Little Hart Crag Horseshoe - Photo Gallery

Sale starts today! Shall I go shopping or walking? It didn't take too much thinking about. Parked the car on Wansfell Road in a still dark Ambleside and set off towards the Kirkstone Road, a formidable object in the best of weather and today it is raining but not as heavily as on my last walk.

After walking up the steep road I'm glad to see the Footpath sign high up on the left hand side of the road. There is a curious double metal gate to pass through, obviously some sort of holding area only big enough for a single animal at the bottom of the drove trail that comes down from high on the fell. No problems with navigation as the stone walls on either side escort you up the muddy trail, there are occasional misty views of Windermere behind and Rydal Water down on the left.

At the first ladder stile there are signs that the rain might stop, at the second stile it has stopped raining and on crossing the wall you arrive at a very wet place. The footpath is easily lost as it sneakily bears right to follow the wall until a warning sign that there are quarry workings ahead. Bearing half left the Kirkstone Road is visible far below, the workings of Pets Quarry are below but not visible.

Still accompanied by a wall on the right it feels like I am at a summit plateau and my cairn detector tells me that there is one close by. Sure enough the summit of Snarker Pike is just on the other side of the wall and would not normally be seen when ascending, this must be a fine viewpoint in good weather.

There is steeper ground for a while until the bulky summit plateau of Red Screes is reached, featureless except for the several small tarns. There are a couple of groups of large cairns that seem to be useless as waymarkers but being close to steep ground to the right they must be viewpoints. The summit is unmistakeable with its Ordnance Survey column, summit shelter and surprisingly large tarn so close the the summit.

The shelter is very untidy, why do people have to leave their rubbish at the very place where people want to sit and enjoy the summit. If they can't take it with them then it can't be that much effort to hide the biodegrable stuff under a rock away from teh shelter.

There is a path going north west from the summit towards Scandale Pass but I have lost it every time I have tried it even in good weather so today I'll head westwards. I soon find the ruined wall and follow it to its junction with another wall that leads unerringly down to the Pass. The mist starts to clear as I get towards Scandale Pass, and it is quite clear as I climb Little Hart Crag, making sure to visit both of its summits.

Back down to the main path and there is a very pleasant walk across Bakestones Moss, ignoring the dampness of the ground, as the remains of a fence lead me towards Dove Crag. The views; down to Brotherswater, the formidable cliffs of Dove Crag and the varied shapes and colours of the intervening lower peaks are an unexpected bonus.

The climb up the side of Dove Crag following the ruined fence goes across one of those places where water finds its way to the surface and for a while it is dangerously muddy, not lethal but very messy. As I reach the ridge path the mist is rolling quickly in and by the time I get to the summit of Dove Crag the days photography is at an end.

The easy descent of Dove Crag is followed by the interesting, rocky path leading up to the summit of Hart Crag, the summit cairn is off the path and rarely visited and consequently clean and tidy. Then the easy but exhilarating crossing from Hart Crag to Fairfield following probably the widest path in the Lake District (20 feet in places) onto probably the easiest place in the Lake District to go astray.

Having consulted my compass, in spite of being absolutely certain of going in the right direction, I set off on another popular path over Great Rigg and the surprisingly distant Heron Pike, another off-path summit cairn rarely visited. Onwards to Nab Scar, in common with many smaller fells it defends itself with steep sides, and yet another off-path summit cairn. This is the first time that I have found the summit, I must be getter better at using the cairn detector.

Finally, after what seemed like a very long descent there is a final march through the grounds of Rydal Hall and back on to the main road to Ambleside.

Andy Wallace 27th December 2002