Hart Crag and the High Bakestone Cairn

Monday 28th March 2016

When I stepped out of the youth hostel at the start of this walk I was astonished at the change in the weather from the previous couple of days when it had been very wet and windy, but what a difference a day makes. It wasn’t raining, but more significantly the wind had dropped as this, more than the rain, was what had been keeping me off the tops of the fells throughout the weekend. With little wind I was able to have a great day on the fells that made up for the two days that I’d missed. The weather was still a challenge as it was now rather cold, as evidenced by the patches of snow even at the bottom of the valley beside the youth hostel. These soon melted during the morning but snow lingered on the fells and particularly on the high fells of the Helvellyn range. While the cold can easily be accommodated by adding an extra layer, the snow on the fells made me wary of my options despite the improvement in the weather and prompted me to have plenty of alternative routes available for this walk.

I retraced my steps from the day before by heading up Patterdale on the footpath that follows the eastern edge of the valley floor, and turned off at a signpost pointing to Deepdale Bridge. The improved weather had given me a spring in my step and I seemed to zoom along the path excited at the prospect of the day's walking, so it wasn’t long before I’d reached the signpost and was following a permissive path beside Goldrill Beck. I was rather vague in my plans for this walk, which somehow involved Dovedale, but as I was walking along the path I could see the northern end of the Hartsop above How ridge across the valley and suddenly wanted to walk up it. After crossing the road on the far side of the valley I started climbing through Low Wood looking for the path that is marked on my Ordnance Survey map as following a wall up the hill. However there isn’t such a path on the ground as I would have seen if I’d checked the route with Wainwright’s guides.

The correct path is on the other side of the wall, but there was no way of getting across it so I had to struggle up the hill using sheep-trods until the gradient eased where a faint path appears and follows the impregnable wall along the top of the ridge. I found it slightly frustrating that I wasn’t climbing the fell along the correct path, even though that path was only on the other side of the wall. Eventually I came upon the path that comes up from the Cow Bridge car park and was finally able to cross the wall onto the right side of the ridge. The only time I had previously been on Hartsop above How was in 2009 when I had descended along the ridge and on that occasion I had taken the steep path through the wood down to the car park. Now that I was finally on the correct side of the wall the dull, grassy ridge was transformed into an enthralling rock-covered delight that had me skipping along the path all the way to the top of Gale Crag.

The ridge descends after passing over this intermediate top down to bogs that testify to Wainwright’s claim that this ascent is not attractive in itself, but as Wainwright goes on to say: “with views increasing in quality as altitude is gained”. Place Fell dominated the rear views early in the climb, but it was the snow-covered Hart Crag at the end of the ridge that attracted my eye and my caution. The summit of Hartsop above How, above Gill Crag, was insignificant when I reached it and further along the ridge, after another boggy depression, the ridge rose even higher to a top above Black Crag with the snowy bulk of Hart Crag looming ahead of me. The ascent of Hartsop above How may be poor, but as an ascent or especially as a descent from Hart Crag it is a good walk offering great views, although on this occasion I was contemplating diverting left into Houndshope Cove to avoid the snow on Hart Crag. Despite my hesitation I kept going and saw that the snow was not too deep or icy and eventually reached the snow covered summit of Hart Crag.

My views from the summit of Hart Crag were extensive, across much of the Lake District, and I was surprised to see a general lack of snow compared with the abundances on the fells north towards the seemingly more snow-bound Fairfield and the Helvellyn range. I am not a fan of walking in snow so the top of Hart Crag was as far as I wanted to go so I turned south and headed onto the clearer, neighbouring fell of Dove Crag, which sits at the head of Dovedale. Continuing south I came off the snow and followed the top of the ridge that forms part of the very popular, even when the high fells are covered with snow, Fairfield Horseshoe walk. With Windermere glistening in the patchy light far ahead of me, I felt that this was a great day to be walking in the Lake District, despite the fact that it was cloudy and cold. Eventually I came off the Fairfield Horseshoe and turned onto a slender path that crosses the slopes high above Scandale to a spectacular tall cairn that sits at High Bakestones and looks down the valley towards Windermere.

I don’t think I have ever visited this cairn before, which is a great shame as it is a magnificent structure with tremendous views towards Windermere. In the end I had decided that this walk should be around the fells that surround Dovedale, but I was soon at the top of Little Hart Crag from where all that was left for me was to descend over High Hartsop Dodd into the valley despite it being only two in the afternoon. After gazing around at the surrounding fells I contemplated walking across Scandale Pass to Red Screes, but when I looked at the short, craggy ridge to High Hartsop Dodd I made an instant decision and set off along that ridge. This was an enjoyable descent in improving weather and since I had plenty of time I walked slowly taking in my surroundings and the views along Patterdale over Brothers Water. From the top of High Hartsop Dodd I slowly descended the weaving path that falls steeply down to the valley, and as I strolled down the valley I marvelled that the sun had finally come out. It is odd how I often seem to walk quickly when I’m excited or walking in dramatic surroundings, and at the end of this walk, or like the day before, I walked very slowly because I was in more peaceful surroundings. Despite the slow end to the day I shouldn’t let that affect what was a great walk over an awesome snow covered fell.