At a recent Walkers night out we decided to have our Christmas walk this weekend and as we needed to be home early, we chose the Yorkshire Dales walk we have done a few times before. I picked Peter up at 7.30 and then drove back down to Hartlepool for Paul, arriving at his house around 8.00 am. It was a cold, crisp morning, the car temperature gauge hovering around zero. We arrived at Gunnerside, a small village about 6 miles past Reeth, around 9.15 and set off walking about 9.30. The walk starts out of the village on a road which was quite icy. As we were driving in we had also noticed the damage caused by the floods and high winds earlier this week in Swaledale. Added to this the tops were covered in snow so we knew we were in for a cold, snowy walk.
After about a half mile on the road we took a sharp right and start walking up the hill. As soon as we started on this road we were walking on snow, initially just an inch or so but getting deeper as we got higher. This path climbed gently around the hill to the highest point of the walk. The snow was 6 or 7 inches deep at this point. As we started to drop back down the other side we crossed a stream and walked down the right hand side of the stream. Nobody had been out this morning so the path was not clear and at times our feet were sinking knee deep in the fresh snow. We were heading towards the ruined building at the bottom of the valley to have our Christmas lunch.
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| Christmas Lunch |
When we got there, the festivities started, Paul had cooked the turkey legs this year, followed by Mince pies and custard which I have brought, washed down with wine from Peter. Peter had also brought 2 crackers each. Whilst we were eating lunch it started to snow. Around 12.30 we started walking again, crossed over the bridge and took the higher path towards Crackpot Lodge. I hadn’t took this path on the previous walks we had done around here. The path climbed higher at first and around the corner was the ruins of what we assumed was Crackpot Lodge and then we started to drop down the valley again. Just around the corner was another ruin ( not sure which one was Crackpot Lodge), we then scrambled down the hill back to the road. This route seemed much quicker than previous times we had done this and a little easier. We crossed the stream lower down where there were stepping stones and a bridge.
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| Stream crossing lower down the valley |
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| Paul stood on the bridge for a photo opportunity whilst we pelted him with snowballs |
The path dropped lower into the valley and we could now see the damage caused by the flooding earlier this week. At one point the path had completely disappeared and was replaced by a massive landslide of rocks and parts of trees.
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| These 2 photos show the damage caused by floods in Swaledale this week. |
The path back to the car was long and slow, much longer than I remembered. Paul had kept a shotgun cartridge he found the last time he was on this walk and kicked all the way back to the car (coincidentally we had found a cartridge the following year when I did the walk and kicked it back to the car) so we played football with the cartridge all the way down the path back to the car. We got back to the car just after 3.
So that’s its for 2011, we will be back in 2012 in the Lakes.
Merry Christmas to walkers everywhere and a happy and healthy 2012.
Well its been some time since we were last out! Peter and I did Scafel Pike back in June and we have not been out since. So we were all raring to go for this walk. We were joined on this one by Paul who has not been out for a while with us. The last couple of walks we have discussed doing High Street but have opted for another walk so we planned on doing High Street this time. Paul drove to my house and Peter picked us both up just after 5.45 am on the morning the clocks went back so we had gained an hour.
When we set off we realised that Paul had already done High Street so we had to choose another walk. We decided to still head to Mardale Head on Haweswater and tackle Harter Fell and maybe Branstree. We arrived at Mardale Head just before 8.00 am in time to boot up and tuck into the Angus pie to get us started. There was low cloud over the tops but you could tell this was a great start point with fells on all sides of Haweswater.
Start of the walk
We started walking at 8.00 am and set off through the gate following the path towards Nan Bield Pass. We could see the return path at this point as well via Gatescarth Pass. It was quite a steady climb following the beck up towards Small Water crossing the stream just before reaching Small Water. This would be a perfect location for a summers bait stop but it was a little damp and windy today so we carried on around Small Water, climbing steadily up to Nan Bield Pass. The path became a little steeper as we left Small Water and as we got higher and looked back we got a great view of Small Water with Haweswater in the background, just a shame it was not good weather for the camera! It was also starting to rain so time for the waterproofs. We arrived at the small stone shelter at Nan Bield Pass just after 9.00 am. We met another walker here who had taken the route up Gatescarth Pass and was heading towards High Street on our right.
Harter Fell summit
We stopped for a cuppa and a sandwich and then turned left from our ascent towards the summit of Harter Fell. Around 40 minutes later we were at the top, not a lot to see from the quite flat top and visibility was not great today either due to the weather. We stopped for a quick photo, the only one of the day and then started to follow the fence down towards Gatescarth Pass.
Summit of Harter Fell
The descent
Very quickly we were on a wide path winding down towards the pass, Peter and Paul in particular got quite a pace going down the hill. We arrived at the pass about 30 minutes later and took another bait stop. Ahead, in the sometimes clearing mist we could see the ascent to Branstree. We had maintained quite a pace so far, added to the fact that we had not been out for a while I could tell that the climb and subsequent descent of Branstree would not be great for the knees so I decided not to go. I tried to persuade Peter and Paul to go alone and catch me up on the way down. However in true Musketeer spirit they said it was all or nothing so we were on our way back to the car and it wasn’t even noon!
As we had only done the one top, the descent was relatively easy although I just knew it would have been very different had I done Branstree. It was not until the day after when I came to write up this post that I realised I had already done Branstree on the same day we did Tarn Crag. The day we found a car half way up the track towards Tarn Crag and the same day we had our Battle Royale with the paste eggs. We were back at the car about 12.30 and stopped for a couple of pints and a game of pool. We were home again for 3.00 pm. A nice steady walk to get us back into it and my 38th top. Hopefully we can squeeze one or two more in before Christmas.
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Baitstops Facts and Figures
Height: 841m
Height: 2759 feet
Bible Position: The Grisedale Fells
Conditions: Fine and dry
Wainwright Facts and Figures
Book: The Eastern Fells
Position: 10th highest in Eastern fells
Other Wainwrights on this walk:
All 4 of us on this walk, Paul was driving. We started from Patterdale and walked along the flat for a while and then started climbing to St Sunday Crag. It was one of those deceptive climbs with shoulder after shoulder before we arrived at the top. This picture is looking towards the top of St Sunday Crag from our bait stop.
….and this one is looking towards
Fairfield from the same position.
Peter and Paul take a breather before the final push to the summit.
St Sunday Crag had a really steep descent which really crippled my knee. But thats another one down and 12 this year which I am pleased about. If I can do another 12 next year I will be happy.
Set off from Peterlee just before 6.00 am in Dereks car. It was freezing cold when we left and as we arrived in the Lakes the temperature was as low as -7. Stopped briefly on the shores of Ullswater to get a great shot of the Lake, beautiful sky in the background and a slight haze on the mountains.
Early morning Ullswater
We parked in Patterdale and ate the Scotch Eggs to give us energy! (Peter loves the Scotch Eggs). We started walking about 8.00 am and as usual started the slow climb up the mountain. It was a perfect day for walking, very cold but very clear, not a cloud in the sky.
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