Borrowdale to Windermere

I've been really busy lately, but that's no excuse not to post anything on my blog, so I'll continue recounting my week's holiday spent crossing the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.

Monday 5th April 2010

I woke for this walk to find heavy rain and strong winds outside; it was one of those days when you don't really want to go out of the door, let alone go for a walk! Resolutely I wrapped myself up against the rain and set off to the village of Stonethwaite where I took a track over the Stonethwaite Beck and onto the official coast to coast route, or at least that was the plan. The path beyond the bridge had become a deep, fast moving river, so I followed other coast to coast walkers across an adjacent field, through the impromptu river, and over a dry stone wall onto the official footpath. I had never seen this much flooding in the Lake District before, but back in November there had been extensive flooding that had washed away many bridges. In comparison this was nothing but it still had a major impact on my walk. The path continued to be under water in many places and crossing a stream had now become really tricky. Gentle brooks had become raging torrents and after getting my feet wet on one stream my group of coast to coast walkers reached a stream that was virtually impassable.

After almost being swept away by the previous streams I decided that this one was actually impassable and turned back. I don't know what the other coast to coast walkers did, but when I left some were walking upstream to find an easier crossing. From what I could see there didn't seem to be one, and I didn't think it was worth the risk. I hope the other walkers all made it to their destination safely. I returned down the path towards Stonethwaite, re-crossing the streams that had previously got my feet wet. With freshly soaked feet I turned off the path and climbed the hillside to my right onto the path that I had climbed last Christmas making this excellent ascent again onto the heather-clad fell of Great Crag and around the stunning lake of Dock Tarn. This is a fabulous climb, even though it's steep, as it climbs through woodland on a well-made path all the way up to the top of the fell. It was weird seeing this fell without snow as both times I've previously been to Dock Tarn it has been snowing, but the weather now was just as bad, even though the rain was easing.

I didn't visit the actual summit of Great Crag, but passed close, staying on the path, dropping down the steep hillside to the Bowdergate Wetlands and into the village of Watendlath where I had my lunch. My original thought when I'd turned back was that I'd head towards the town of Keswick where I'd catch a bus or find accommodation. On reaching Watendlath I realised that the flooding had been localised so I could climb over the fells north of Ullscarth (rather than south, as planned). The rain had now stopped so there shouldn't be any problems, but it had become very windy and the ground north of Ullscarth is always very wet, and after rain it is very, very, very wet. Nevertheless I climbed up the steep path out of Watendlath and onto the bridlepath that crosses the boggy Watendlath Fell past Blea Tarn and up to the 'ridge' top fence. This was a bleak, barren crossing with no redeeming characteristics. It was windy, cloudy, and ridiculously wet and boggy.

All the way along the horrible path I kept telling myself that the other side of the hill would be better, that it will improve once I got to the fence. I've said that to myself many times before and it hasn't been true, but this time it was! The other side was completely different. Rather than a bleak, featureless grassland there was plenty of bracken and it was littered with rocks. It wasn't boggy as the ground is quite steep, and a good, clear path led me down through Thirlmere Woods. I now had good views of the crags that overlook Thirlmere as I descended through the wood and followed the path down to the little-known, yet stunning lake of Harrop Tarn. I had never been there before but I found a beautiful place in a picturesque setting with a lake backed by the Tarn Crags of Ullscarth. This descent was the highlight of an otherwise utterly forgetful day. The Lake District never fails to amaze me with little gems like this that are quietly hidden away from the well-trodden routes and yet are of outstanding quality. The descent ended on top of the small hill of Birk Crag where stunning views of Thirlmere acted as the curtain call before a steep drop through gorse bushes brought me down to a road.

I'd originally planned to walk over Steel Fell on this walk so once I reached the shore of Thirlmere I thought of climbing up Steel Fell from there, but decided against it as it seemed like a waste of effort. Instead I caught a bus to Ambleside and walked over Wansfell, which was a really tiring climb and a total waste of effort. I should have just taken the bus to Troutbeck Bridge and walked up the hill to the youth hostel from there. With hindsight I wish I had. A long, tiring walk from Wansfell eventually brought me to the youth hostel leaving me totally exhausted. Unfortunately I didn't find the hostel to my liking; it isn't a walkers' hostel, but caters mostly for families and tourists being the nearest to the railway station. This was definitely a walk to forget.