Stony Cove Pike and High Street

Friday 11th May 2018

My target for this walk was to bag all seven summits in the Far Eastern Fells that are more than two and a half thousand feet high. Therefore despite overcast skies I set off from the Patterdale Youth Hostel heading along the eastern side of the valley until I got to the village of Hartsop where I joined the footpath that follows the main road as far as the Brotherswater Inn. At that point I took a path that heads up the steep hillside towards Caudale Moor on a climb that I had never done before but I had wanted to do for many years as Wainwright proclaimed that “of the many approaches to the summit, this is by far the best”. Many grooves in the steep hillside provide routes up, but it was difficult to find the right one until eventually I succeeded in finding a groove that took me onto the developing north-west ridge that leads to the disused Caudale Quarry. This is a fascinating place with a few openings into the mines and shafts that delve deeply into the hillside. After a brief look around I continued on the path up the ridge into the cold, southerly winds that were blowing over Caudale Moor. Wainwright gave the name Caudale Moor to the whole fell, but the Ordnance Survey gives the summit, in bigger typeface, the name of Stony Cove Pike, and that is how I always think of this High Fell.

Moving across Caudale Moor in the strong winds I made my way east to the large cairn that marks the summit of my first High Fell of the walk, Stony Cove Pike, also known as Caudale Moor. Continuing along the path I made my way towards Threshwaite Mouth with my next High Fell, Thornthwaite Crag, clearly in view ahead of me, but initially hidden from view was the sharp drop down to Threshwaite Mouth that involves a good bit of scrambling. This is a great, craggy traverse, though it was rather tiring, especially when climbing out on the other side. I was trying to recall the last time I had made this traverse, but I had to go all the way back to 2009 when I climbed over ten Wainwrights around the edges above the Kirkstone Pass. Eventually I reached the large and impressive cairn that sits at the top of Thornthwaite Crag and from there I crossed the severely windswept slopes above the Kentmere valley and bypassing below Mardale Ill Bell I joined the path that leads down to Nan Bield Pass. To my right, in the valley, I could see that the Kentmere Reservoir was empty, drained of water, apparently for maintenance. It didn’t make for a good picture with better views to my left over Small Water to the still full Haweswater Reservoir.

On the other side of the Nan Bield Pass, the wind was stronger than ever and it took a lot of effort for me to battle through the cold winds climbing the craggy ridge until I finally managed to reach the top of Harter Fell. Due to the strong winds at the summit I sought shelter on the northern slopes, but I didn’t really succeed and towards the end of my lunch my now empty lunch bag blew away in the wind. I tried to chase after it, but increasingly steep ground prevented me from following as it soon blew over the cliff-face. It pains me to litter the countryside like this, but I had no choice so after finishing what was left of my lunch I made my way back against the ferocious wind that was assailing me to Harter Fell and back down to Nan Bield Pass. With noticeably quieter winds on the other side I made my way up the path to reach the top of Mardale Ill Bell even though it is not a High Fell,. It misses out on that honour by a mere four feet. A heavily manufactured path leads from the summit taking me across the depression and up to the wall that passes over the top of High Street, the highest fell in the Far Eastern Fells. With now little wind to impede my progress I easily walked across the top to the summit of my fourth High Fell of the day, and on to the top of the Long Stile ridge where the views stretched all the way down to Haweswater with mist covering the fells beyond.

Continuing along the edge of the cliffs above Hause Crag I made my way down to the Straits of Riggindale where I joined the route of the Coast to Coast Walk as it makes its way around the windswept Head of Riggindale Beck and up to the small top of Kidsty Pike. There I left the Coast to Coast behind and battled more winds as I crossed the slopes of Rampsgill Head up to my sixth High Fell of the day, High Raise, and notably the fiftieth of this holiday, which is an amazing achievement. There is another High Raise in the Lake District, the highest point in the Central Fells, which is exactly two and a half thousand feet high and since the defining characteristic of my challenge on this holiday was fells more than two and a half thousand feet high, it doesn’t qualify. It is, in fact, the highest fell not to qualify, but the real reason it was not to be included on my challenge was because it would have been too inconvenient to have visited it, as it would be the only High Fell in the Central Fells. After reaching the summit of the Mardale High Raise I turned my face into the wind and headed back down the dull, grassy slopes up to my final High Fell of the day, Rampsgill Head, barely stopping before rejoining the Coast to Coast route and when I finally turned my back on the wind I breathed a sigh of relief.

It was very windy on all the south-facing slopes on this walk with those final three High Fells being almost as windy as anywhere else on this walk. My descent passed by many tops and on all my previous visits to this area I have always diverted off the main path to bag them, but since they are less than the required height I decided I would stay on the Coast to Coast route this time all the way down into Patterdale, which is something I had never actually done before. This walk was quite a challenge in places as I battled against strong winds under grey, overcast skies that unfortunately don’t lend themselves to photography. Nevertheless I always had views and when I was sheltered from the wind this was quite a lovely walk as I bagged all seven of the High Fells in the Far Eastern Fells.