High Doat and Castle Crag

Wednesday 19th December 2018

After the persistent rain and high winds of the day before this walk, it was great to enjoy the Lake District with the absence of either and to even see some blue sky and sunshine, however during the afternoon normal service was resumed with bands of rain again passing through the National Park. Setting off from the Borrowdale Youth Hostel I headed straight into Johnny Wood, which covers the eastern slopes of the small hill, High Doat, and sits above the hostel. I had passed along the edge of this wood for the first time just one year ago and I was eager to return so I could spend longer in this magical place. Therefore, partway along the path from the hostel that skirts the edge of the wood, I turned left through a gate on a path that climbs steeply through the damp, moss-covered woodland.

The rich, brown bracken made a stark contrast to the bright, green mosses that covered the ground below the dark, leafless trees while an excellent, cleverly designed path weaves through it all eventually emerging from the wood at the southern end as it heads towards Seatoller. Immediately after leaving the wood I turned right and slowly made my way up the slopes of High Doat, which dominates Borrowdale even though it is not very high at less than a thousand feet, and is not a Wainwright, therefore most people avoid it, as I have done until this moment. That is a shame as it has stunning views towards the high hills to the south while the view to the north is dominated by the similar height of Castle Crag. The map, and Wainwright, claims there is a cairn at the highest point on High Doat, but this has now vanished as indicated on the second edition of Wainwright’s guide. There are a number of outcrops that vie for the accolade, and after a hunt around I found what I thought must be the summit before setting off down the steep western slopes.

A south-west ridge joins the higher fells after about forty metres of descent, but my attention was on Castle Crag to the north so I turned in that direction dropping at least a hundred metres to reach the path that skirts the edge of Johnny Wood passing Scaleclose Force. I had failed to see this waterfall last year because I had turned off the path earlier, but since it is situated in a deep ravine it is hard to see, so instead I continued north through some fields until I reached the path that follows Tongue Gill up from the River Derwent. Crossing the stream onto the Rigghead Quarry road I followed this track to the foot of Castle Crag, turning off early to skirt a line of crags that extends a south-west ridge in a similar vein, though less craggy, as High Doat. Joining the path that comes up from Rosthwaite I climbed through the spoil left behind from disused quarries to finally reach the summit of Castle Crag where there is a war memorial and stunning views north over Derwent Water.

Even though there was still a lot of cloud the sun was now beginning to break through with the weather slowly improving. Once I was back on the old quarry road I had a decision to make as my targets for this walk had already been met and all I needed to do now was head towards Keswick, but it was far too early for that and the sun was beginning to come out. Coming down from Castle Crag I saw an almost perfect ramp on the slopes up to High Spy and speculated that it must be possible to walk up that way, so I decided to investigate. Initially I had a look into the water-logged depths of a couple of disused levels, remnants of the Lake District’s mining past, and continued to climb following a stream that heads steeply up towards Lodstone Band Door. You could call this ramp Lodstone Band, but according to the map the band is on the far side of the door and not the slopes that lead towards the door. I was wary that in pioneering this untrodden route up High Spy I might be leading myself into danger, but the sunshine that was now shining on me was all the encouragement I needed as I continued to climb. This was not the first time I’ve tried to climb the eastern slopes of High Spy as on my first day in the Lake District at Christmas, in 2006, I followed a faint path up to Nitting Haws (that is marked on the Walker's Edition of Wainwright's guide to the North Western Fells).

This is a much better way up, but just as I was beginning to think I had forged a brand new route up High Spy my dreams were shattered when I came across a plastic bottle wedged firmly into the heather. After pocketing the offending article I continued to climb as the gradient slowly eased and revealed the vast hinterland of Goat Crag. There is a top called High Scawdel marked on the map in this area but on the ground, although there are many outcrops, none of them seemed worthy of being summited so I continued to climb the vast slopes until I could go no further. Collapsing behind the shelter of a rock I put on warmer clothing as there was a cold wind blowing and I welcomed the shelter, despite the blue skies overhead. It was great sitting there in the sunshine looking out over the vast eastern slopes of High Spy, and so there I had my lunch. When I set off towards the summit of High Spy I soon discovered that I had not been far from the path that follows the crest of the ridge, though the summit was still some distance north.

It was bitterly cold and dark clouds were already beginning to appear as I passed the fine cairn that sits at the top of High Spy and just as I reached Blea Crag on the northern edge of the hinterland it briefly started to rain, but this failed to spoil the tremendous views that can be seen from this point. Several showers passed overhead as I made my way along the ridge, diverting onto the faint path that passes over the top of Maiden Moor, before continuing along the path down to Hause Gate and up to the top of Cat Bells. I had been reluctant to take this route along the top because I had walked it the Christmas before, but it was still better than any other option. Despite the deteriorating weather I enjoyed the walk and after carefully negotiating the rock bands down Cat Bells I took the Cumbria Way route through Fawe Park and Portinscale that I have taken many times before, but is still always enjoyable. The sunshine at midday was welcome, even though I was rather busy at the time to take a picture, as I pioneered a route up High Spy from Castle Crag. It was great to visit the two tops that guard the western edge of Borrowdale, and especially to reach the top of High Doat, which I had never visited before.