Tuesday 29th August 2023
The weather did not look good when I got up, so I put on all my waterproofs before setting off, but by the time I walked out of the door of the Patterdale Youth Hostel the rain had stopped and the sun was beginning to break through the clouds. With improving weather I set off to climb a hill that I’ve not visited for a long time, ever since 2006 on a very memorable holiday when I came off the fells over Arnison Crag, which overlooks Ullswater and while at the top I took a picture of the stupendous view. Ever since, that has been one of my favourite pictures and was highlighted in 2020. I have tried to make a return visit on several occasions but the weather was never good enough to provide me with a good view again. This time, I wasn’t to be put off, so despite wet conditions underfoot I set off up the path through thick bracken, slowly climbing the hillside and soon I had great views over Ullswater that prompted me to take many photos. These views developed as I climbed until eventually I reached the top of Arnison Crag where that memorable picture was taken, but the overcast skies meant this picture was never going to be so good, though the flashes of sunlight touching the end of the lake did add some charm. The view in the other direction was perhaps more appealing as the sun shone on the village of Hartsop while the fells surrounding lay shrouded under dark clouds.
I wondered if there was any other fell that I had not visited in such a long time, so because I love spreadsheets and I have a register of every time I have visited the top of a fell in the Lake District, I immediately checked and discovered that I had not visited Loadpot Hill since 2004. Nevertheless, since I had not been to the top of Arnison Crag since 2006 I was glad to have finally returned so I could see that awesome view of Ullswater, even though Wainwright shockingly stated that it was not the best view of the lake. Eventually I tore myself away from the views and along an undulating, grassy ridge to Trough Head and from there up to Birks, while it briefly rained but had stopped by the time I reached the top. Ahead of me was St Sunday Crag and this drew me on, across the tedious, undulating ridge of Birks, retracing my steps of 2006. By the time I reached the foot of the steep climb up St Sunday Crag the sun had come out again and since I was now sheltered from the strong wind I took off my waterproofs for the ascent, but when the gradient eased I was exposed to the winds again and it started to rain, so my waterproofs came back on. Such is hill walking. It felt like a long time since I had been this way and a quick check revealed that it was in 2006 on the aforementioned walk, which is shocking. Why has such a significant fell been neglected for so long?
I battled against the strong winds across the fabulously craggy top to the summit of St Sunday Crag before heading down the long, gentle slopes off the fell while the sun came out revealing stunning views ahead of me, despite the strong, cold winds. While admiring the views north towards Helvellyn and west across Grisedale Tarn, I continued down the ridge to Deepdale Hause and up to the rocky peak of Cofa Pike. Beyond, I avoided the scree slope that defends Fairfield, crossing the northern slopes before joining the path that climbs up from Grisedale Hause to the windswept summit plateau of Fairfield where I had stunning views in all directions with all the fells, except for the Scafell Pikes, clear of clouds. I hid from the wind in the summit shelter and had my lunch in, relative, peace before setting off again into the wind across the summit plateau. As the wind eased I was able to enjoy the views in all directions that now included those to the south, across Windermere and all the way to Morecombe Bay. I slowly made my way over the fabulously craggy ground that led me down to Link Hause while the eastern views now drew my eye.
The ground in this area is gloriously rocky and I loved crossing Link Hause over those rocks and up to the top of Hart Crag, still retracing my steps of 2006. My next fell should have been Dove Crag, but instead I turned left at the col to head down into Dovedale, however, my target was not in the valley. Despite ignoring Dove Crag, I was still echoing my walk of 2006 when I had visited the Priest’s Hole, a small cave high up on the side of Dove Crag. I had never been back so I was keen to return, but first I had to find the path. The walkers’ edition of Wainwright’s guide reveals that the turning is beside a small tarn and a big boulder, but the path is very faint, hard to follow and leads into treacherous ground. After an abortive attempt that took me too low down, a second attempt seemed to also be leading me into a dead end, but eventually I came upon the tiny opening of the cave. After looking around the tiny cave and taking a few pictures, I made my way back along the precarious path, which led me again into difficult ground so I was relieved when I finally reached the main path that leads into Deepdale.
Rather than descend that way, which would echo 2006, since it was still quite early I crossed Houndshope Cove and onto the ridge of Hartsop Above How that descends from Hart Crag. After a brief darkening of the skies while I sought the Priest’s Hole, the weather brightened again for my descent over Hartsop Above How. This is merely a long ridge and unsatisfying on its own, but it makes a great, prolonged descent from Hart Crag with the slight rise to the top of Hartsop Above How as an irrelevance compared with the relaxing descent while ahead of me were tremendous views across Patterdale and towards the Angletarn Pikes. I slowly made my way down the ridge, taking my time and making sure that I stayed on top of the ridge all the way down to Bridgend. When I reached the bottom of Patterdale I crossed the valley and followed the relaxing path along the eastern edge that led me back to the youth hostel. This walk could be described as a Deepdale Round, though the valley rarely got a look-in as I followed the top of the hills that surround. This was a fabulous walk in weather that was poor at first, but later produced some stunning views and brought me back to places that I had last visited more than sixteen years ago.
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