright sunshine. From Hindscarth I bent left below the top of the ridge and actually left the path to drop down into the cove near the top of Newlands with the striking gully of Far Tongue Gill not far below me. I was descending steeply across the head of the valley and making for a crag, Great Gable, but before I reached the crag I came to the path that I had been trying to pick up. I'd never been on this path before that climbs up from the Newlands valley across Far Tongue Gill and up to the craggy ground above Great Gable. I had really wanted to go on this path, but I also wanted to do the north ridge of Hindscarth, so this struck me as a good way to sample both paths. On this narrow path, high above the valley, I crossed the steep rocky hillside below the top of Dale Head and above Great Gable to reach the eastern side of the fell where easier slopes led me up to the summit.

The views were by now getting rather misty as the Eastern Fells were beginning to be deluged by clouds though their tops still remained clear. From Dale Head I dropped down the eastern slopes but I was not following a path, instead I was just making my own way heading straight for Dalehead Tarn. I later learnt that there is a very good, paved path that goes down to Dalehad Tarn from the summit via the top of Great Gable (I would have needed to reverse some of my steps – in fact I should have seen the path on my ascent, I think I was just trying to avoid going back on myself). After my initial frustration at missing out on this path I remembered that I had actually really enjoyed walking down the steep, rock spattered, hillside. There is some advantage to not following a path, just going your own way, and not following in other people's footsteps. One of the problems with the Lake District is that it’s really popular and the paths are well worn, but there is no reason why you have to stay on the paths. There is often more to be gained by venturing off the paths and exploring the area for yourselves as there is so much more to see.

When I reached the tarn I was stunned by the rock scenery that surrounds the lake and felt extra special even in such a secluded corner of the Lake District. Anywhere in the country would love to have the sort of scenery I saw around Dalehead Tarn, but in the Lake District it is just one tiny part of many such fantastic scenes (in fact I would say that even in the Lake District it is quite special). I'd never really been around Dalehead Tarn before and never realised it was this good. After passing the tarn I was thankful that everything was frozen as it would have been very wet underfoot otherwise and instead I had to dodge a lot of ice as I crossed over to Rigghead where I descended past old mine workings on a very slippery, icy path that later joins the stream, Tongue Gill, into Borrowdale. When I could I crossed the stream and took the miner's track around the hillside and through the gap between the fellside and Castle Crag, which towered over me on the right.

Since I was so close it seemed a shame not to visit the summit of Castle Crag, and especially to visit the eerie standing stones in the abandoned quarry immediately below the summit. It’s supposed to be a mystery why there are stones there standing upright, but I think I know how they came to be standing up, for I stood one up myself... Dropping back down to the col I followed the miner's track into a wood and down to the River Derwent eventually reaching the village of Grange where I waited for a bus that would take me to the Youth Hostel. This was yet another fantastic day in the Lake District, just I had anticipated it would be, just as any day is that is spent walking in the Lake District when the sun is shining and I had great weather for this walk, though the views later became increasingly poor as clouds and mist slowly began obscuring the distant views.